Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1 part 4/10

But stretching forward to the things ahead, he who has begun to be illumined by the sun of righteousness and is ever taking on more of the illumination grows far from the things he has left behind, so that he cannot say that the former days were better than these.

And we say this offhand, though perhaps speaking truly.

In a certain way we accuse ourselves, that before this we lived well and gave heed to ourselves.

Far be it, he says, that such a thing should be, since the days that follow ought rather to be illumined.

The one who does not know—that is, 'what has happened to me, that the days before this were good?'—says this puzzling over it within himself.

Because you have not inquired about this in wisdom.

Why is it that I have gained this? I have become better than myself; I have received greater things in place of lesser.

This, then, is praise, the same as 'I press on according to the goal toward the prize of the upward calling,' so that in greater days, in addition to the promises, you may come to be upon a good land.

And you shall be long-lived upon the earth.

It is necessary to interpret these days thus:

This is your life and this is the length of your days:

to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength and with all your soul.

This is the life that is an age of days, the length.

Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and an advantage to those who behold the sun.

This he says: that if this wisdom—that which comes upon one for being wise—has come to make the soul better, it is good, provided it possesses the inheritance.

No one, he says, says 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit; and yet many call him Lord, but not effectually, not truly.

Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

This, then, is the one who truly says 'Lord Jesus' by participation in the Holy Spirit.

He who has been made in quality according to the Holy Spirit does the wisdom of Jesus.

And this man truly says 'Lord Jesus.'

Just as, then, no one says 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit, so no one is good in wisdom without possessing its inheritance—he who pursues it at random.

For there are some who seem prudent up to the point of speaking, but not up to the point of doing.

The wisdom that is with an inheritance, then, is the one that is put into practice and that bears the divine promise of belonging to the wise man.

And an advantage to those who behold the sun.

Something advantageous comes to those who behold the sun—this sensible sun.

They do not see the sun as other people do, but from its greatness and beauty they receive an impression and knowledge, and from that knowledge they come again to understand who the Sun of righteousness is.

It is possible also for those who behold the sun to receive something further of the very Sun of righteousness.

For in its shadow is wisdom, as the shadow of silver.

That shadow of wisdom is the wisdom of the world.

And, that I may make use of a scientific illustration, the shadow of the science of geometry is its diagrams.

For those sensible representations lead by the hand into the science.

By 'shadow' in these things he means not a drawing produced from a body that exists here, but that which precedes the outlines of the image.

The shadow of an image is a certain sketch expressed in a riddle.

He, then, who is about to take up silver receives a shadow;

I do not mean the sensible silver, but the word.

For in many places this too is shown, that silver is both praiseworthy and, according to the obvious sense, blameworthy—being called the tongue of the righteous.

The tongue of the righteous is silver refined by fire; he calls the righteous man's own tongue silver.

For whenever ... and activity ...

In another sense, those who possess silver are spoken of in a blameworthy way:

Call them rejected silver, he says, for the Lord has rejected them.

Silver given with guile is to be reckoned as a mere potsherd.

If this be so, he puts forward a cunning deceit; he does not thus possess it purified sevenfold, nor sanctified, nor made genuine by its own nature, as the one who possesses such a word tried by fire.

For this man does not put forward concerning wisdom a word that is earthy and has its nature from the earth …

First, it partook of an earthy nature.

For human wisdom is in shadow and upon the earth …

… is of …

He says that its shadow is in wisdom, just as the wisdom of silver, for in its own shadow is the wisdom.

If, then, wisdom be praised, its shadow also is most excellent.

What, then, is the being 'in the shadow of wisdom'? He who speaks while in the shadow of the Gospel, being himself in the archetypal Gospel, is greater than the one in the shadow of the Law.

And the abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will make alive the one who is from her.

And this too is good: ever to receive, in one's progress, the contemplation of wisdom.

It will make alive the one who is from her.

