Wisdom of Solomon 16

On account of these things, namely because most wretched people worshipped idols, or on account of the sins of idolatry, and things similar to these, that is, on account of other sins similar to the aforesaid idolatry, they suffered torments deservedly: Ephesians 5: "On account of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of unbelief"; Deuteronomy 25: "According to the measure of the sin, so also shall be the manner of the stripes." For there ought not to be the disgrace of fault without the beauty of justice or of vengeance, according to Augustine. And by a multitude of beasts, namely devastating their land, such as flies, locusts, and frogs and the like; they were destroyed, that is, grievously afflicted, and perhaps some of them were killed: above, chapter 12: "Through the things they worshipped, you gave them the utmost torments"; Deuteronomy 32: "I will send the teeth of beasts upon them."

If you refer this to the Egyptians, who, being idolaters and given to various errors, also unjustly persecuted the people of God, in those ten plagues with which the Lord punished them because they were unwilling to let His people go, it can be understood that they experienced the viciousness of beasts; for there, too, flies of various kinds and locusts are described as having devastated them, likewise frogs and reptiles and other creatures of the earth, of which it is written in the psalm: He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; frogs, which destroyed them; and He gave their fruits to the caterpillar, and their labors to the locust (Ps. 78:45-47). In another sense, heretics and schismatics and all the wicked are also torn, scattered, and destroyed by spiritual beasts, that is, by evil spirits, to whose will they consented and, by the just judgment of God, were subjected to their power, so that they might torment and scatter them.

Instead of which torments, that is, in place of which torments, as if by contrast: you dealt well with your people, namely the Israelite people, who were his "peculiar people," as is found in Deuteronomy 7. To whom, that is, to which people, you gave the desire of their delight, that is, a desirable thing longed for: "for desire, if it is fulfilled, delights the soul," as is found in Proverbs 13. A new flavor, into food of a new flavor, preparing for them quail as food, and that bird, namely the quail, is called ortygometra, as they say from the land of Ortygia, in which it was first seen and from there brought away; or preparing foods etc.: and then according to some the plural is used here for the singular, when it says: preparing foods for them, the quail, that is, the quail, according to that verse of the Psalm: "They asked, and the quail came" etc.: Exodus 16: "It came to pass in the evening, and the quail coming up covered the camp"; likewise Numbers 11: "But a wind going out from the Lord, snatching up quails, brought them across the sea" etc. But it is not necessary that the plural be used for the singular, because it can be glossed thus: foods, that is, in place of foods.

It is read in the Book of Numbers that when the Israelite people desired to eat meat in the desert, the Lord provided them with a multitude of quails, which they ate until they were satisfied to the point of nausea; nevertheless, the punishment for their desire was not far from them, for the wrath of the Lord, stirred up against the people, struck them with a very great plague, and the place was called the grave of desire (Num. 11). Therefore, wisdom now remembers this, alternating its discussion about the destruction of the Egyptians and the correction of the Israelites, because those who resisted God and exercised tyranny over His people perished suddenly without excuse. However, these were corrected for a time and punished three times in a manner suitable for discipline, yet they were not entirely deprived of divine comfort.

So that those indeed, namely the children of Israel, desiring food, namely the meats of Egypt, Exodus 16, on account of those things, namely the quails, which were shown to them, namely to be desired, and sent, namely to be eaten, even from a necessary desire, that is, a very pressing one, might be turned away, that is, so that they would no longer desire the meats of Egypt and a return to Egypt: in the Psalm: "They desired with desire in the desert"; likewise Numbers 11: "The people burned with desire for meats," although it is said in Sirach 18: "Go not after your desires, and turn away from your own will." But these, namely the children of Israel, having been made destitute in a short time, that is, for a little time, because their want lasted but briefly: for God quickly came to their aid, according to that verse of Isaiah 65: "Before they cry out, I will hear them"; destitute, that is, lacking food: had tasted a new food, that is, an unusual food, or of unusual birds.

For it was fitting etc., as if to say: and rightly was it so done; for it was fitting, that is, it was opportune, for them, namely the Egyptians, without any excuse indeed, namely of the fault for which they were being punished: Romans 1: "So that they are without excuse"; likewise ibid. 2: "Therefore you are without excuse, O man": that destruction should come upon them, namely the torment of death-dealing punishment from the supreme Judge for their crushing; Job 18: "Let confidence be torn from his tent, and let destruction tread upon him like a king"; likewise Proverbs 29: "For a man who despises the one who corrects him with a stiff neck, sudden destruction shall come upon him." For them, I say the Egyptians, exercising tyranny, that is, cruel dominion over the children of Israel, oppressing them with harsh labors, as is clear from Exodus 1 and 5, and by drowning their boys in the river, as is clear from Exodus 1. But for these, namely the Israelites, only to show, supply: it was fitting: in what manner their enemies would be destroyed, so that thus, having seen their punishment, they might be corrected, according to that passage of Proverbs 19: "When the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become wiser"; likewise ibid. 21: "When the pestilent man is punished, the little one will become wiser."

He says therefore: For indeed, as if to say: I have rightly said: but for these only to show etc.; for indeed, that is, because: when upon them, namely the children of Israel, there came the fierce wrath of beasts, namely from the displeasure of the heavenly Judge, whom they had offended by murmuring against him, as is clear from Numbers 21: "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people." By the bites of perverse serpents, because they were effective for harming, they were being destroyed, namely some of them: whence 1 Corinthians 10: "Do not murmur, as some of them murmured and perished by serpents."

