Verse 29. — For he that hath been humbled shall be in glory; and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved. The commendation of humility. — Which sentence, indeed, does not disagree with the mouth of Truth, who says: Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 14[:11]). Whence too it is said through Solomon: Before it is broken, the heart of man is exalted; and before it is glorified, it is humbled (Proverbs 18[:12]). And it is rightly said: He that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved, because, so far as can be discerned through the ministry of the members, the first display of pride is wont to be in the eyes. For hence it is written: And the eyes of the proud thou shalt humble (Psalm 17[:28]).
Hence it is said of the very head of the proud: He beholdeth everything that is high (Job 41[:25]). Hence it is written of her who cleaved to him through faithlessness: A generation whose eyes are lofty, and whose eyelids are lifted up on high (Proverbs 30[:13]). To bow down the eyes, therefore, is to despise no one by looking down upon him, but to esteem oneself lesser and inferior to all whom one beholds. And so he shall be saved who bows down his eyes, because he who forsakes the false summit of pride ascends the height of truth. There follows: