TRV
Bede
Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 6,271 passages across 45 books
Commentary
Proverbs 20:12
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
He speaks of the hearing ear as the obedient listener of the word: the seeing eye as the learned teacher. Let no one who sees himself as trained in the knowledge of Scriptures and deemed fit to speak the word of God despise the simplicity of a brother who, though less learned in preaching, is no less eager to learn or to fulfill the good things he has learned. Let him recall that the One who gave him a greater grace of knowledge also bestowed the spiritual gifts upon the brother. And He grants the gifts, not solely on his account, but also for the benefit of the brother, giving each grace according to the measure of His donation.
Proverbs 20:13
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
Do not love sleep, etc. Do not love the sleep of sin and slothfulness, about which the Apostle says, "It is high time to awake out of sleep" (Rom. XIII); lest, if you do not wish to be vigilant now, you be overtaken by that dire poverty in the future where you cannot find even a single drop of water when thirsty. Open the eyes of your heart to holy vigils, and seek the satisfaction of heavenly joys by living well.
Proverbs 20:14
It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
It is bad, it is bad, says every buyer, etc. Therefore, he who desires to obtain eternal rewards in the heavens must endure what is bad in the present, so that when he departs from the world, he may then glory; clearly perceiving that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Proverbs 20:15
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
Gold and a multitude of gems, etc. This is the boast of the wise buyer, who, as long as he buys, says that what happens to him is bad: but when someone has hurt or offended the saints of God, and has not refrained from treating them like a vile servant according to his own pleasure, he will rejoice that he has wisely made his purchase. Likewise, the buyer of the heavenly kingdom will rejoice when he departs from here, finding that the lips of knowledge, that is, of spiritual doctrine, used in the acquiring of heavenly things, are to be compared to gold, gems, and precious vessels.
Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Sweet is the bread of falsehood to a man, etc. In whichever member one has sinned more, in that member he will suffer greater torment in retribution. Therefore, rightly, he who has sinned more with his tongue is said to burn more in it, as his mouth is to be filled with a burning stone, which is known to have happened to the rich man who feasted splendidly daily, as he, burning in hell, asked for his tongue to be cooled by Lazarus. For he who had erred in idle words and feasting burned more in his tongue.
Proverbs 20:19
He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
And he who reveals mysteries, etc. If anyone wishes to join your circle of friends and you see him revealing the secrets of a former friend, beware of him as a traitor.
Proverbs 20:21
An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
An inheritance obtained hastily in the beginning, etc. Those who seek to be multiplied in this life through the wickedness of avarice will be disinherited in the future from eternal patrimony. Alternatively: An inheritance obtained hastily in the beginning will lack a blessing in the end. He who takes up a position of leadership before learning to be subordinate takes it in an improper order; in the end, he will lack the reward of blessing that is owed to good rulers. He who rashly and unlearnedly approaches the ministry of the altar will also lose the grace of the reward, which is promised to those who minister well, in the last day. It can also be understood this way, that he who seeks to avenge his own injuries here will lack the crown of patience in the future. This sense seems to fit especially with the following statement: Do not say, I will repay evil, etc. Which is also strengthened by the following verse, which says:
Proverbs 20:23
Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
It is an abomination to the Lord to have diverse weights, etc. For having diverse weights and a deceitful scale in one's heart means that while seeking pardon from the Lord for one's own sins, one is unwilling to forgive a man who has sinned against and repented toward oneself. He who is God strives to be moved to compassion by prayers; although he, being human, cannot be moved to mercy by any human prayers, that he may rightfully be abhorred by the Lord as an unjust weigher, since his injuries are measured as graver than those of the Lord: for example, he who does not wish to forgive one who has defiled his wife and asks to be forgiven himself, although he may have defiled a virgin espoused to Christ; or certainly, may have defiled his soul consecrated to God in baptism with some filth of vice.
Proverbs 20:24
· 2 passages
Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
The steps of a man are directed by the Lord. Whosoever among men walks the right path, this is not done by the liberty of human will, but by the governance of Him to whom Isaiah says, For you have worked all our works in us (Isaiah...).
Who among men can understand his way? In this, he says, it is manifestly clear that whatever good anyone has, he does not have it from himself, but by the grace of God, which neither by his own free will can he understand what he will be, nor how or how long he will live.
