Bede

Every word of God is a fired shield for those who hope in him. This all of Christ's Church knows, and especially those who, with God dwelling in them, despise earthly wisdom, because every divine word kindles the hearts of the elect with the fire of charity, and enlightens with the knowledge of truth, and consumes the filth of vices, and protects against the snares of enemies and all adversities. But it should be observed more attentively because the peculiarity of the Greek language, which is pepyromenon, is not explained in Latin by one word; hence it is now translated as ignitum, now as ignited by fire, as Your word is vehemently ignited (Ps. CXVIII), and Silver tried by fire (Ps. XI). Both of which are said in Greek by one word, pepyromenon. And what sounds very similar to this saying of Solomon is, The words of the Lord are tried by fire (Ps. XVII): that is, pepyromena. Therefore, purified as though melted, in fire, it is cleansed; for just as any metals melted by fire do not contain in themselves any foreign and useless dross, all that remains in them is true and perfect, and cleansed from all stain of faults; so the word of God, testifying the faith of eternal goods in itself. Hence it is that the Lord says, Not one iota or one apex will perish from the law until all things are accomplished (Matthew V). For all things are true, and outside of all ambiguity, kindled by superfluous vanity.

A generation that has swords for teeth, etc. Concerning this the Psalmist, Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and other things (Psalm LVI). These are the persecutors of the Church of Christ. But if you consider more diligently, you will find these generations to be the most wicked congregations of Jews and heretics. Therefore, the generation of the Jews curses its father, that is, him who says, Israel is my firstborn son (Exodus IV), when it denied his Son living in the flesh. And it did not bless its mother, namely the synagogue, whose former faith concerning Christ it took away, which it had from the fathers and prophets. The generation of the Novatians seems pure to itself, saying: They do not need repentance. And yet it cannot be pure from the filth of sins, which, by denying the fountain of repentance to sinners, closes off forgiveness. Likewise, the generation of the Arians has lofty eyes, and eyelids raised above God, inquiring who was before, and saying there was a time when the Son was not, or what the power of the Holy Spirit is, whether equal or unequal. Likewise, the generation that has swords for teeth, is the congregation of the wicked, which strives to impart its perfidy to others; and just as bodies are wont to be cut down by swords, so it strives to subject the souls of those who hear the poison of its wicked speech to eternal death.

Three things are difficult for me, etc. As far as history is concerned, it is as it is written; but because he speaks through parables, the way of an eagle in the sky is difficult to find: that is, the subtlety of the enemy, which flies around the hearts of heavenly men, is discovered with great labor. Similarly, the way of a serpent on the ground, that is, the cunning of the poisonous enemy, never ceasing to lay snares for those he sees founded on the rock of faith. Likewise, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, that is, the way of iniquity, which runs through the bitter waves of this world, driven by the blasts of unclean spirits, with such subtlety that its path can hardly or not at all be discovered. For that the eagle signifies the malicious enemy, the prophet testifies, who says: Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the sky (Lamentations IV), that is, men who persecuted us were so cruel that they seemed to be more savage than the demons themselves. That the serpent often signifies the devil is proven both in the transgression of the first man and when a wise man said, Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent (Ecclesiasticus XXI). The ship, which signifies lightness, indicates those who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine, as the prophet demonstrates when he says, "And the Chaldeans in their ships glorifying" (Isa. XLIII); that is, the unclean spirits exalting themselves from the fragility and instability of the human mind, and rejoicing as victors over its ruin. Just as those things are so pure that they cannot be found, so is it difficult to comprehend how a youth who has deserted the way of truth can deviate with a wandering mind into countless thoughts every hour. Such is also the way of an adulterous woman, who eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wickedness." The adulterous mind is always unstable and wandering like those mentioned above. Whoever can conceal the vile act that they committed denies having done any crime.

The coney, a weak people, etc. And this too denotes the people of the Church, who are called weak; either because, as we said earlier, they do not seek to avenge their own injuries; or because they have learned not to trust in their own strength, but to hope for salvation in the aid of their Redeemer. And this is to place their habitation in the rock, to say to the Lord, against the assaults of life, with the Psalmist: "Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress" (Psalm. . . .). Instead of coney, the ancient translation used "chirogrillus." It is an animal not bigger than a hedgehog, resembling a mouse and a bear, abundant in the regions of Palestine; and they habitually live in rock crevices and earth holes. It should be noted that in the psalm, where we sing, "The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs" (Psalm CIII), in some manuscripts we find coneys, in others chirogrillus. And even in this saying of Solomon, some manuscripts have hedgehog instead of coney. For in the book of Hebrew names, we find the same Hebrew word, sapham in Jeremiah, translated as chirogrillus, coney, and hedgehog by Saint Jerome.

There are three things which go well, etc. In this place, a lion is introduced, about whom it is written, "The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered" (Revelation 5). He is called the mightiest of beasts, because in him what is weak of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1); he fears no encounter; for he says, "The prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14). The rooster girded with loins, that is, the holy preachers announcing the true dawn among the darkness of this night; who are girded with loins, because they restrain the flowing of luxury from their members. And a ram, and there is no king who resists him. Whom else do we accept in this place as the ram, if not the order of priests first within the Church? About whom it is written, "Bring to the Lord the sons of rams" (Psalm 29), who lead the flock of sheep following them by their examples; to whom, living spiritually and rightly, no king at all can resist, because any persecutor who confronts them cannot impede their intention. And because after these, even the Antichrist will appear, he adds this fourth saying: