John Cassian
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 261 passages across 45 books
Commentary
Numbers 15:32
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
We have in fact noticed that even for less serious faults some people have suffered the very sentence of death by which those who we said were the authors of sacrilegious prevarication were also punished. This happened in the case of the man who had been collecting wood on the sabbath, as well as in that of Ananias and Sapphira, who by their misguided faithlessness kept back a little bit of their property. It is not that these sins were equally grave but that when these persons had been found committing a new offense, they had to furnish a kind of example to others of the penalty and terror of sinfulness. Thus, from then on, whoever was tempted to do the same thing would know that at the future judgment he would receive the same condemnation as the others, even if in this life his punishment was deferred.
Philemon 1:9
Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
You see how he rejoiced in the dignity of his chains, by the example of which he actually stirred up others. But there can be no doubt that where there is single-minded love of the Lord, there is also single-minded delight in chains worn for the Lord’s sake: as it is written: “But the multitude of the believers was of one heart and one soul.”
Philippians 1:29
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Not only the beginning of our conversion but also the continuance of it through the endurance of suffering for it are gifts given to us by the Lord.
Proverbs 2:20
· 2 passages
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
It is clearly we, I say, who make rough the straight and smooth paths of the Lord with the wicked and hard rocks of our desires, who very foolishly abandon the royal road paved with apostolic and prophetic stones and made level by the footsteps of all the holy ones and of the Lord himself, and who pursue byways and brambly roads. Blinded by the seductions of present pleasures, we crawl along the dark and obstructed trails, our feet lacerated by the thorns of vice and our wedding garment in tatters, and we are not only pierced by the sharp needles of thorny bushes but also brought low by the stings of the poisonous serpents and the scorpions that lie in wait there. .
It is plain, I say, that it is we, who make rough with the nasty and hard stones of our desires the right and smooth paths of the Lord; who most foolishly forsake the royal road paved with the fine pebbles of apostles and prophets, and trodden down by the footsteps of all the saints and of the Lord himself, and seek trackless and thorny places. Blinded by the allurements of present delights, we make our way with wounded feet and our wedding garment rent, through dark paths, overrun with the briars of sins, so as not only to be pierced by the sharp thorns of the brambles but actually laid low by the bites of deadly serpents and scorpions lurking there.
Proverbs 3:9
· 2 passages
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
“Honor the Lord from your righteous labors, and offer to him the fruits of your righteousness; that your barns may be full of an abundance of wheat, and your vats may overflow with wine.” Know that as you are faithfully carrying out this service, you have fulfilled the righteousness of the old law, under which those who then lived if they transgressed it inevitably incurred guilt, while if they fulfilled it they could not attain to the height of perfection.
Our Lord wants nothing done for his honor and glory without it being tempered by judgment, for “the honor of a king loves judgment.” Therefore Solomon, the wisest of men, urges us not to let our judgment tilt to either side, saying: “Honor God with your righteous labors and offer to him of the fruits of your righteousness.” For we have in our conscience an uncorrupt and true judge who, when all others are wrong, is the only person not deceived as to the state of our purity.
Proverbs 4:27
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
And so one who wishes to go along the King’s highway by means of the “arms of righteousness which are on the right hand and on the left” ought by the teaching of the apostle to pass through “honor and dishonor, evil report and good report.” And with such care [such a person ought] to direct his virtuous course amid the swelling waves of temptation, with discretion at the helm and the Spirit of the Lord breathing on us, since we know that if we deviate ever so little to the right hand or to the left, we shall presently be dashed against most dangerous crags. And so we are warned by Solomon, the wisest of men: “Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left.” That is, do not flatter yourself on your virtues and be puffed up by your spiritual achievements on the right hand; nor, swerving to the path of vices on the left hand, seek from them for yourself (to use the words of the apostle) so as to “glory in your shame.”
Proverbs 5:15-17
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
“Drink the waters from your own wells, fresh water from your own source.” … As the prophet Isaiah declares, “You will be like a well-watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters will never fail. And places emptied for ages will be built up in you. You will lift up the foundations laid by generation after generation. You will be called the builder of fences, the one who turns the pathways toward peace.” … And so it will happen that not only the whole thrust and thought of your heart but even all the wanderings and the straying of your thoughts will turn into a holy and unending meditation on the law of God.