Proverbs 20:25
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
It is ruin for a man to devour the holy, etc. Since it is a sin to harm any man, how much more so when it is he who has sinned? How forty men in the Acts of the Apostles vowed that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul; and pagans often, as we read, devoted the blood of Christians to their gods. This verse the ancient edition set in another sense, saying: It is a snare for a man to dedicate something quickly of his own; afterwards, when he has made a vow, he repents. And because to both those who, to complete their vows, persecute the holy, eternal damnation remains, it is rightly added:
Proverbs 20:26
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
A wise king scatters the wicked, etc. It was the custom of the ancients, when victory was achieved over an enemy, to erect arches for themselves in which they described the praises of their virtues, as we read in the work of Saul. Therefore, our Lord the King not only destroys the malice of the wicked, but also perpetually celebrates the great glory of the same triumph with His elect. Another translation has this verse thus: A wise king winnows the wicked, and will bring upon them the wheel of evils, that is, a punishment to be consumed with no end. To which wheel namely is contrary the crown of eternal life, which God has promised to those who love Him.
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, etc. The illumination of the divine breath, when it has come into the mind of man, illuminating it to itself, shows it was bearing perverse thoughts before the coming of the Holy Spirit, and it did not know how to weigh them.
Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
The exultation of young men is their strength, etc. He calls gray hair wisdom. Then indeed the cities of each are well-ordered, then the affairs of the holy Church are rightly conducted, when the stronger men apply themselves to the necessary works with their powers: and the elders, endowed with greater prudence, wisely advise on what is to be done.
Proverbs 20:30
The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
The blueness of a wound cleanses away evil, etc. For when we are struck outwardly, we are silently and afflictedly recalled to the memory of our sins. And through what we suffer outwardly, we grieve more inwardly for what we have done; thus it happens that among the open wounds of the body, the secret wound of the belly cleanses us more, because it heals the wickedness of a depraved work, the hidden wound of sorrow. For indeed the belly is often taken to mean the mind, because just as the belly consumes food, thus the mind by pondering digests cares.
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.
Just as the divisions of the waters, etc. Why does he declare that the heart of the king, and not rather of all men, is in the hand of God, when it is written, "For in his hand are all the ends of the earth" (Psalm 94), unless perhaps he calls any holy person a king, who knows how to conquer the wars of vices within himself, to uproot the bushes of malice? For just as the Lord fills the ends of the earth far and wide with various divisions of waters, and also covers the heights of the heavens with waters; so he inclines the heart of the king wherever he wills, because just as he bestows the divisions of graces according to his will, both to angels and to men, so also he makes the hearts of the saints worthy of gifts wherever he wills. Nor does the Pelagianist have any place where someone can be saved without the grace of God.
Proverbs 21:8
The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.
The perverse way of a man is foreign, etc. To live justly before the Lord is proper to the human condition. Hence elsewhere it is said, "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiasticus 12). But he who lives perversely, indeed walks a path foreign to human nature. Therefore, perverse action is foreign and against nature. But he who is pure in work rightly carries out what he originally received by nature.
Proverbs 21:9
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, etc. It is so true that it is better to sit in the corner of the housetop, that is, in the secret height of a more continent life, than with a wicked woman in a house, which you share with her, so that even if the best woman is offered to you for marriage, it is better to lead a celibate life for the sake of the companionship of the Lamb, having despised marriage.
Proverbs 21:13
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
He who stops his ear to the cry of the poor, etc. This sentence should be taken generally, and not only for the needy or physically infirm: for even he who, in the face of others' crimes, prefers to hold the judgment of a judge rather than to sympathize with the affection of mercy, shows himself not yet purified from the filth of vices, nor worthy to exist in the hearing of divine compassion. A hidden gift extinguishes anger, etc. He who desires to appease the anger of the strict judge, which he has earned by sinning, should give alms to the poor, and this without any delight in human favor, but solely out of love for the Creator, who looks upon the hidden things of the heart. For thus the hidden gift is made, thus it benefits to mitigate the wrath of the Creator, if it is given without any expectation of external reward. Thus is fulfilled what he himself commanded: "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3).
Proverbs 21:15
It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
It is a joy to the just to do judgment, etc. The just man rejoices when he labors with good works, because he hopes to be rewarded with eternal good for these. But the reprobate, while they do evil things which they know God has forbidden, though they may carnally delight in the perpetration of their lust, cannot be free from the internal fear of the mind, because they do not doubt that they will suffer evil eternally for those things they have done temporally.