TRV
Ambrose of Milan
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,843 passages across 58 books
Commentary
Proverbs 10:19
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Learn what your door is: Place, O Lord, a guard at my mouth, and a door protector around my lips. And Paul asks to be prayed for: That a door may be opened to me, he says, to speak the mystery of Christ. But as he was chosen to preach the Gospel, he rightly desired that the door of the word be opened to him; for from his mouth salvation of the nations went forth, from his mouth came forth the life of the people. But we shut the door, lest fault enter, lest any slip of speech should go out. Fault enters if a slip goes out. Listen how fault enters. In much speaking, it says, you will not avoid sin. Much speaking went out, sin entered; because in much speaking, the word that goes out is not at all examined. It slips foolishly, though speaking excessively is a great sin in itself.
Proverbs 11:1
A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Therefore let every man weigh his words, not with deceit and guile, for a false balance is abomination to the Lord. I do not mean that balance which weighs the wares of others, (though even in lesser matters deceit often costs dear,) but that balance of words is hateful to the Lord, which wears the mask of the weight of sober gravity, and yet practises the artifices of cunning. Great is God's anger, if a man deceive his neighbour by flattering promises, and by treacherous subtlety oppress his debtor, a craft which will not benefit himself. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the riches of the whole world, and yet defraud his own soul of the wages of eternal life?
Proverbs 13:8
The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
A man's riches ought to avail to the ransom of his soul, not to its destruction. And a treasure is a ransom, if a man use it well; on the other hand it is a snare, if a man know not how to use it. What is a man's money to him but a provision for his journey? Much is a burthen, a little is useful. We are wayfarers in this life; many walk, but it is needful that we walk aright, for then is the Lord Jesus with us, as we read, When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned.
Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Then the provident guide of the soul has regard to this, that he may circumscribe her pleasures and cut off her desires, that she may not delight herself in them. That father's corrections are profitable, who spares not the rod, that he may render his son's soul obedient to salutary precepts. For he visits with a rod, as we read, I will visit their offences with the rod. And so he who smites the soul of the Israelites with a rod on the cheek, by this Divine punishment instructs her in the discipline of patience. But no man need despair who is chastised and corrected, for he who loveth his son chastiseth him. Let no man therefore despair of a remedy.
Proverbs 14:3
In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
What judgment harder than that of our hearts, whereby each one stands convicted and accuses himself of the injury that he has wrongfully done against his brother? This the Scriptures speak of very plainly, saying, “Out of the mouth of fools there is a rod for wrongdoing.” Folly, then, is condemned because it causes wrongdoing. Ought we not rather to avoid this, than death, or loss, or want, or exile or sickness? Who would not think some blemish of body or loss of inheritance far less than some blemish of soul or loss of reputation?
Proverbs 14:30
A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
While all our actions should be free from hidden malevolence, this is particularly the case in the selection of a bishop, whose life is the pattern for all his flock. Calm and pacific judgment is called for if you are to prefer to all his fellows a man who will be elected by all and who will heal all dissension. “The gentle man is the physician of the heart.” In the gospel the Lord declared himself the physician of the heart when he said, “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.”
Proverbs 15:17
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
But you should be content with your own possessions and not feed on the losses of others. The good food is the simplicity of innocence. Having their own good, they do not know how to lay traps for others, nor do they burn with the flames of greed, for whom every gain is a loss to virtue and an inflaming desire. And therefore she is blessed, if she knows her own goods, when poverty is true, and to be preferred to all treasures; for it is better to give a little with the fear of God, than to have great treasures without fear. For how much does man nourish? Or if you seek what also abounds to others for grace, that too is not much. For hospitality in vegetables with grace is better than the preparation of fat calves with discord. Therefore let us use our wit to seek grace, and to protect salvation, not to restrict another person's innocence. We are allowed to use maritime examples for the advancement of our own well-being, not for the danger of others.
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
The sea is holy Scripture which has within it profound meanings and the mysterious depths of the prophets. Into this sea many rivers have entered. Delightful and clear are these streams. These fountains are cool, springing up into life everlasting. There, too, are “pleasant words, like honeycomb,” and courteous conversations which water souls with the sweetness of moral commands. The streams of holy Scripture are diverse; you know that which you should drink from first, second, and last.
Proverbs 16:32
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
If you are angry, be angry with yourselves, because you are roused, and you will not sin. For he who is angry with himself, because he has been so easily roused, ceases to be angry with another. But he who wishes to prove his anger is righteous only gets the more inflamed and quickly falls into sin. “Better is he,” as Solomon says, “that restrains his anger than he that takes a city,” for anger leads astray even brave men.
Proverbs 17:1
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
The Scriptures teach us not to be wasteful but liberal. There are two kinds of free giving, one arising from liberality, the other from wasteful extravagance. It is a mark of liberality to receive the stranger, to clothe the naked, to redeem the captives, to help the needy. It is wasteful to spend money on expensive banquets and much wine. Therefore one reads, “Wine is wasteful, drunkenness is abusive.” It is wasteful to spend one’s own wealth merely for the sake of gaining the favor of the people. This they do who spend their inheritance on the games of the circus, or on theatrical pieces and gladiatorial shows, or even a combat of wild beasts, just to surpass the fame of their forefathers for these things. All this that they do is only foolish, for it is not right to be extravagant in spending money even on good works.
Proverbs 17:5
Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
Let no man suppose that because he is rich more deference ought to be shewn him. In the Church he is rich, who is rich in faith, for the faithful have a whole world of riches. What wonder is it that the faithful should possess the world, seeing he possesses the heritage of Christ, which is more precious than the world? Ye were redeemed with precious blood, is said to all, and not to the rich only.
Proverbs 18:17
· 3 passages
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
Are not those who condemn their sin truer Christians than those who think to defend it? “The just accuses himself in the beginning of his words.” He who accuses himself when he sins is just, not he who praises himself.
Let us who are free from sin, purchased, as it were, by the price of Christ’s blood, let us not be subject to the slavery of people or of passion. Let us not be ashamed to confess our sin. See how free is the one who could say, “I have not been afraid of a very great multitude, so that I would not confess my sin in the sight of all.” One who confesses to the Lord is freed from his slavery: “The just is the accuser of himself in the beginning of his speech.” He is not only free but just, for justice is in liberty, and liberty in confession, and as soon as one has confessed he is pardoned.
The just man indeed notices his own frailty more than the unjust man; and the wise man recognizes, while the foolish man does not recognize. Finally, the wise man is remorseful for his own failings, while the foolish man takes pleasure in them: the just man accuses himself, the unjust man defends himself. The just man wants to preempt the accuser by confessing his sin, while the unjust man desires to conceal his sin: the former at the beginning of his speech reveals his error, the latter wraps the sound of accusation in the verbosity of his speech, so as not to reveal his error.
Proverbs 20:10
· 2 passages
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
Every kind of unfair action is shameful. Even in common things, false weights and unjust measures are accursed. And if fraud in the market or in business is punished, can it seem free from reproach if found in the midst of the performance of the duties of virtue?
He who commands must always keep to the exact scope of the commandments, and he who distributes tasks must observe equity in looking into them, for “a false balance is an abomination to the Lord.” There is, then, an excess and a defect in weight, but the church acccepts neither, for “excessive and defective weights and diverse measures, both of them are alike abominable in the sight of the Lord.”
Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Entrust your soul to the hands of the Lord. Not only when it departs from the body but also when it is in the body, it is in the hands of the Lord, because you do not see it, its source or its destination. It is both in you and also with God. Therefore “the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord,” who guides it and rules it. The heart is also filled with the spirit, because the spirit is the ruling part of the soul and the strength of the soul. I say that strength lies not in the arms but in counsel, temperance, piety and justice. If the heart of a man is in the hand of the Lord, much more is his soul.
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
A good name is more excellent than money, and good favor is better than heaps of silver. Faith itself redounds to itself, sufficiently rich and more than rich in its possession. There is nothing which is not the possession of the wise person except what is contrary to virtue, and wherever he goes he finds all things to be his. The whole world is his possession, since he uses it all as his own.
Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
The mouth of one speaking ill is a great pit, a steep precipice for the innocent, but steeper for one of ill will. An innocent person, though easily credulous, falls quickly, but when he has fallen rises again. The slanderer is thrown headlong by his own acts, from which he will never emerge or escape.
Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
[David] used not to answer the enemy that provoked him, the sinner that exasperated him. As he says elsewhere, “As though he were deaf he heard not them that speak vanity and imagine deceit, and as though he were dumb he opened not his mouth to them.” Again, in another place, it is said, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like to him.”The first duty then is to have due measure in our speech. In this way a sacrifice of praise is offered up to God. Thus a godly fear is shown when sacred Scriptures are read. Thus parents are honored. I know well that many speak because they know not how to keep silence. But it is not often that any one is silent when speaking does not profit him. A wise person, intending to speak, first carefully considers what he is to say and to whom he is to say it; also where and what time.