Bonaventure

Secundo contemnendae divitiae, quia frequenter non transmittuntur ad posteros.

Est et alia infirmitas etc. Supra ostendit, quod divitiae non ditant possessores suos; hic subiungit secundo, quod contemnendae sunt, quia frequenter non transmittuntur ad posteros; et hoc quidem facit hoc ordine. Primo notatur consideratio egestatis futurae in prole. Secundo ex hoc detestatur sollicitudinem laboriosam pecuniae acquirendae. Tertio in huius detestationem commendat fruitionem praesentis laetitiae, addens, hoc esse donum largitatis divinae.

(Vers. 12. 13. 14. 15.). Considerat igitur primo egestatem futuram in divitis prole, quia, cum conservantur diu a patre, non remanent filio. Propterea dicit: Est et alia infirmitas pessima, quam vidi sub sole, alia scilicet a praedicta, quae, inquam, est in possessione divitiarum; unde dicit: Divitiae conservatae in malum domini sui, quia non possunt p. 48 congregari sine malo et poenae et culpae; Ecclesiastici trigesimo primo¹: « Beatus vir, qui inventus est sine macula, et qui post aurum non abiit nec speravit in pecuniae thesauris. Quis est hic? et laudabimus eum; fecit enim mirabilia in vita sua ». Vel: in malum, faciunt enim hominem venire in malum poenae; Iacobi quinto: « Agite nunc, divites, plorate ululantes in miseriis, quae advenient vobis ». Domini sui, immo secundum rem servi, quia avaritia facit avarum servum; unde ad Ephesios quinto²: « Avaritia, quae est idolorum servitus ». — Hae, inquam, pereunt in afflictione pessima, quia necesse est, quod ipse cum dolore eas relinquat; Iob vigesimo septimo: « Dives, cum dormierit, nihil secum auferet ». Nec tantum relinquuntur a domino, sed etiam amittuntur a filio, unde subdit: Generavit filium, qui in summa egestate erit. Est egestas summa, et haec bonorum omnium, de qua Proverbiorum sexto: « Veniet tanquam viator egestas » etc. — Et sic divitiae conservatae non³ relinquuntur heredi nec etiam asportari a possessore possunt; unde subdit: Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suae, sic revertetur, non in uterum, sed in terram. Et nihil auferet secum de labore suo; Iob primo⁴: « Nudus egressus sum de utero matris meae, nudus revertar illuc ». — Et hoc valde dolendum; unde subdit: Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quomodo venit, sic revertetur; unde primae ad Timotheum ultimo: « Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, haud dubium, quod nec auferre quid possumus ».

(Vers. 15. 16.). Quid ergo prodest? Hic secundo reprehendit sollicitudinem augendae pecuniae consideratione egestatis superventurae; unde infert quasi ex praedictis, quod vanum est in tantis laboribus se affligere in rerum acquisitione. Ideo dicit: Quid ergo prodest ei, scilicet diviti avaro, quod laboravit in ventum? id est, in vanum, si ita est, quod « sicut nudus egressus de utero, nudus revertetur » et ipse et filius, quasi dicat: nihil. Propterea in Psalmo⁵: « Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde? Ut quid diligitis vanitatem et quaeritis mendacium »? Divitiae vento comparantur propter vanitatem; unde Ecclesiastici trigesimo quarto: « Quasi qui apprehendit umbram et persequitur ventum, sic et qui attendit ad visa mendacia »; laboravit ergo in ventum, cum laboravit pro divitiis acquirendis. — Et subdit magnitudinem laboris: Cunctis diebus vitae suae comedit in tenebris, propter solitudinem; et in curis multis, propter sollicitudinem; et in aerumna, propter expensarum tenuitatem; et tristitia, propter expensarum necessitatem. Tristatur enim, quia oportet eum quid manducare; Ecclesiastici decimo quarto⁶: « Oculus nequam et invidus non satiabitur pane, et indigens in tristitia erit super mensam suam ». Divitiae faciunt, hominem esse in curis et aerumnis; quia Matthaei decimo tertio: « Sollicitudo huius saeculi et fallacia divitiarum suffocat verbum ».

(Vers. 17. 18. 19.). Hoc itaque mihi visum est. Hic tertio commendat fruitionem laetitiae in detestationem afflictionis avaritiae. Quia enim avarus se affligit, et nihil ei prodest; ideo bonum visum est sibi comedere; et propterea dicit: Hoc itaque mihi visum est bonum, ut comedat quis et bibat, quantum ad iucunditatem exteriorem; et fruatur laetitia ex labore suo, quo laboravit sub sole; laetitia, quantum ad iucunditatem interiorem; et hoc, dum potest; unde et subdit: Numero dierum vitae suae, quos dedit ei Deus, quasi non exspectet aliud tempus. Et haec est pars illius. De his omnibus Isaiae vigesimo secundo⁷: « Ecce gaudium et laetitia iugulare arietes, comedere carnes et bibere vinum, comedamus et bibamus; cras enim moriemur », quasi illa sit pars. — Et hanc considerationem approbat, quasi placeat Deo; unde et subdit: Et omni homini, cui dedit Deus substantiam et divitias; haec enim a Deo sunt; unde Ecclesiastici undecimo⁸: « Bona et mala, vita et mors, paupertas et honestas a Deo sunt ». Potestatemque ei tribuit, ut comedat ex eis, exterius delectando; et fruatur parte sua, in iis quiescendo; et laetetur de labore, gaudenter acquisita exponendo. Hoc donum Dei est, haec enim potestas a Deo; quia Ioannis decimo quinto: « Sine me nihil potestis facere ». Et quod sit magnum donum, ostendit, quia cruciatus curarum et sollicitudinum, quae sunt magnae poenae, per delicias temperantur. Ideo subdit: bene dico, quod donum Dei est, in quantum a cruciatibus avaritiae liberat. — Non enim satis recordabitur dierum vitae suae, id est, non multum affligetur curis, quae spectant ad vitam; eo quod Deus occupet cor eius deliciis, non spiritualibus, de quibus in Cantici septimo⁹: « Quam pulcra es et quam decora, carissima, in deliciis »! sed carnalibus, de quibus dictum est supra secundo: « Feci mihi cantores et cantatrices et delicias filiorum hominum ».

Quaestiones.

I. Sed incidit hic quaestio primo de hoc quod dicit: Hoc visum est mihi bonum, ut comedat. p. 49

Contra: 1. Infra decimo¹: Vae tibi terra, cuius rex puer est, et cuius principes mane comedunt: contradicit ergo sibi ipsi.

II. Praeterea dicit: Et laetetur.

Contra: 1. Infra septimo²: Melius est ire ad domum luctus quam ad domum convivii; et iterum: Cor sapientium, ubi tristitia.

2. Item, ipsa Veritas dicit Lucae sexto³: Vae vobis, qui nunc ridetis, quia flebitis: ergo malum est laetari, et tota Scriptura reprehendit laetitiam carnis; quid est ergo, quod hic commendat eam?

Ad hoc respondetur per modum procedendi in libro isto singularem inter omnes libros sacrae Scripturae. Ipse enim loquitur ut concionator disputationem suam contexens, in qua diversae sententiae adducuntur secundum diversas personas, secundum quas loquitur; unde aliter in persona carnalis, ut hic, aliter in persona sapientis, ut infra: Melius est ire etc. Sed postmodum loquitur in persona propria, ubi dicit⁴: Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus, ubi quasi fert sententiam eorum quorum prius ventilaverat causam: Deum time, et quod Deus omnia iudicabit. Unde quidquid in libro legitur, quod illi sententiae adversatur, irritatur per illam sententiam; et talia sunt omnia, quae dicuntur in commendationem voluptatis praesentis; et sic una solutione respondetur ad omnia.