But not forever, that is, without end, such that eternal punishment would be joined to temporal punishment, as in Herod, Acts 12. Your wrath, that is, the effect of your wrath, not the emotion of your mind, according to that saying: "I am the Lord, and I am not angered"; remained, namely in the children of Israel: Habakkuk 3: "When you are angered, you will remember mercy." But for correction, not for condemnation, in a short time, that is, for a brief period, they were troubled, that is, afflicted, namely outwardly, and from that troubled, inwardly: Isaiah 54: "For a brief moment I forsook you, etc., and in a moment of indignation I hid my face briefly from you, and in everlasting mercy I have had compassion on you"; Jeremiah 30: "But I will not make a complete end of you, but I will chastise you in judgment, lest you seem innocent to yourself." Having a sign of salvation; The Gloss: "The bronze serpent set up as a sign, by the sight of which they were healed," as is clear from Numbers 21. For a remembrance of the commandment of your law, namely, to be kept, according to that saying of the Psalm: "And they are mindful of his commandments, to do them," just as a negligent boy is whipped so that he may repeat and fix his lesson.

It is read in the aforementioned book of Numbers that the murmuring children of Israel, in the thirty-fifth encampment, because of the weariness of the journey and labor, and the lack of food, aroused the anger of the Lord against themselves. Therefore, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and after many had been wounded and killed by them, they came to Moses and said: We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray that He may take the serpents away from us. Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord spoke to him: Make a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign; whoever is bitten and looks at it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign, and when those who had been bitten looked at it, they were healed (Num. 21:6-9). But it must be carefully considered what is said: For he who was healed was not healed by what he saw, but by You, the Savior of all. For it was not the bronze serpent, which was set up as a sign in a figurative way, that saved them, but the ritual of the mystery, that is, the death of Christ, who was prefigured in that serpent; He Himself saved the human race: for all these things happened to them as a figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. But what does it mean that wounds in men caused by the bite of wild serpents were healed by the raising up and looking at the bronze serpent, unless it is that now, in the type of the Savior, who on the wood of the cross triumphed over the wild and ancient serpent, the venom of the Devil is overcome? So that whoever truly and clearly beholds the image of the Son of God and His passion is preserved. For this is also signified by the words of the Lord Himself, saying: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:14-15). Therefore, rightly was it a bronze serpent that was suspended on the wood; for bronze is usually more durable than other metals, and openly the bronze serpent was suspended on the wood, so that the Lord might be signified both as dead in the serpent and as eternal in the bronze; namely, that He might be shown as dead through His humanity, and yet, as it were, bronze, because of His divinity.

And I rightly said: having a sign, not a cause: for he who turned, namely either inwardly through repentance toward God, or outwardly toward the bronze serpent to look upon it: not through that which was seen, namely by the bodily eye, was healed, that is, not through the bronze serpent; but through you, the Savior of all, signified through the said serpent: John 3: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up"; just as also a dead man could not be raised by the staff of Elisha, which did not obey him in this, but through him personally, as is found in 4 Kings 4.

There is a priestly and Levitical order which is to show the way to the people of God who have gone out from Egypt. For it is they who teach the people to go out from Egypt, that is, from the errors of the world, and to pass through the vast wilderness, that is, to traverse the various kinds of temptations and not to be harmed by the serpents, which are the bites of demons, and to avoid the poisons of evil suggestions. And "if" perhaps "someone has been struck" in the wilderness "by a serpent," that they may show him the "bronze serpent" hung upon the cross, "which whoever shall look upon," that is, whoever believes in him whose figure that serpent displayed, shall through this flee from the diabolical poisons.

In this moreover, namely in the affliction of the Egyptians and the easy liberation of the Israelites, you showed, that is, you willed to show, although they did not see; whence they cannot complain except about the blindness of their own eyes, just as if the shining sun were shown to someone with bleary eyes and he did not see it, according to Augustine: to our enemies, namely the Egyptians; for the wicked are enemies of the just, namely actively, not passively, because they hate the just, although they are loved by them; you showed, I say, that you are, namely the only one, who delivers from all evil: in the Psalm: "Many are the tribulations of the just, and from all these the Lord will deliver them."

On the contrary: Why are many not delivered from evil?

It must be said that this is to be understood thus: he delivers all who are delivered, just as that passage in John 1, "He enlightens every man," etc., namely, who is enlightened.

But the mention of locusts in the eighth place, I think, through this kind of plague or detractor, or always by its own discord, is intended to signify the inconsistency of the human race. For the locust, although it has no king, as Scripture says, leads its army in order with one line (Prov. 30:27); but men, although made rational by God, have neither been able to govern themselves in an orderly manner, nor have they patiently endured the moderation of God the King.

For those, namely the Egyptians who did not worship you, the bites of locusts and flies killed: of locusts, Exodus 10, and of flies, Exodus 8: killed, literally some of them, although it is not read there expressly. And no healing was found for their life, namely of the Egyptians, as for the children of Israel from the serpents; in the Psalm: "There is no health in my flesh because of your wrath," etc.; Jeremiah 30: "Your wound is incurable, your affliction is grievous." Because they were worthy, namely as their merits demanded, by such things, namely by vile animals, to be destroyed: whence Augustine on John: "The Lord could have subdued the proud people of Pharaoh with bears and lions, but he sent flies and the vilest creatures, so that their pride might be tamed." For the same reason men are also afflicted by fleas: whence Augustine: "Why do you puff yourself up, human pride? Resist the fleas, so that you may sleep."

