約伯倫理 第 217 章

Verse 15.—With princes, who possess gold, and fill their houses with silver. 61. Princes are the rulers of the Church, gold is wisdom, silver is the word of God.—Whom else does he call princes but the rulers of the holy Church, whom divine dispensation unceasingly substitutes in the place of the preachers who go before? Concerning whom the Psalmist says to that same Church: Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee; thou shalt make them princes over all the earth (Ps. 44:17). And what does he call gold, but wisdom? concerning which it is said through Solomon: A desirable treasure rests in the mouth of the wise (Prov. 21:20). For he beheld wisdom as gold, which he called a treasure. And it is rightly signified by the name of gold;

for, just as temporal things are purchased with gold, so eternal goods are purchased with wisdom. If wisdom were not gold, it would by no means be said to the Church of Laodicea by the angel: I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire (Rev. 3:18). For we buy gold when, about to receive wisdom, we first offer obedience. To which bargain, indeed, a certain wise man well rouses us, saying: Hast thou desired wisdom? Keep the commandments, and the Lord will bestow it upon thee (Sir. 1:33). And what is designated by houses, but consciences? Whence it is said to one who was healed: Go into thy house (Matt. 9:6). As if he plainly heard: After the outward miracle, return to thy conscience, and weigh what manner of man thou oughtest to show thyself inwardly to God.

And what is figured by silver, but the divine utterances? concerning which it is said through the Psalmist: The words of the Lord are chaste words, silver tried by fire (Ps. 11:7). The word of the Lord is called silver tried by fire, because the speech of God, if it be fixed in the heart, is proved by tribulations. [Old Version, chapter 36.] 62. If Adam had not sinned, those alone would be born who are now to be saved.—Let the holy man therefore, full of the spirit of eternity, gather together whatsoever things are to come; and let him comprehend with a loosened bosom of the mind those whom the ages that were to come long after would beget; and with great wonder let him consider with what elect he would have rested without toil in eternity, if through the appetite of pride no one had sinned, and let him say:

For now I should be sleeping in silence, and should rest in my sleep with the kings and consuls of the earth who build for themselves solitudes, or with the princes who possess gold and fill their houses with silver. For since, if no corruption of sin had corrupted the first parent, he would by no means have generated of himself sons of hell; but those who are now to be saved through redemption would alone have been born, chosen by Him—let him behold those same elect, and consider how he might have rested together with them. Let him behold the holy apostles thus governing the Church they had received, so as not to cease to furnish counsel to it by the word of preaching, and let him call them kings and consuls.

Let him behold, after these, rulers rising up in their place, who both possess gold by living wisely and shine with the silver of sacred speech by preaching right things to others; and let him record these as princes, rich in gold and silver in the filled houses of their consciences. But because sometimes it does not suffice the prophetic spirit to foresee things to come, unless it also represents to the heart of the one prophesying things past and ancient, the holy man opens his eyes below and above, and not only beholds things to come, but also brings back things done to memory. For he straightway adds: