TRV
Bede
Late Patristic · AD 500–800
6,271 passages across 45 books of the Bible · Who was this?
On Proverbs
20 of 653-
Proverbs 2:21
For those who are upright will inhabit the land, etc. And here he joins the upright with the simple, as also above when he said: He will keep the salvation of the upright, and protect those who walk simply; because undoubtedly simplicity without uprightness is dissolved and foolish, but uprightness without simplicity is certainly austere and harsh; indeed, both virtues combined make a perfect man. But between the two verses it differs that in the former, the Lord is indicated to help the righteous struggling in the present, and in the latter, because he will crown the victors in the future. For by the name of earth, the Church is designated, which is accustomed to germinate spiritual fruit for God, in which the righteous dwell and remain, because they are not separated from its fellowship even by death, but at the end of this life, they reach that part of it which reigns with Christ in the heavens.
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Proverbs 2:22
But the wicked will be destroyed from the earth, etc. These words can be taken not generally about all the condemned, but specifically about those who seem to belong to the land of the Lord, that is, the Church, and yet due to their merits are removed from it: some openly by the judgment of the Church itself, like Simon, Arius, and Porphyry; some secretly by the judgment of the invisible judge, like countless even of those who seem good to people. For he calls manifest apostates the wicked; but all those acting wickedly who, having received the sacraments of faith, degenerate from its purity in some manner. Both, however, in the future retribution, will be destroyed from the land of the living, because the wicked will not dwell near the Lord, nor will the unjust remain in his sight. And rightly so, because he predicted many things about the ways of the good and evil, he subjoined in conclusion the end of both, just as in the preceding parable, which forbade associations with robbers, saying of the end of the wicked: And the prosperity of fools will destroy them; saying of the end of…
But the wicked will be destroyed from the earth, etc. These words can be taken not generally about all the condemned, but specifically about those who seem to belong to the land of the Lord, that is, the Church, and yet due to their merits are removed from it: some openly by the judgment of the Church itself, like Simon, Arius, and Porphyry; some secretly by the judgment of the invisible judge, like countless even of those who seem good to people. For he calls manifest apostates the wicked; but all those acting wickedly who, having received the sacraments of faith, degenerate from its purity in some manner. Both, however, in the future retribution, will be destroyed from the land of the living, because the wicked will not dwell near the Lord, nor will the unjust remain in his sight. And rightly so, because he predicted many things about the ways of the good and evil, he subjoined in conclusion the end of both, just as in the preceding parable, which forbade associations with robbers, saying of the end of the wicked: And the prosperity of fools will destroy them; saying of the end of the good: But whoever listens to me will dwell without terror. These verses which we have recently discussed, can be understood about the ancient people of God, because when they lived uprightly, they happily remained in their land, but when they sinned, they were destroyed by enemies. -
Proverbs 3:1
My son, do not forget my law, etc. Here he teaches that works of mercy should be insisted upon, and that we should not trust in our own strength, but seek help from God. And he arranges all these things in a suitable order; for, after restraining from cruelty, after chastening from luxury, he adorns with good deeds the one whom he has taken to instruct himself.
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Proverbs 3:2
For length of days, and years of life, etc. Lest the imposition of observing precepts should disturb the listener, he prefaces with certain rewards, and so enumerates the precepts. For by the length of days, he signifies eternal light; by the years of life, the transition from this mortality; by the increase of peace, he designates the very state of attained blessedness. Of which Isaiah says: His authority shall increase, and there shall be no end of peace (Isaiah IX). But it was also given to the previous people of God, and now in the present, that when they obeyed the law of God, they should live for a long time in the quiet of peace.
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Proverbs 3:3
Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Let truth never depart from your mouth, which is to be spoken; let mercy never recede from your work, which is to be bestowed upon neighbors. Thus it happens that God's mercy and truth always follow you: mercy indeed to blot out your sins; truth, however, to fulfill his promises.