A distinction must be noted, because just as punishment sometimes tests and admonishes the elect, so that they may avoid sins and persist in works of righteousness, and diligently observe the faith of God and the keeping of His commandments, so also correction applied to the depraved casts them down and destroys them, since no correction or worthy change is found in them; therefore, by the will of God, small animals killed the idolaters, and conversely, the Israelites, worshippers of the true God, could not be exterminated by the venom of serpents, because the Lord knows how to rescue the virtuous from temptation, but to keep the wicked for torment on the day of judgment.

But your sons, that is, the Israelites; Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn" — sons, I say, your sons, by faith, according to that passage in John 1: "He gave them power to become sons of God, to those who believe in his name"; nor did the teeth of venomous serpents overcome them, that is, of fiery serpents; Deuteronomy 8: "Your guide was in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there were serpents burning with their breath, and scorpions, and the dipsas snake." He speaks here of the good, who are sons of God, not of the wicked.

I said well: but your sons, that is, the Israelites, the teeth of venomous serpents, that is, the bites of fiery serpents, did not overcome them: for your mercy, that is, the effect of your mercy, coming upon them, healed them: in the Psalm: "If I said: My foot has slipped: your mercy, O Lord, helped me"; Jeremiah 33: "I will close up your scar and give you health"; "for he wounds and he heals," Job 5.

For in the remembrance of your words, that is, through the recompense of your commandments, they were being destroyed, some of them, namely, and they were quickly healed, or saved, namely others who were penitent, having seen the death or punishment of others; according to that verse of the Psalm: "When he slew them," that is, some of them, "they sought him," that is, others who were penitent. Or: the same ones were being destroyed, that is, severely punished, and were quickly healed, lest falling into deep, that is, profound, falling, that is, falling inwardly, forgetfulness, namely of despair; namely on account of the delay of help and remedy; they might not be able to make use of your help, that is, of your liberating grace, they, I say, having been made unworthy of your mercy on account of despair; Proverbs 18: "The wicked man, when he has come into the depth of sins, shows contempt"; in the Psalm: "They forgot God, who saved them," etc.

Note that he says those harmed by serpents were not healed by bandages and the work of doctors, but by the Word of the Lord, that is, the Son through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made: whose power rules everywhere, and does whatever he wills in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths; he himself heals bodies, he himself saves both bodies and souls from spiritual beasts, that is, evil spirits, nor is there anyone who can resist his will (Esther 13:11).

Again, they did not know the Physician. Since the disease had come from a crime against sovereignty, the punishment had to be very heavy. No one, then, could heal, unless he were God and man: He alone would have the power of satisfaction, in whom there would be no concupiscence, and who would have been born, not through the law of nature, but from the Virgin. That He indeed was the Physician, He demonstrated through examples of virtue, documents of truth, incitements to love, and saving remedies. This Physician heals all things: For indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but Your all-healing Word, O Lord! the Word who was incarnate and crucified and who suffered, and later sent the Holy Spirit into the depths of our hearts.

This, then, is the medicine: the grace of the Holy Spirit. Philosophy is unable to grasp such a Physician and such a grace. Why should you glory, you whose science is unable to know your disease, or its cause, or its Physician, or its remedy?

There is no salvation except through wisdom. For "indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but Your all-healing word, O Lord!" But wisdom is neither disclosed nor obtained except through faith.

And I said rightly: in the remembrance of your words: for indeed, meaning "because"; neither herb, that is, a potion made from herbs, which is taken internally by drinking; nor poultice, that is, a plaster, which is applied externally upon the place of pain; healed them, namely from the bites of serpents. But your word, O Lord, that is, the command concerning the making and gazing upon the bronze serpent, Numbers 21; which, namely the word, heals all things, namely those things which are healed: whence here there is an accommodated distribution: in the Psalm: "He sent his word and healed them." Or: the Word, uncreated, that is, the Son, of whom John 1 says: "In the beginning was the Word"; this Word, according to the Gloss, "heals bodies and saves souls from spiritual beasts"; Matthew 4: "Healing every disease and every infirmity."

Illness of the soul is much more serious than that of the body. Bodily ills cause temporal death, but illness of the spirit brings eternal death. Indeed, when in paradise Adam transgressed the divine commandment, he did not contract an illness of the body but an illness of the soul, by which he would have perished eternally if the grace of Christ had not rescued him from death. Listen to the prophet who proclaims this, when he says, "By his wounds we have all been healed." The wounds and the passion of the Lord were the remedy that healed humanity. In fact, illnesses of the soul are not healed by the medical arts but only by the grace of Christ. The fever of sin and the wounds of guilt are sicknesses of the soul, which do not enter the body from the outside but from within the soul. These wounds of the soul are not healed by human beings but by God—not by the incision of an earthly knife but by the sword of the divine Word that penetrates into the depths of the soul. Listen to the prophet declare that "it was not an herb or an ointment that cured them but your word, O Lord, which heals everyone." And the words of David, "He sent his word to heal them." And rightly the prophet prays to the Lord about the iniquity of the Jewish people in these terms, "Is there no balm in Gilead, no physician there? Why therefore does not the health of your people recover?" The prophet does not speak of just any balm but of a heavenly remedy, nor of a human physician but of a physician who is God.

For you are, O Lord. I said rightly that your word heals all things: for you are, O Lord, namely the Creator of all things, who have power over life and death, that is, of giving life and putting to death, according to that passage of 1 Kings 2: "The Lord kills and makes alive," etc.; likewise Ecclesiasticus 11: "Death and life are from God."