For this reason she is to be preferred and is good, because she makes the one who partakes of her a living being—the one who is from her, that is, the one who is wise according to her, he means—for wisdom is a cause of life.

It never brings death upon the soul.

Behold the works of God.

For who will be able to set in order him whom God shall have made crooked? Many even among the Greeks have opposed those who say that the cosmos came together of its own accord, such as Epicurus, and according to some, Democritus.

For those men suppose that this cosmos did not come into being from God, since they do not posit providence.

Since it is altogether necessary that he who provides for his own works should exercise providence, and God is the one who provides, he exercises providence over the cosmos which he himself made.

The very thing which he himself fashioned, this also he guards by providence, that it may have right order.

Some, then, bring this charge:

If the cosmos was made most excellent, what is the usefulness of there being basilisks? If, indeed, usefulness be granted at all, then both the basilisk and the other creatures must exist too—such as the rhinoceros.

And it pleases the one who plays the Epicurean rather to find fault than to praise.

For these reasons, indeed, he does away with providence altogether.

But there are those who contradict those who believe this godless doctrine.

Who could say to the cosmos that a part of the cosmos stands in need of setting straight? How else could it have come to be? How could it have been brought to completion? How could there be a cosmos without parts? If these things, which then are the parts? For they are not shown to be superfluous and excessive, if from them the cosmos is able to be constituted.

And we say, by a persuasive demonstration, that a cause able to convince may be given: that even the wild beasts were fashioned for uses.

And these things contribute to the hunt.

On a first and common right principle, it is possible to say that all things exist for the sake of human beings.

Many things out of these contribute to the help of those others, and …

We make use of them, lest for the rest we should further scrutinize some other, loftier argument—namely, that these things too came into being for the sake of human beings.

God, then, knows the causes of the things that have come to be, and he knows why he hid them.

In general, he says only this:

For what is this? Or for what is this? For all things shall be sought out in their season.

For what is this? Or for what is this? For all things were created for their use.

Give heed to the works of God—for this is what 'Behold' means—give heed also to their existence and to the principle according to which they are, and, if it be possible, to their cause.

Because who will be able to adorn it?

There are many things that contribute to perfect knowledge, and not all things can belong to all:

For instance, let me say, that God exists, or that the cosmos exists.

It suffices me, besides knowing that it exists, to know only this and what the name assigned to it signifies.

But the 'how it is' is not for everyone to know; nay, not even the one who fully knows how it is, is able to say it.

The 'is able' belongs to him who has reason and knowledge.

For indeed the … of the things contemplated …

And … the one who knows why it is, and that it is, and how it is …

And even among these, not everyone who knows that it is, knows also how it is and why.

Behold, then, the works of God; give heed to them; know what each of them is, and that it is, and what is the name assigned to it, and how they came to be present, and why.

For you will not yet have sufficient knowledge of the works of God, if you stumble at them, not thinking rightly.

Give heed, then, to the works of God:

The very things which for others wrought an occasion of stumbling will give you the knowledge both of the Maker and of the things that have been made.

Because who will be able to adorn it?

I made mention of the cosmos, that they bring a charge against it.

And the one who lays this to its charge deems it something that can be admitted:

Against him it is possible to say that:

Why do you bring a charge against certain parts of the cosmos? …

… these very things are the cosmos, without …

… so that the cosmos may not have charges laid against it … most of all these things are drawn toward the matters concerning providence.

For not only are the created things works of God, but also the things done according to his judgement in providence …

We were saying that … just now …

To the Creator of the cosmos who exercises providence, it appears fitting that the newborn should … die …

… but …

And the multitude blames these things.

As it ought to have come to be—set in order that which you suppose to be distorted.

No one, then, is able to say this.

And so it is possible for all to demolish in this way, without stating the constructions.

But demolition comes after construction, even if the human being, having come into being, does not by argument state the construction of the re-ordering.

But nevertheless nature is so constituted.