Aliter potest dici, quod ipse Ecclesiastes, quaecumque dicit, in persona propria dicit; sed tamen ad intelligenda ea quae dicit, duo sunt attendenda, scilicet ratio dicendi et modus. Modus dicendi duplex variatur: quaedam enim dicit vere, quaedam ironice: vere, ut illud: Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas, infra undecimo⁵; ironice, ut illud: Laetare ergo, iuvenis, in adolescentia tua. Et hoc patet per sequentia: Et scito, quod pro his omnibus adducet te Deus in iudicium, infra undecimo. — Alia variatio attenditur in modo, quia quaedam dicit approbando⁶: Ne temere quid loquaris etc.; quaedam recitando, quod ipse ita fecit, sicut dixit supra secundo: Non prohibui cor meum, quin omni voluptate frueretur etc.; hoc non approbat, sed recitat, se sic fecisse, sicut et Apostolus de se dicit, quod fuit blasphemus. Similiter quaedam dicit recitando, quod ita cogitaverit, sicut cum dixit supra secundo: Nonne melius est comedere et bibere? etc. Et tali genere locutionis multum utitur in hoc libello, quasi narrans suas tentationes; unde liber iste fuit quasi quaedam meditatio Salomonis. Et sicut homo ab una meditatione cadit in aliam⁷ secundum diversas considerationes, sicut quando quis cogitat, hoc esse bonum, et postmodum cadit in aliam aestimationem; sic narrat Salomon et in isto libro.

Quantum ad rationem dicendi attendendum, quod quaedam dicit simpliciter ad sui approbationem, quaedam vero non dicit in approbationem, sed in aliorum comparationem et detestationem, sicut qui vellet vituperare avaritiam laudaret prodigalitatem; sic et in hoc libro laudabat mortuos comparatione viventium⁸, voluptatem respectu avaritiae; quia in avaritia est poena et culpa. Hoc autem facit, ut ab illa revocet, non ut ad hanc attrahat. — Ulterius quantum ad rationem dicendi attendendum, quod quaedam dicit ad omnes, quaedam ad aliquos, qui aliquid supponunt, et ex eorum suppositione arguit contra eos, ut supra⁹ dixit, quod non est memoria sapientis, ut stulti. Hoc dixit illis sapientibus, qui totam suam remunerationem in laudibus hominum constituebant.

Haec ergo regula est in verbis eius generaliter attendenda, quod quae dicit vere et approbando dicit per se commendando, dicit omnibus, id est vere et assertive, universaliter et absolute; haec quidem in auctoritatem sunt adducenda. Quae autem dicit ironice et quae dicit recitatorie dicit ad aliorum detestationem, vel ex aliqua suppositione, sive ad contrarium. Illud igitur verbum dictum est non assertorie, sed recitatorie; recitat enim suam tentationem, quam narrare intendit. — Vel dictum est non absolute, sed ad detestationem avaritiae.

III. Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod hoc est donum Dei, ut fruatur divitiis; sed hoc est peccatum: ergo etc.

IV. Item dicit, quod Deus occupat cor deliciis in vita; sed hoc iterum est peccatum.

Respondeo: dicendum, quod tam bona fortunae quam naturae quam etiam gratiae sunt dona Dei; sed fortunae minima, naturae media, sed gratiae optima. Inter dona naturae computatur salus et fortitudo; inter bona fortunae prosperitas et quies. Deus enim aliquibus dat divitias, quibus non dat salutem nec quietem, et isti non fruuntur bonis; quibusdam superaddit quietem et salutem, et tales habent potestatem fruendi; et quia illa sunt dona Dei, ita et potestas; sed ulterius abusio potestatis mala, haec non est a Deo.

III. Quod quaeritur, quod Deus occupare dicitur deliciis cor illius; est respondendum, quod quaedam facit Deus misericorditer, quaedam iusto iudicio deserendo, sicut dicitur¹⁰ tradere sapientes mundi in reprobum sensum; sic et occupare dicitur cor deliciis permittendo iusto iudicio occupari et oblivisci aeternorum.