But to the contrary: Because it is said above in chapter 1: "God did not make death."

I respond: it must be said that although God is not the meritorious or efficient cause of death, nevertheless with respect to the privation itself he has power over death, because, although he is not the cause of evils, he nevertheless has power over evils, because from them he knows how to and is able to bring forth good.

To that which is objected, that death is not from God: it must be said that in death there is a privation of life, which is nothing, and therefore does not have an efficient cause, but rather a deficient one: likewise, there is therein a penal affliction, which is something and is from God, who justly inflicts it upon sinners by the merit of their sins.

And you lead down to the gates of death, that is, to the final extremity of life, and you lead back, namely by healing, as is evident in the case of Hezekiah, Isaiah 38.

But man etc., as if to say: thus you can put to death and give life: but, for "however": man can kill himself but not give life, and this is what it says: but man, namely the sinner, called man from the earth: indeed kills, that is, certainly, through the malice of sin, his own soul, on account of which it is said in the Psalm: "He who loves iniquity hates his own soul"; for he is a murderer of himself: for sin is a two-edged sword, for it kills both body and soul: Sirach twenty-one: "All iniquity is like a two-edged broadsword." And when the spirit has departed, namely from the body through death, it will not return, namely to the body in the present age; Job ten: "Before I go, and return not, to the land of darkness" etc.; likewise 2 Kings fourteen: "We all die, and like waters we flow down upon the earth, which do not return."

But to the contrary: Because it is said in the Psalm: "His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth."

It must be said that this is understood of the return to the earth of one's natural habitation and body by nature: but that Psalm passage [speaks] of the return to one's earth according to the justice of retribution, and this by divine power.

Nor will he call back, namely man, the soul, separated from the body, which has been received, in its place, namely in glory or in punishment; Sirach eleven: "Wherever the tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, there it shall be."

Man, through malice and wickedness, that is, by his own will and the effect of wrongful action, kills the soul. Therefore someone has said: no one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the originator of his own crime or consents to the crimes of others. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt.

By the hatred of man the soul is slain, that is, by the wickedness of one's own will and the effect of evil deeds. Therefore someone has said: No one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the inventor of his own crime, or the supporter and encourager of another's wickedness. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt.

But your hand, that is, your power, both in the present and in the future, both in life and in death: it is impossible to escape: Job ten: "There is no one who can deliver from your hand"; therefore it is said in the Psalm: "Where shall I go from your spirit, and where shall I flee from your face?" "For the hand of the Lord is not shortened," nay rather it is most far-reaching and contains all things, according to that Psalm: "In your hand, O Lord, are all the ends of the earth."

For denying etc. I rightly said: it is impossible to escape your hand: for the ungodly who denied knowing you, that is, the Egyptians, namely Pharaoh with his servants: denying, I say, by word, whence Exodus 5: "I know not the Lord, and I will not let Israel go"; and in deed those of whom it is said in Titus 1: "They profess to know God, but in their deeds they deny him." By the strength of your arm, that is, by your mighty power: Exodus 15: "Who is like you among the mighty, O Lord?" etc.; they were scourged: Exodus 6: "I will bring them out from the prison of the Egyptians with an outstretched arm"; Exodus 15: "Your right hand has struck the enemy"; with strange waters: and, in place of "that is": with hailstones, for hail is like frozen water, and rains, which are like flowing waters, they suffered persecution; Exodus 9: "Pharaoh seeing that the rain and hail had ceased"; and by fire, that is, falling simultaneously, they were consumed: Exodus 9: "Hail and fire mingled together were carried"; likewise in the Psalm: "He turned their rains into hail, burning fire in their land."

When Moses compelled Pharaoh by the word of the Lord to allow the children of Israel to depart from Egypt so that they might sacrifice to the Lord in the desert, Pharaoh, hardened in his profane speech, replied: I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go (Ex. 5). Therefore, he was struck with various plagues together with his people, among which he was struck by hail and fire at the same time, as it is read in Exodus: for hail and fire were mingled and carried together, and struck everything that was in the fields, from man to beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the region (Ex. 9:24-25). Nor is it surprising that two contrary elements, that is, fire and hail, struck together, since all things obey the will of their Creator, and there is no opposition where the divine majesty commands. For at one time the fire was gentle so that the animals sent by the wicked would not be burned, but so that those who saw would know that they suffered persecution by the judgment of God. And at another time, fire burned above the power of water everywhere to destroy the wicked nation of the land. Therefore, just as it is read in the book of Genesis that the Lord rained fire and sulfur from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the wicked (Gen. 19), and in Exodus it is told that a mixture of hail and fire struck the wicked (Ex. 9), so in the book of Numbers it is mentioned that fiery serpents destroyed the rebellious and murmurers, so that the stubborn might recognize that every creature is prepared for the vengeance of the wicked, when they do not fear to rebel against the commands of their Creator (Num. 21).

I rightly said: by fire with hailstones: for what was wonderful: namely, that a contrary was not destroyed by its contrary, although it is written in Sirach 3: "Water extinguishes a burning fire"; whence it follows: In water, which extinguishes all things, namely things set ablaze, fire prevailed the more, that is, it acted more powerfully together with water. For the whole world is an avenger, that is, an instrument of vengeance: an avenger, I say, the whole world of the just, that is, avenging the just: whence above in chapter 5: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless." Through the aforesaid text he indicates that the punishment of the Egyptians was carried out not according to the order of nature, but according to the order of divine justice avenging the Israelites against the Egyptians, who had oppressed them, Exodus 1; the Gloss: "It is not surprising that hail and fire are carried mingled together, because all things consent to the will of the Creator."