In Leviticus a law is laid down concerning lepers.

And the beginning of the law is this:

If ever anyone perceived that his own body had become leprous, he would come to the priest, and from the signs that man would show him to be either truly a leper, or not truly a leper but only suspected of it.

And it says that the priest, having examined the signs and found that it is leprosy, will pronounce him unclean—not that he himself effects the defilement, but that he has shown him to be such.

But if it does not clearly appear, he thus sets him apart for a certain number of days.

And after those it goes up.

If it remains persistent, the priest shall pronounce him unclean.

And a physician, moreover, discerns a disease in someone, if the body shows the signs of it.

And what he pronounces, he 'makes' incurable — that is, he declares it to be beyond healing.

So 'to make' does not in every case signify 'to bring about,' but sometimes it signifies 'to demonstrate.'

You have this too in the Gospel, said by the Jews: that 'you, being a man, make yourself God.'

For surely they do not mean this:

'you fabricate yourself into a god, though you are a man'; rather they mean: 'from the things you proclaim and promise to do, you demonstrate yourself to be God.'

In this way too we must understand his 'making himself equal to God,' since he called God his own Father.

Now offspring are equal to the one who begot them; and from truly saying that you have this One as your own Father, you demonstrate yourself to be God.

Similarly it must be understood when he says:

that He shows him to be such — as when 'He gives someone over to a reprobate mind' — not that He Himself effects it.

Their being given over shows them to be already in the reprobate state, and to have become such of their own accord.

So when God is said to pervert someone, He then shows that person to be already perverted.

The one, then, whom God has rejected and shown to be perverted, who is able to set right? 'But those who turn aside,' he says, 'to crooked ways, the Lord shall lead away together with the workers of iniquity.'

For surely He does not lead them away against their will together with the workers of iniquity; rather, since they turn aside by their own choice, He showed them to be such as they are.

'In a day of goodness, live in good; and in a day of evil, consider' — and this too is in agreement with the former.

'In the day of goodness'—

it is a day of goodness when virtue is present.

And this day is productive of life.

So then, so conduct your living as a good man, as one who partakes of life;

know that you possess the life-giving disposition.

'In a day of goodness'? It signifies the condition of the one who possesses it.

For often conditions too are signified by the name of seasons and times.

As it is possible, from the day of goodness, to be as in good, so in a day of evil it is possible to live basely.

But he kept silent about the 'basely,' so that the statement might not be too constraining.

This is in accord with that, in the way that 'to be prudent' derives from prudence and 'to be foolish' from folly — they bear an analogy, not a likeness.

So this agrees with that according to analogy, not according to quality or quantity, nor in respect of the attributes that accompany them.

'God has done this concerning speech, that man might find nothing after himself.'

'All things have I seen in the days of my vanity.'

God has established such a principle among existing things, so that man might find nothing of the things that will come to be after him.

Here he does away with human foreknowledge:

man finds nothing of the things that will succeed him.

But he is speaking of human matters.

For that the earnest man knows a blessed state will succeed him is surely clear to everyone.

Unless, indeed, the appellation 'man' placed here suggests another meaning, and by 'man' he means not the mortal rational animal, but the one who walks according to the flesh and its pleasures. Such a man, insofar as he is such, will discern nothing of the things that succeed him, inasmuch as he lives by sense-perception alone.

For sense-perception apprehends only the things that are present.

Since such a man belongs wholly to sense-perception, walking according to the flesh and its pleasures and the other vices, he does not know the things behind him, the things that succeed.

For to know this belongs to the intellect.

'So in my days of vanity I have seen all things.'

And by 'days of vanity' he means the days of this present life, upon which one ought not to set one's hope.

For it renders pitiable those who place their expectation upon it.

'There is a righteous man perishing in his righteousness;'

'and there is an ungodly man remaining in his evil.'

There is that which is righteous absolutely, and there is that which is righteous relative to someone.