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Proverbs 3:3
Bind them around your neck, etc. In the neck, the organ of the voice, on the tablets of the heart, he insinuates the breadth of thought. Thus let the virtue of mercy and truth be fixed at the root of the mind, and be brought out in the voice of the speaker, so that they may please God, the hidden inspector who alone searches the hearts and loins, in their secret intentions, and benefit neighbors with the office of speaking. But he correctly teaches that virtues should be bound around the neck, as the voice of the speaker is usually made inwardly in the neck, since the voice of preaching emanates from within, but circumferences outwardly and spreads to many listeners at the same time. For as it incites others to live well, so it urges good deeds and actions of the preacher, lest the action fall outside the sermon, lest life contradict the voice.
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Proverbs 3:4
And you will find grace and good discipline, etc. One finds grace and good discipline before God, who by continual practice of virtues merits from the Lord to become more perfect and better day by day; but also finds grace and good discipline before men, whose works are such that they are rightly praised, and equally provide an example of living to others.
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Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, etc. Do not be afraid that you cannot observe the divine commands due to your own weakness, nor again suppose that you can fulfill them by your own strength, or know them by your natural knowledge if you are not instructed by his law; but rather seek his frequent help both in learning and in doing, and he, being gracious, will grant that you can fulfill what he commands.
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Proverbs 3:7
Do not be wise in your own eyes. Perhaps someone may think this command is the same as the one previously given, And do not rely on your own understanding; but there is a great difference: for one relies on his own understanding who prefers his own opinions about what should be done or said over the decrees of the fathers; but he is wise in his own eyes who, having rightly learned from the teaching of the fathers, exalts himself above others as if more learned. But what true wisdom for a man is, he shows subsequently:
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Proverbs 3:7
Fear the Lord, etc. Just as it is in Job: Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding (Job XXVI). For indeed, all the perfect ought to abstain from all evils, so that they always consider the presence of the divine majesty with fear. And it should be noted that above he commands to have trust in the Lord with all the heart, and not to lean on our own understanding, but now conversely admonishes with equal concern to fear God. But there is no contradiction: for there he strengthens the minds of the fragile, so they do not despair, with the promise of God's help; here he restrains the stronger ones, so they do not presume upon themselves, with the memory of divine fear.
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Proverbs 3:8
Indeed, health will be in your navel, etc. Solid works of virtues are in the bones, and in the navel, which is in the middle part of the inner body, is designed to signify the still weak and imperfect action of good deeds. Therefore, if you fear God, and rely not on your own strength but on heavenly protection, and strive to abstain from evil, there will be health for your navel, and watering for your bones, because through these both the weakness of the work is strengthened to a state of perfection, and all your strong acts receive reinforcement.
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Proverbs 3:9
Honor the Lord with your substance, etc. Many give much to the poor, but from another's substance and harvests, which they have taken by force or fraud. Many give of their own, but do not honor the Lord in their giving, because they do it for human favor, and not for the love of the Heavenly Inspector. Therefore, anyone who wishes the fruit of alms to be profitable to them should give from their own possessions, and in honor of the Creator, who has deigned to graciously and abundantly bestow them with his kindness, so that men who are his creation, made in his image, may be refreshed, and we may be found his true and faithful stewards of good things. But it must be noted that we are commanded not only to honor from the substance of money, which we extend to the poor, but also from the entirety of good action that we do, and from the fruits of all heavenly grace that we receive, for the substance or fruits of men; that is, to seek his praise in all things, and not our own. And he honors the Lord with his substance and the first fruits of his crops, who attributes all his good works no…
Honor the Lord with your substance, etc. Many give much to the poor, but from another's substance and harvests, which they have taken by force or fraud. Many give of their own, but do not honor the Lord in their giving, because they do it for human favor, and not for the love of the Heavenly Inspector. Therefore, anyone who wishes the fruit of alms to be profitable to them should give from their own possessions, and in honor of the Creator, who has deigned to graciously and abundantly bestow them with his kindness, so that men who are his creation, made in his image, may be refreshed, and we may be found his true and faithful stewards of good things. But it must be noted that we are commanded not only to honor from the substance of money, which we extend to the poor, but also from the entirety of good action that we do, and from the fruits of all heavenly grace that we receive, for the substance or fruits of men; that is, to seek his praise in all things, and not our own. And he honors the Lord with his substance and the first fruits of his crops, who attributes all his good works not to his own strength and merits, but to heavenly grace, mindful of that word, "For without me you can do nothing" (John XV). -
Proverbs 3:10
And your barns will be filled with abundance, etc. The Lord says in the Gospel, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Luke XII). Therefore, if the just can have treasures in heaven (because they find true riches there), they can also have barns and vats, because they will no longer hunger or thirst. And your barns will be filled with abundance. Because, he says, "I shall be satisfied when your glory is revealed" (Psalm XVI). The vats will overflow with wine, because the inner sweetness of eternal things kindles the hearts of all the faithful in praise of their Creator. Hence he says: "That you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom" (Luke XXII). But also in the present, sometimes the teacher who administers the bread of the word and the cup of spiritual grace to the needy, is granted greater gifts for administering by the Lord as a reward. He who shares earthly support with the needy is enriched by giving and rewarded with heavenly remuneration.
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Proverbs 3:11
My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary of his correction, etc. There are those who serve the Lord in prosperity, but go astray in adversity. Thus, wisdom teaches those who live well in prosperity, also to exhort them not to faint in correction, so that when weakness or poverty or human persecution comes, they do not lose the piety they seemed to preserve in tranquility.
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Proverbs 3:12
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, etc. Therefore, we should murmur the less about the scourging with which we are corrected, the more certainly we hold in it the pledge of paternal love. Wherefore, he also says: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (Revelation III). It should be noted that the seventy interpreters said for this word, "And He scourges every son whom He receives" (Hebrews XII). This is remarkable, why the Apostle writing to the Hebrews in Hebrew would rather follow it.
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Proverbs 3:13
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, etc. Because he was comforting those placed under discipline and correction, he adds what he had begun; insinuating that true blessedness of man is not to be free from adversity in the present, but to rejoice in the perception of eternal wisdom. Which is, to know God's will in this life, and to enjoy his vision in the future. And well did he say, "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom," adding immediately, "And the man who gains understanding." For there are those who find wisdom by hearing the doctrine of truth; but they neglect to gain understanding, unwilling to expand the bosom of their heart to perceive its breadth.
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Proverbs 3:14
Better is her acquisition, etc. Let no one fear the correction of poverty, whoever has acquired the wealth of wisdom, because the celestial gift infinitely surpasses earthly treasures.
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Proverbs 3:14
Its first and purest fruits. If, according to Ecclesiasticus, the root of wisdom is to fear God, what are the fruits of wisdom except to see God? And these are the first and purest, either because God, who is from the beginning, is seen, and nothing defiled incurs in His vision; or because man was first created to contemplate this. Hence, the younger son, even though he had squandered all his substance by living luxuriously, when he returned to the father penitent, is remembered to have received the first robe (Luke 15); or because the first and crude gold is usually the purest, and our first beatitude alone is truly to be believed as beatitude, which is promised to be rendered to us more perfectly by the Lord in the resurrection.
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Proverbs 3:15
More precious than all riches, etc. Not only the riches of the earth but also the riches of heaven, indeed even the visions of angels, the brightness of this wisdom is preferred. Hence, the prophet also says: For what have I in heaven, and what do I want on earth other than You? and the rest through the end of the psalm (Psalm 73).
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Proverbs 3:16
Length of days is in her right hand, etc. With the vision of his divinity, He grants the chosen ones in perpetual light, and in this present life, he strengthens and illuminates them with the sacraments and charisms of his incarnation. He gives them, who sell all things for themselves, a hundredfold in this time, and eternal life in the future age. It follows in this place according to the ancient translation, which our codices do not have: Justice proceeds from his mouth, but he carries law and mercy on his tongue. This I believed should be noted because verses are often found placed in the works of the Fathers.