For at a certain time, as if to say: it did not always act uniformly: for, in place of "but": at a certain time the fire was made gentle, namely until the animals of those who feared the words of Moses were called back or brought in from the fields: Exodus nine: "Send and gather your livestock and all that you have in the fields," or field: and afterwards: "He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and livestock flee into the houses." It was made gentle, I say, lest the animals that had been sent to the ungodly be burned, that is, the livestock divinely given to them. Nor only for this reason, but also, so that they themselves, seeing the aforesaid interruption, might know, namely through it, that by the judgment of God, not by natural occurrence, they suffer persecution. Likewise, according to the Gloss, "that they might recognize that every creature is prepared to avenge the injury done to the Creator"; in the Psalm: "The Lord shall be known executing judgments," who, as Bernard says, is not known when suffering injuries. And it should be noted that the Lord punished the Sodomites by fire, Genesis nineteen, without gentleness, and this because there were no good people among them; but the Egyptians by fire with gentleness, because the children of Israel were in Egypt, who were good.

Here wisdom commemorates for the people of Israel in the desert the manna, the sweetest and healthiest food given from heaven, so that they might render greater thanks to their Redeemer, who not only mercifully freed them from their enemies when they were oppressed, but also generously fed them with heavenly provisions when they were in need (Ex. 16). If anyone thinks it necessary to inquire what is meant by saying that snow and ice withstand the force of fire and do not melt, let him understand that it was not made known there, that two contrary elements, namely fire and frozen water, struck the wicked in harmony, or that some quality of the heavenly food given as food to the people of God was expressed there, which endured the force of fire where it was necessary, and yet, when it was necessary, melted in the heat of the sun. It is also read in Exodus that in the wilderness appeared something white, small, and cut like hair, resembling frost upon the ground, the taste of which was like flour mixed with honey, nor did it suffer any loss from the force of fire. Therefore it is written in the book of Numbers: Now the manna was like coriander seed, the color of bdellium; and the people went about gathering it, grinding it in mills or pounding it in mortars, cooking it in pots and making cakes of it, the taste of which was like bread made with oil. But when the sun rose, it melted (Num. 11:7-15). Mystically, just as in the scourge of hail and fire there is a harsh rebuke, so divine Scripture is understood to torment sinners, so also in the heavenly food there is a heavenly comfort, which daily refreshes the righteous and those devoted to God. Otherwise, manna signifies that bread which in the Gospel says: I am the bread of life who came down from heaven, and I give life to the world. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And again: The bread, he says, which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. And again: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn. 6:35-40). Whoever therefore truly attains to the participation of this bread will undoubtedly possess eternal life without end. Therefore, the reprobate are tormented by spiritual hunger, and the elect are healthily fed by the heavenly bread: the former are daily prepared by various labors for future punishment; the latter, however, are daily nourished by divine help for eternal life. Which the Prophet also testifies, saying: Many are the sorrows of the wicked; but mercy shall surround those who hope in the Lord (Ps. 32:10).

And at a certain time, namely when the animals had been called back, in water beyond its power, its natural power, namely, because by a miracle, the fire blazed forth on every side, namely throughout the whole land of Egypt, so as to destroy the wicked nation of the land, that is, the Egyptians, who were an earthly nation, not a heavenly one; against which, First Corinthians fifteen: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear the image of the heavenly."

Instead of which evils, that is, in place of which evils, contrariwise, with the food of Angels, that is, manna, which was prepared by the Angels, you nourished your people, etc.; whence in the Psalm: "Man ate the bread of Angels"; or because it prefigured the food of Angels, namely "the living bread that came down from heaven," John six. You nourished, I say, your people, namely the children of Israel: for with this food he nourished them "until they reached the borders of the promised land," as is found in Exodus sixteen. And ready bread, that is, refreshment, from heaven, namely descending from the airy heaven, according to that verse of the Psalm: "He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them the bread of heaven"; you furnished to them without labor.

On the contrary: Because it is said in Numbers eleven: "The people went about and, gathering it, ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooking it in a pot and making from it cakes as it were of the taste of bread made with oil."

I respond: without labor of acquiring through agriculture, but not without labor of preparing. We indeed have labor in acquiring and preparing: Genesis 3: "In the sweat of your face."

Having in itself every delight, that is, the effect of every delightful food, producing a similar delight in the one eating: and the sweetness of every taste, that is, every pleasant taste: for it tasted to each person just as he wished, as Gregory says in the sixth book of the Morals.

But against this: It is said in Numbers 11 that it had the taste "as of bread made with oil."

It must be said that by its own nature it had a determined and most sweet taste, namely like the taste "of fine flour with honey"; but by divine grace it had diverse tastes, namely according to the diversity of desires, as the Gloss touches upon on that passage of 1 Corinthians 10: "They all ate the same spiritual food."

But against this: Because if it had the taste desired by anyone, then they would not have desired the meats of Egypt, nor would their soul have been nauseated over the manna as over a most light food, yet the opposite is read in Numbers 21.

It must be said, according to the Gloss: The good found the best taste therein, but the wicked were disgusted. Or it must be said that they required in food not only the delight of taste with respect to the palate, but also of color with respect to sight, and of odor with respect to smell. Jerome: Birds are cooked before the rich in their own vapors, so that they may be refreshed by sight and aroma, just as the luxurious are with wine, yet it is said in Proverbs 23: "Do not gaze upon wine when it turns yellow, when it sparkles in the glass," etc.

As a certain wise man says about the sweetness of manna: You provided them with ready bread from heaven without labor, containing every delight and all the sweetness of taste (Wis. 16:20). For manna indeed contained every delight and all sweetness of taste, because, in the mouths of the spiritual, it gave flavor according to the will of those who ate, since the divine word is both suitable for all and not inconsistent with itself, adapting to the capacity of the hearers; and when each chosen person profitably understands it according to his own measure, he transforms the manna received into a flavor of his own choosing.

For your substance, that is, your power of sustaining, and your sweetness, that is, your power of delighting, which you have toward your children, namely sustaining them through the substance of the food and delighting them through the taste of the same food, you showed etc.; in the Psalm: "You prepared in your sweetness for the poor, O God"; you showed, I say, by bestowing upon them the aforesaid food that sustains and delights. And serving, namely the aforesaid food or bread, the will of each one, namely of those eating, it was turned to what each one wished, that is, to whatever taste: for it had, as was said, one determined taste by nature, but various tastes by divine grace.

Mystically, by the manna Christ was fittingly signified under the Sacrament of the altar, first because he himself is the bread of angels, namely of priests, according to that passage of Malachi 2: "He is the angel of the Lord of hosts."

Second, because it is prepared from heaven, that is, because it is confected by heavenly power; John 6: "I am the living bread, who came down from heaven"; in the Psalm: "You prepared their food, for thus is its preparation."

Third, because those eating from it according to their desire, that is, their devotion, are refreshed, according to that word of the Psalm: "You have granted him the desire of his soul"; likewise in the Psalm: "He brought them their desire, they were not defrauded of their desire."

Fourth, because with it the dew of grace descends and is given, just as dew also descended with the manna, as is found in Numbers eleven. And therefore this bread is called eucharist: eucharist is interpreted as good grace.

Fifth, because, just as the manna appeared like "white coriander seed," so also Christ is received under a white cloud: Apocalypse fourteen: "Behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like the Son of Man."

Sixth, because it was gathered on six days and not on the Sabbath, so Christ is received under the Sacrament in the present, but in the future Sabbath, of which Isaiah sixty-six says: "There shall be Sabbath after Sabbath," He will be seen openly: First Corinthians thirteen: "But then face to face"; likewise First John three: "We shall see Him as He is." Seventh, because they were nourished by that food in the desert for forty years until the entrance into the promised land, so until the end of the world in the desert of this world the faithful of the Church are nourished, according to that word of Matthew twenty-eight: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age."

Therefore, the substance of the Father is designated as the Son by the prophetic oracles long ago, as Solomon says: For you showed your substance and sweetness, which you have for your sons (Wis. 16:21), which appeared to have flowed down to the people of Israel from heaven in the form and image of heavenly bread. The Lord Himself explained this in the Gospel, saying: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you bread from heaven (Jn. 6:32); clearly designating Himself as the bread when He says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven (Ibid. 41). Of whom also the prophet David says: Man ate the bread of angels (Ps. 77:25). For in order to show even more clearly the unity of substance and equality of divinity between the Father and the Son, He Himself says in the Gospel: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And: I and the Father are one (Jn. 10:38, 30). This refers not only to the unity of will, but to one and the same substance.

Where they say that the Son was not born from the substance of the Father. But if they should say: the Son was not born from the paternal substance, but generated from another substance. Response. We also, who confess the Father and the Son to be of one substance, have taught by divine authority that the Son is from the substance of God the Father, as the prophet Jeremiah says: "Take up mourning over the minds, and lamentation over the paths of the desert, because they have failed, since they are not men; because they were unwilling to hear the voice of my substance, from the birds of the sky even to the beasts they have fallen away in mind" (Jer. 9:10). Likewise there: "Who has stood in the substance of the Lord, and will see the word of God? Who has given ear and heard" (Jer. 23:18)? And there: "If they had stood in my substance, and if they had heard my words, and if they had taught my people, I would have turned them away from their most evil pursuits" (Jer. 23:22). And the Apostle: "Who, being the radiance of glory and the form of his substance" (Heb. 1:3). Likewise he himself: "For we have become partakers of God; let us hold fast the beginning of his substance" (Heb. 3:14). And in Solomon: "My substance is my sweetness" (Wis. 16:21). From this, then, recognize that he who is called the substance of God the Father is not believed to be foreign to that same substance.

He says therefore: But snow etc. It has been said that fire prevailed more in water: but snow and ice, that is, hail, sustained the force of fire, that is, heat, which is its quality of active power. And they did not melt, that is, they did not liquefy; whence Exodus nine: "The Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt; and hail and fire were carried mingled together"; so that they might know, namely the Israelites, that the fruits of the enemies, that is, of the Egyptians, burning fire was destroying, namely by heat: flashing in hail and rain, namely by splendor. "The flax and the barley were damaged, because the barley was green and the flax was already putting forth pods," Exodus nine.

But this again etc. It should be known that the word this can be of the ablative case, so that it is expounded thus: this, for this reason; or of the nominative, so that it is read thus: but this again, supply: was done, so that the just might be nourished, namely the children of Israel. The fire also forgot its own power, namely by not destroying the fruits of the land of the just, as is clear from Exodus nine, where it is read that "only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, the hail did not fall." So also the fire forgot the force of its power when it did not harm the three just youths in the furnace, as is clear from Daniel three.

For the Spirit did not beatify the dove, or the wind, or the fire, and join them for ever to Himself and to His person in unity and "fashion." Nor, again, is the nature of the Holy Spirit mutable and changeable; so that these things were not made of the creature, but He himself was turned and changed first into one and then into another, as water is changed into ice. But these things appeared at the seasons at which they ought to have appeared, the creature serving the Creator, and being changed and converted at the command of Him who remains immutably in Himself, in order to signify and manifest Him in such way as it was fit He should be signified and manifested to mortal men. Accordingly, although that dove is called the Spirit; and in speaking of that fire, "There appeared unto them," he says, "cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance;" in order to show that the Spirit was manifested by that fire, as by the dove; yet we cannot call the Holy Spirit both God and a dove, or both God and fire, in the same way as we call the Son both God and man.

For your creature, namely whatsoever creature, serving you its maker, that is, your will, by which you made all things, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Whatsoever he willed, he did": grows fierce, that is, is vehemently moved and stirred up, unto torment, of punishment, against the unjust, that is, your enemies. And is made milder, that is, harmless or innocuous, to do good for those who trust in you, that is, for the just: for creatures obey those who obey God, as is clear in Joshua 10, where it is read how the sun stood still at the command of Joshua, and they rebel against those who rebel: whence above in chapter five: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless."

By this sentence all the wicked and sinners are confused, because while the rest of creation serves its Creator, they alone are found to resist His will and commands. But since no one can resist His will, they are deservedly scourged and corrected by the harmony of all creatures, and if they do not repent nor improve themselves, they will be handed over to be tormented with perpetual punishments. But for the good alone true goods are prepared, while for the wicked unending torments are appointed.

Our present inquiry then is, whether the angels were then the agents both in showing those bodily appearances to the eyes of men and in sounding those words in their ears, when the sensible creature itself, serving the Creator at His beck, was turned for the time into whatever was needful; as it is written in the book of Wisdom, "For the creature serveth Thee, who art the Maker, increaseth his strength against the unrighteous for their punishment, and abateth his strength for the benefit of such as put their trust in Thee. Therefore, even then was it altered into all fashions, and was obedient to Thy grace, that nourisheth all things according to the desire of them that longed for Thee." For the power of the will of God reaches through the spiritual creature even to visible and sensible effects of the corporeal creature. For where does not the wisdom of the omnipotent God work that which He wills, which "reacheth from one end to another mightily, and sweetly doth order all things"?

For this reason, namely because the creature serves the Creator, and then, namely when the children of Israel were fed with manna in the desert, into all things, that is, into the flavor of all desired things, was transfigured, namely that creature itself, namely the manna: your grace, the nurse of all, that is, your gratuitous good will, so that it is understood of uncreated grace: Baruch 4: "You have saddened your nurse, Jerusalem"; they served, that is, they obeyed: The Gloss: "Let sinners be confounded here, because while all other creatures serve their Maker, they themselves resist. Whence they are scourged by the concord of all creatures." They served, I say, according to the will, to be fulfilled, namely, of those who were desired by you, namely, beloved with a special love, as the children of Israel: Deuteronomy 7: "The Lord your God has chosen you, that you might be his peculiar people from among all the peoples that are upon the earth."

Therefore, the people of God in the desert were comforted by various support and cherished by divine mercy. Manna rained down for them from heaven, most abundant water was given to them from the rock, they were fed with the flesh of birds, their garments were not worn out, nor were their shoes consumed; during the day the sun did not burn them, because He led them in a cloud by day, and all night in the illumination of fire, so that they might become more devoted to their Creator, who helped them freely by providing for every necessity. For this reason He cared for them temporarily, so that they might love and understand Him perpetually, according to the mention of this place, since it is not the fruits of birth that feed men, but the word of God preserves those who believe in Him. Moses also proves this in Deuteronomy, saying: He afflicted you with want, and gave you the food of manna, which you and your fathers did not know, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Your garment with which you were clothed did not fail through age, and your foot was not worn out. Behold, it is the fortieth year, so that you may reflect in your heart, because just as a man instructs his son, so the Lord your God has instructed you, that you may keep the commandments of your God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him; for the Lord your God will bring you into a good land (Deut. 8:3–7). But because they were always ungrateful and clung to figures, they did not wish to receive the truth itself coming to them; therefore, all things were transferred to the fruits of the Holy Church; for all things happened to them in figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, as Paul also clearly proved, writing to the Corinthians, saying: For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-4). For Christ is the foundation of the whole law and the truth of the figures; whoever believes in Him has fulfilled the whole law; but whoever does not believe, as a transgressor of the law, will perish eternally.

That your sons might know, namely the Israelites, according to that passage of Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn"; Isaiah 1: "I have nourished sons"; whom you loved, O Lord, namely with eternal and temporal love: Malachi 1: "I have loved you, says the Lord." Might know, I say, that it is not the fruits of birth, that is, not natural fruits, born from the earth, according to that passage of Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth," etc., that nourish men, namely insofar as they are men, that is, according to that by which they differ from beasts, namely according to the rational power or part of the soul. But your word, that is, the created word, that is, your commandment: Matthew 4: "Man does not live by bread alone," etc. Or: the Word, uncreated, that is, the Son, of whom John 17 says: "Your word is truth"; ibid. 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life"; preserves those who have believed in you: Deuteronomy 8: "The Lord gave you manna as food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

For that which could not be destroyed by fire, namely the manna, because it hardened at fire, so that small cakes were made from it, as is clear from Numbers 11; when warmed by even a faint ray of the sun, immediately melted away, that is, it liquefied, as is clear from Exodus 16. Hence it was necessary that it be gathered in the morning.

We have already said above that the manna, which endured the odor of fire, would melt at the heat of the sun; but now, since he repeats the same mystery, we believe it is enough to speak of its meaning. For that figurative food fed our fathers in a historical sense, but it melted at the rising of the true sun, that is, at the birth of Christ it was dissolved for spiritual use and was transformed into a heavenly ritual, so that we may anticipate the sun in blessings, that is, proclaim the divinity of Christ with eternal praises, saying with the evangelist John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God: all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made, etc. (Jn. 1:1-3). But at the rising of the light, that is, at the coming of the Savior, let us say: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. But let us see what follows concerning that carnal people.

That it might be known to all, namely through this sign, that one must rise before the sun, that is, before the rising of the sun, for your blessing, supply: to be obtained, that is, to receive and gather the manna, lest after the rising of the sun it be liquefied by the heat of the sun: thus, to obtain the blessing of grace, one must rise before the sun by keeping vigil in the morning, according to that passage of Proverbs 8: "Those who watch for me in the morning will find me"; in the Psalm: "In the morning I will stand before you and I will see," etc. And at the rising of the light, that is, as soon as the light rises, or toward the east, where the light rises, to adore you, namely for the reception of the manna itself: toward the east, I say, because, as Damascene says, everything that is better must be attributed to God; whence, because the east is the nobler part of the sky, therefore one must worship toward the east, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He who ascends above the heaven of heavens toward the east."

It should be noted, moreover, that in the fact that the manna melted at the rising of the sun, it was signified, according to the Gloss, that at the rising of Christ the old sacrament would cease, because "Christ is the end of the Law," Romans 10.

It seems to me that, to complete the argument of the prayer, it would not be out of place after this to discuss briefly the disposition and the attitude that one who prays must have, as well as the place where one should pray and the direction he should face (if circumstances permit) and the choice of the appropriate time for praying, and topics of this kind. Disposition refers to the soul, attitude to the body. Thus Paul says … one must pray "without anger or dissension." The attitude consists in "raising pure hands," expressions that seem to me to be derived from the psalms, which say, "May the raising of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." Regarding the place, "I want therefore that people pray in every place." Regarding the orientation, the Wisdom of Solomon says, "To make it known that one must rise before the sun to give you thanks and worship you before the dawning of the light."

For the hope of the ungrateful etc. Thus I said that it wasted away by the heat of the sun, and this as a sign of this, because the hope of the ungrateful will waste away etc. Or thus: I rightly said that it is necessary to worship at the rising of the light etc. for the reception of the aforesaid benefit, and this to avoid ingratitude, which is greatly harmful. For the hope of the ungrateful, namely of any impious person, or specifically "of the Jewish people," according to the Gloss, like winter ice: The Gloss: "Constricted by the cold of unbelief," according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "The cold north wind has blown, and ice has frozen from the water"; will waste away, that is, will be liquefied, that is, will be dissolved by the heat of the sun of justice on the day of judgment, whether particular or universal: in the Psalm: "As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God." It will waste away, I say, as regards the punishment of loss, namely by losing all goods, whatsoever he had or hoped for, namely the goods of grace and glory; and will perish utterly, that is, will perish in a twofold manner, that is, will suffer torment in body and soul, and this as regards the punishment of sense. It will perish utterly, I say, like superfluous water, that is, useless water, which is poured out or cast upon the ground: so also the ungrateful one, as useless, will be cast into hell, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-five: "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness." The hope of the ungrateful therefore will waste away and perish utterly etc.; whence above in chapter five: "The hope of the impious is like down which is carried away by the wind"; likewise Bernard: "Ingratitude is a scorching wind, drying up the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace."

No one hath so labored that we should be approved, and great, and in all things right-minded, as the God who made us. Wherefore both against our will He befriends us often, and without our knowledge oftener than not. And if thou marvel at what I have said, I point to this as having occurred not to any ordinary person, but to the blessed Paul. For even that blessed man, when in much danger and affliction, often besought God that the temptations might depart from him: nevertheless God regarded not his request, but his profit, and to signify this He said, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." So that before He hath told him the reason, He benefits him against his will, and without his knowing it.

Now what great thing doth He ask, in requiring us to be thankful in return for such tender care? Let us then obey, and everywhere keep up this. Since neither were the Jews by anything ruined so much, as by being unthankful; those many stripes, one after another, were brought upon them by nothing else than this; or rather even before those stripes this had ruined and corrupted their soul. "For the hope of the unthankful," saith one, "is like the winter's hoar frost;" it benumbs and deadens the soul, as that doth our bodies.

And this springs from pride, and from thinking one's self worthy of something. But the contrite will acknowledge grounds of thanksgiving to God, not for good things only, but also for what seem to be adverse; and how much soever he may suffer, will count none of his sufferings undeserved. Let us then also, the more we advance in virtue, so much the more make ourselves contrite; for indeed this, more than anything else is virtue.

For the hopes of the people, that is, the Jews' hope which they now have for the coming of their king, namely the Antichrist, melts away like winter ice, that is, it withers cold in unbelief without the fruit of righteousness, and will perish like surplus water, when all the tradition of their doctrine is deemed of no use; for our Savior, speaking to the apostles, says to us: Let them alone, they are blind leaders of the blind. Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up (Matt. 15:13-14).