So when the divine word commands us to pursue the righteous justly, it does not say to each one, 'justly pursue your own righteous,' but the absolutely and properly righteous.

And since every man appears righteous to himself, and there are ways that seem to a man to be right, but whose ends look toward the depth of Hades, one must not abide in that self-righteousness.

For it destroys the one who has it; it corrupts the one who possesses it.

So there is a righteous man perishing in his own righteousness.

But those who are truly righteous, concerning whom many things are written — such as:

'the righteous shall spend many years in wealth' — these do not abide in their own righteousness, they do not put confidence in their own righteousness.

Therefore he does not perish in righteousness, as the psalmist says:

'In your righteousness I shall live.'

Paul, indeed, being a great man and abiding in Christ, to whom also the revelation of the truth was given, says:

'I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not thereby justified.'

For it may be that I do not possess that which is truly righteous, and that I am not justified merely on this ground — that I am conscious of nothing harmful against myself.

And again holy David says:

'If I regarded iniquity in my heart, let not the Lord hearken to me.'

He took being heard by God, or not being heard, as a sign of having or not having iniquity.

It is possible also to take this in another way, according to a second interpretation:

it is possible for someone to perish by his own righteousness:

someone who thinks himself justified in his own righteousness, if .....

he comes to know that this is not the true and proper righteousness, he tears himself away from it and perishes out of his own righteousness.

But this perishing does not bring corruption.

For just as we say that the one who has fallen away from virtue has 'perished' to virtue, so we say that the one who has passed away from the opinion he formerly held has 'perished' from that opinion.

'And there is an ungodly man remaining in his own evil.'

living in evil, not condemning his own evil — whereas, in the case of the merely seeming-righteous, the righteous man had condemned that apparent righteousness before he was justified.

So is the sense the same? That man, although being in a righteous state — yet one lesser than the truly righteous — destroys himself away from it, in order that he may attain the truly righteous.

For instance, let someone hold a mistaken opinion, or let someone hold an opinion that is not mistaken, yet held without reason, without precision.

If he comes to know the precise truth, he destroys his former self, so that by that resolve he may attain the better state.

In what sense does he speak of 'perversion'? It is to demonstrate that such a man is perverse.

For instance, many people read the Scriptures yet understand them in a way they ought not,

and it was nothing else that perverted them than their own slothfulness.

Whenever, then, someone demonstrates this concerning such a man—namely, do not give heed to him—

he speaks erroneously in the things he says; one has shown him to be perverse, and has demonstrated him to be of such a kind.

'Do not be righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overly wise, lest you be confounded.'

'Do not be impious overmuch, and do not become hard, lest you die before your time.'

And it has often been said among us that the virtues are means, while the excesses and deficiencies of these are vices.

We used to say that prudence is a mean between craftiness and the maliciousness that belongs to folly.

And craftiness is an excess of prudence.

Yet in Scripture 'craftiness' is praised, whereas among the Greeks it is censured.

The craftiness that is censured Scripture also calls 'villainy':

'O you who are full of all deceit and all villainy, you son of the devil!'

And for the most part the New Testament likewise censures craftiness:

'For I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness…'—and again:

'But being crafty, I caught you by guile.'

And again, concerning the heretics he says that they walk in craftiness, adulterating the word of the Lord.

The deficiency of prudence is folly.

And concerning all the virtues this has often been contemplated by us.

We say, then, that superstition exceeds piety, while the impious man is deficient in it.

And so here too this is what he means:

Do not go outside of righteousness;

seek to render according to worth, and be careful of equity.

Many, at any rate, are accustomed to say:

'Do not be a stickler for strict justice; do not demand anything more than what is just.'

It is also possible to take it in this way, so that it may above all be understood according to the intent of Christianity:

If it is set before you either to be wronged or to do wrong, do not be overmuch righteous in exacting your right, since you are not wronged.

Choose rather to be wronged than to do wrong.

