TRV
Bede
Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 6,271 passages across 45 books
Commentary
Proverbs 17:16
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
What does it profit a fool to have riches, etc.? What does it profit the people of the Jews to have the riches of the Scriptures in faith if they cannot understand Christ in them? What does it profit a heretic to abound in the same riches if he cannot learn the unity of the faith in them? What benefit does it bring to an evil and Catholic man to possess the riches of true faith if he neglects to have the wisdom of pious action?
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
At all times a friend loves, etc. He who truly loves the Lord keeps His love at all times, nor does he abandon Him in the strait of suffering, whom he has confessed in the tranquility of peace.
Proverbs 17:18
A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
A foolish man claps his hands, etc. He is foolish who, when receiving the soul of his brother to be governed, glories in his own deeds, and does not rather help him with humble compassion, rendering whatever help he can of saving aid.
Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
A joyful soul makes a flourishing age, etc. He who rejoices in the inner consolation of the Holy Spirit is also adorned with the flower of good action and expects the fruits of heavenly rewards. But he who is distressed by worldly sorrow, which works death, seems to exercise the fatness of divine charity in the strength of virtues but is unable to truly have it, but rather withers as with dry bones, because he has lost the grace of love in the good deeds he does.
Proverbs 17:24
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
In the face of the prudent, wisdom shines, etc. Indeed, in the face of the Lord Savior, the wisdom of divinity shone, which, appearing in the flesh, He demonstrated through the testimony of virtues and doctrine; but the eyes of unbelieving Jews were focused more on fulfilling earthly desires than on his salutary instructions. And in general, the prudent often prefigure the gravity of their sense even in their very countenance; yet the foolish do not lift up the eyes of their mind to admire and follow this, but contrary to that, they seek with all intention how they may reach the end of carnal pleasures.
Proverbs 17:26
Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
It is not good to inflict harm on the just, etc. This can be understood of the very Prince and Judge of the ages, who willed to be struck for our salvation, and of all the rulers of the Church generally, who are either stripped of their possessions by the impious or consumed by death itself.
Proverbs 18:3
When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.
The impious man, when he has come into the depth of sins, despises, etc. He who, being wrapped in the long darkness of sins, despairs of the light, already out of desperation, loosens the reins for himself to sin everywhere. But such a one by no means escapes the reproach of future damnation, whom the memory of divine fear did not restrain from the practice of his iniquity.
Proverbs 18:4
The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
Deep water, the words from the mouth of a man, etc. The words of the wise are compared to water because they both wash the minds of the listeners and irrigate them, lest they remain deformed by the filth of sins, or waste away through lack of heavenly doctrine, and as if perish through harmful dryness. And because in these same words of teachers, certain mystical and hidden things lie, which are comprehended by more diligent effort, while certain other things flow openly and easily to be understood by all who listen; rightly do they call these both deep water and an overflowing torrent. But it can also be distinguished in this way, that because the Scripture of the Old Testament is given typically, it is said of it, Deep water, words from the mouth of a man, because the Lord and the apostles openly revealed the mysteries of both Testaments to the world, it is added concerning them, And an overflowing torrent, a fountain of wisdom.
Proverbs 18:9
He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
He who is lazy and slack in his work, etc. Because he who does not strictly follow through with good beginnings imitates the hand of a destroyer through the laziness of negligence.
Proverbs 18:11
The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.
The wealth of the rich is his strong city, etc. Earthly wealth cannot always defend; indeed, many are captured or killed because of riches. Thus Ecclesiastes also says, Riches kept to the harm of their owner; for they perish in a terrible affliction. Therefore, it is better understood to praise the wealth of virtues, with which whoever abounds wards off all the plots of enemies as with an impregnable wall.
Proverbs 18:13
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
He who answers before he hears, etc. He who wants to be a teacher before he learns does not avoid the fault of foolishness. He who judges the deeds of his neighbors before he fully understands the cause of both parties hastily acts improperly, and he shows himself worthy of confusion.
Proverbs 18:14
· 2 passages
The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
Truly, the spirit is easily moved to anger, etc. He who is easily moved to anger cannot even sustain himself, so that when he is angry, he often says things which, when calm afterward, he regrets having said and often does not even remember having said. However, his madness is sometimes most easily endured through the moderation of the wise and is immediately quieted.
The spirit of a man sustains his weakness. And the man himself says, The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26). It may also be understood of any holy man who supports the weakness of the flesh with the strength of the mind, lest he yields in temptations.
Proverbs 18:16
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
The gift of a man makes his way broad, etc. The gift of charity or other virtues which the faithful receive from the Lord broadens the way of their actions because the more they are internally filled with the grace of the Spirit, the more they abundantly multiply their steps of good works outwardly, and they attain a peak of honor among the great leaders of the Church in the future. Alternatively, the spiritual gift of the Savior, which he brought to the world, broadened his way that he might come to many nations of the world through his presence in faith and love; and he made not only the peoples, but also the rulers themselves, renounce desires and willingly obey him.
Proverbs 18:17
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
The just man is the first to accuse himself, etc. Everyone who is truly just, when he observes the errors of sinners, first turns the eye of consideration upon himself, and while he anxiously accuses his own frailty, only then does he gently extend his tongue to rebuke others. But he who said to his faithful, 'But I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you' (John 15); it comes into his heart through the presence of divine contemplation, thus he perceives how the world is cleansed from the filth of iniquity, and he rewards its humility with a fitting recompense.
Proverbs 18:19
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
A brother helped by a brother, etc. When both peoples, namely Jews and Gentiles, agree in fraternal charity in Christ, they now build a united city of the Catholic Church. And just as the bars fortify the gates of cities, so the doctrines of both Testaments defend the churches around the world, which make up the one Catholic Church, from the incursion of unbelievers.
Proverbs 18:23
The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
With supplications a poor man speaks, etc. The humble in spirit humbly worship the Lord, like the publican in the Gospel; the proud boast of their merits, like the Pharisee.
Proverbs 18:24
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
A lovable man to society, etc. The believing people from the Gentiles are more loved by the Lord than the Jewish people continuing in unbelief, among whom he was born according to the flesh. It can also be understood of the apostles born from Jews, that they loved the believers from the Gentiles more than the unbelievers of their own people.
Proverbs 19:1
Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Better is the poor who walks in his simplicity, etc. Better is the simple hearer of the word of God, if he completes by working those things which he could understand in the Scriptures; than any learned person, if in those things which he has acutely understood, he twists his lips to preach heresy.
Proverbs 19:2
Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
Where there is no knowledge of the soul, it is not good, etc. The knowledge of heavenly life is indeed necessary for the human soul, because without it, it surely cannot be blessed forever. But yet, those who desire to know more than what is proper with unrestrained senses of the mind, often fall into the offense of heretical foolishness through their rash pursuits, which was mystically signified in the first parents of the human race, who, in their desire for greater knowledge, hastened to touch the forbidden, deviating from the state of blessedness in which they were created, and fell into the punishment of misery and mortality.