Proverbs 11:22
As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
As for those who seem to have some semblance of knowledge and those who do not abandon the sins of the flesh even when they apply themselves diligently to the reading and memorizing of Scripture, Proverbs has the following well-put statement: “The beauty of a woman of evil ways is like a golden ring in the snout of a pig.” What use is it for a man to possess the jewel of heaven’s words and to give himself over to that most precious loveliness of Scripture if he himself is stuck fast in muddied works and thoughts?
Proverbs 13:7
· 2 passages
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
For indeed a person who loses by daily distractions of mind and lack of self control what he appears to gain by the conversion of others puts his profits into a bag with holes. And so it is that while they fancy that they can make larger profits by the instruction of others, they are actually deprived of their own improvement. For “there are who make themselves out as rich though possessing nothing, and there are who humble themselves amid great riches.”
A person who, because of his undisciplined heart and daily distraction of mind, loses whatever he seemed to have acquired by the conversion of others truly puts his profits in a bag with holes. And so it is that, while believing themselves able to make greater profit by instructing others, they are deprived of their own betterment. For “there are those who make themselves out as rich, although they have nothing, and there are those who humble themselves in the midst of great wealth.” .
Proverbs 14:29
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Everyone knows that patience is derived from passion and endurance and therefore that you cannot call anyone patient unless he endures indignities without annoyance. So Solomon rightly praised the patient person: “Better is the patient man than the strong, and he who restrains his anger more than he that takes a city,” and “A long-suffering man is mighty in prudence, but a fainthearted man is very foolish.” Therefore, if a wronged man flares up in anger, the wrongful abuse should not be thought of as the cause of his sin but the manifestation of a hidden weakness.
Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.
“The ways of those who do not work are strewn with thorns, but the ways of the strong are trodden down.” Thus wandering from the king’s highway, they can never arrive at that metropolis to which our course should ever be directed without swerving. Ecclesiastes also significantly expressed this saying: “The labor of fools wearies those who do not know how to go to the city;” namely, that “heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.”
Proverbs 16:4
The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Only God does what is good, acting from love of goodness for its own sake and not moved by fear or hope of reward. As Solomon says, “The Lord has done all things for his own sake.” For the sake of his own goodness he bestows an abundance of goodness upon the worthy and the unworthy, because he can neither be wearied by wrongdoing nor provoked to painful emotion by human wickedness. He always remains what he is, perfect in goodness and unchanging in nature.
Proverbs 16:18
· 2 passages
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
“Loss goes before destruction, and an evil thought before a fall,” just as no house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some long-standing flaw in the foundation or when by long-continued neglect of its inhabitants, what was at first only a little drip breaks through and the protecting walls are gradually ruined. In consequence of long-standing neglect the gap becomes larger and the walls break away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river. For “by slothfulness a building is brought low, and through lazy hands the house shall leak.”
“Injury precedes destruction, and an evil thought precedes ruin.” In the same way a house never suddenly collapses except because of some old weakness in the foundation or because of extended disregard by its tenants. Thus the structure of the roof is eventually destroyed by what had begun as a tiny leak but into which, through long neglect, a stormy tempest of rain pours like a river, once a large breach has been made. For “by slothfulness a dwelling will be brought low, and through lazy hands a house will leak.” .
Proverbs 17:6
· 2 passages
Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
Instead of the pleasure that a person has in possessing one field and house, he who has passed over into the adoption of the children of God will enjoy a hundred times more all the riches that belong to the eternal Father and that he will possess as his own, and in imitation of the true Son he will proclaim by disposition and by virtue, “All that the Father has is mine.” No longer occupied with the criminal concern of distraction and worry, but secure and happy, he will enter everywhere as it were into his property, and every day he will hear it said to him by the apostle, “All things are yours, whether the world or things present or things to come.” And by Solomon, “The faithful man has a world of riches.” .
Instead of the joy that people experience from the possession of a single field or house those who have been adopted as children of God will enjoy a delight in riches a hundred times greater and possess as their own all things which belong to the eternal Father, and assert in heart and soul like the true Son: “All things that the Father has are mine.” If no longer occupied by criminal anxiety in distractions and cares, but free from care and glad at heart they go everywhere as to their own, they will hear daily the announcement made by the apostle: “For all things are yours, whether the world or things present or things to come;” and by Solomon: “The faithful has a world of riches.”
Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Understanding is required to discern the distinctions and the drift of questions; and it is a main part of knowledge to understand how ignorant you are. Hence it is said that “if a fool asks questions, it will be accounted wisdom,” because, although one who asks questions is ignorant of the answer to the question raised, yet as he wisely asks and learns what he does not know, this very fact will be counted as wisdom in him, because he wisely discovers what he was ignorant of.