Do not, then, be overmuch righteous so as not to be wronged, but rather give yourself over.

For in this way neither will you do wrong, nor will he against whom you have a claim.

'And do not make yourself overly wise, lest you be confounded.'

Do not be wise beyond what is fitting; do not go outside what has been permitted to men.

Such are those who say that they know God as He knows Himself.

Therefore they are confounded, they become bereft of their senses, they are found outside all rational contemplation.

But this too can be said again in keeping with rational contemplation: that there is sometimes one who argues on behalf of not dissolving the discourse, until we come to the right point…

…that it is glorious to argue even with him.

But if someone in the act of being subtle seems to be succeeding, he ought not to persist in his subtlety.

'Do not make yourself overly wise'—do not step outside of being truly wise—'and you be confounded.'

'Do not be impious overmuch, do not become hard.'

We have said that there is something knowable of God, upon which, if we press, we are impious.

But that which God has revealed to us, if we know it and are willing to hold it, we suffer no harm.

Yet if we wish to comprehend even those things that are unattainable by us, we are confounded and become impious overmuch.

It is also possible to say this:

If ever some other matter appears difficult and hard to discover for us, and you set about it, it does no harm;

one may attempt argument in both directions.

But when the discourse concerns God, and he who wishes to know about God ventures into those matters which he cannot know, he is impious overmuch, going beyond what is fitting.

For example: the stars are a multitude.

And every multitude is either odd or even.

And the even is divided into two, while the odd has the one part exceeding the other by one.

If we wish to attempt inquiry about the stars and to say whether they are odd or even, we are not impious overmuch.

One ought indeed not to attempt inquiry into things we do not know.

For we do this: that the heaven is spherical and is cut into two equal hemispheres when a straight line is drawn as a diameter.

And since the heaven is starred on every side, someone will say that, the hemicircles being equal, in each hemicircle there are just as many stars as in the remaining one.

And from this we establish that they are even.

And we are not impious, whether it be so or not.

The inquiry was undertaken for the sake of exercise.

Again, since those who have treated of numbers say that the odd is stronger—for it is active—while the even is more material, for it is assigned to matter;

for the first division occurs in the even;

and on this account they also say that the dyad is matter—we used to say that the beings superior to the other visible things ought to be assigned to the superior number, and from this we establish that they are odd.

If, however, someone should say, 'We will inquire whether God is without beginning or not without beginning,' the one side of the argument brings much impiety.

Indeed, even the very science of dialectic says that not all problems are dialectical.

For those to which punishment attaches are not dialectical.

For dialectical questions are argued in both directions.

No one wishes to argue whether God exists or does not exist, or whether the laws are to be kept or not;

for these have punishment attaching to one member of the contradiction.

For it brings a shameful reputation upon the one who champions the other member of the contradiction.

He who chooses vice becomes hard.

For it renders hard the one who possesses it.

'For according to your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath.'

Having an impenitent heart, he is found to be hard.

And so it also happens with the heart of Pharaoh, which, as has often been recorded, was hardened.

Therefore do not be overly wise, do not become hard, lest you die before your time.

This can be applied in every possible way.

He speaks with reference to every kind of thought.

It is good for you to hold fast to this, and indeed do not let your hand slacken from it.

In each of the things that have been said you have heard.

Do not become excessively righteous.

He has said: do not be overly wise.

Hold fast to all the things that have been said, as though to a single class.

Therefore, from this which I have spoken—that one must indeed hold fast—do not abandon your practice.

Persevere in them, as the Apostle says.

'Meditate on these things, be occupied in them, so that your progress may be made manifest'—that is, in the virtues.

In meditating on these things one must abide in them, and not move on beyond them.

For with the other branches of learning, those that proceed by systematic science and in ordered fashion, it is not good to remain within them.

And so that the demonstration may be made from a ready example, let us take the learning of the first letters.

It is not good to remain in the learning of the characters, but rather to pass quickly on to the progress that follows.

But in the case of the virtues, meditation brings progress.

Practise temperance, abide in temperance.

Practise righteousness, abide in it.

For thus you are able to be shown to be earnest.

For he who fears God shall come forth in all things.

Even if you have abundant help—help for coming forth—he does not say that you become outside of all things.

Now 'to come forth' signifies the end and the outcome, as when we say that the holy utterances made concerning the descent of the Saviour have attained their fulfilment.

And this is the meaning of 'that what was spoken might be fulfilled.'

For those of the heterodox, out of malice or through ignorance, suppose that this 'being fulfilled' is to be understood thus.

And they say that the Old Testament was empty in itself.

That it needed fullness from without.

But this is not so; rather he speaks with reference to the outcome.

For this reason Mary gave birth, that it might be fulfilled.

For this reason the Saviour was crucified, because of 'they pierced my hands and my feet.'

He who fears God comes not outside of these things, but to their fulfilment.

This is like the apostolic saying that declares:

'It is not of him who runs nor of him who wills, but of God who shows mercy.'

Therefore he who fears God comes forth in all things.

For the fear of the Lord surpassed all things.

And if it surpassed all things, there is nothing above it.

For the fear here spoken of is not that of punishment, but that of which we speak.

'There is no want to those who fear him.'

'Sanctify the Lord himself, and he shall be your fear.'

Just as, for him who wills wisdom according to Christ, Christ becomes wisdom, and the righteousness of the righteous man is according to Christ, so also does fear come to be.

Wisdom shall help the wise man more than ten rulers who are in the city.

We said that the one who preaches in the assembly lays hold of all things that are beneficial at once, even those that seem good to the many, which are human.

For according to the true reasoning, since all things are governed by the providence of God, even the things that seem to come about in human fashion are given by God.

It is a human thing to possess wealth, but it is the Lord who makes rich.

To hold office is a human thing, but the Lord sets up kings and removes them.

Nevertheless, when we distinguish in themselves the things accomplished by providence, we say:

Some of these things are sent by God and befitting God, while others are human.

And since the one who speaks these things is above all a king, and directs everything toward reverence, he says this: even if there are ten rulers in the city, even if there are many who give help, even if they surpass in the multitude and power of their adversaries, if they do not have wisdom, they cannot help the city.

Therefore always seek the strength of the general in his wisdom rather than in the multitude of the battle-array.

Wisdom, then, shall help the wise man more than ten rulers who are in the city. According to the plain sense it has been rendered to us on the level of history.

If a city has many mighty men, but wisdom is absent, those men can in no way help the city.

But according to the anagogical sense, the world is called a city—the place around us.

Unless God-sent wisdom be given, no one can pass through unharmed.

Unless wisdom help, the rulers can do nothing, even if you should name angels or holy men.

Unless wisdom help, the city is not saved.

And the soul of each person can also be called a city.

If, then, someone should have countless human reasonings able to help this city, but God-sent wisdom does not help it and lead it into lawful order and guard it, it cannot be helped.

And consider indeed those who are in the city.

You know that many oftentimes take on authority from without.

And you have it in the histories of the Scriptures, that oftentimes certain men [rising up] against Israel and its kings hired other kings.

But those hired from without do not contribute to helping the city as much as the native-born.

At any rate, whenever they see that the affair is weak, they withdraw and make peace with the adversaries.

Therefore those who are in the city:

Even if they be rich, even if they be well-disposed toward it, even if for this very purpose they be made ready to help the city, when wisdom is absent they cannot accomplish what is earnestly sought.

For there is no man righteous on the earth.

He did not say once and for all that there is no righteous man, but that there is none on the earth.

And according to the plain sense I speak not with a view to history, but with a view to moral instruction, as with a view to a tropological reading.

That is, he who walks according to the flesh is a man upon the earth, according to the saying, 'But you shall die as men.'