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Secondly, riches are to be despised, because frequently they are not handed down to posterity.

There is also another infirmity etc. Above he shows that riches do not enrich their possessors; here he adds, secondly, that they are to be despised because frequently they are not handed down to posterity; and this he does in this order. First is noted the consideration of future want in the offspring. Secondly, from this he detests the laborious solicitude of acquiring money. Thirdly, in detestation of this he commends the enjoyment of present gladness, adding that this is a gift of divine bounty.

(Vers. 12. 13. 14. 15.). He considers, therefore, first the future want in the offspring of the rich, because, when they are kept long by the father, they do not remain with the son. Therefore he says: There is also another most grievous infirmity, which I have seen under the sun, other, that is, than the aforesaid, which, I say, lies in the possession of riches; hence he says: Riches kept to the hurt of their owner, because they cannot p. 48 be gathered together without evil, both of punishment and of fault; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-first chapter¹: « Blessed is the man that is found without blemish, and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in the treasures of money. Who is he? and we will praise him; for he hath done wonderful things in his life ». Or: to the hurt, for they make a man come to the evil of punishment; James, the fifth chapter: « Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl in your miseries, which shall come upon you ». Of their owner, nay rather, in reality, of their servant, because avarice makes the covetous man a slave; hence Ephesians, the fifth chapter²: « Avarice, which is the service of idols ». — These, I say, perish with a very grievous affliction, because it is necessary that he leave them with grief; Job, the twenty-seventh chapter: « The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take nothing away with him ». Nor are they only left behind by the owner, but are even lost to the son, wherefore he adds: He hath begotten a son, who shall be in extremity of want. There is extreme want, and this of all goods, of which Proverbs, the sixth chapter: « Want shall come upon thee as a traveller » etc. — And so riches that are kept are not³ left to the heir, nor can they even be carried away by the owner; hence he adds: As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return, not into the womb, but into the earth. And he shall take nothing away with him of his labour; Job, the first chapter⁴: « Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither ». — And this is greatly to be lamented; hence he adds: A most deplorable infirmity: as he came, so shall he return; hence the first epistle to Timothy, at the end: « We brought nothing into this world, and certainly we can carry nothing out ».

(Vers. 15. 16.). What then doth it profit him? Here, secondly, he reproves the solicitude of increasing money, by the consideration of the want that is to come; whence he infers, as it were from what has been said, that it is vain to afflict oneself with so great labours in the acquisition of things. Therefore he says: What then doth it profit him, that is, the rich covetous man, that he hath laboured for the wind? that is, in vain, if it is so that « as he came forth naked from the womb, naked shall he return », both he and his son, as if to say: nothing. Therefore in the Psalm⁵: « O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying »? Riches are compared to wind on account of vanity; whence Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-fourth chapter: « As one that catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the wind, so is he that giveth heed to lying visions »; so he laboured for the wind, since he laboured to acquire riches. — And he adds the greatness of the labour: All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, on account of loneliness; and in many cares, on account of solicitude; and in misery, on account of the slenderness of his outlays; and sorrow, on account of the necessity of outlays. For he is sorrowful because he must eat something; Ecclesiasticus, the fourteenth chapter⁶: « The wicked and envious eye shall not be satisfied with bread, and the needy man shall be in sorrow at his table ». Riches make a man to be in cares and miseries; for Matthew, the thirteenth chapter: « The care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word ».

(Vers. 17. 18. 19.). This therefore hath seemed good to me. Here, thirdly, he commends the enjoyment of gladness in detestation of the affliction of avarice. For since the covetous man afflicts himself, and nothing profits him, therefore it has seemed good to him to eat; and for this reason he says: This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat and drink, as to outward pleasantness; and enjoy the gladness of his labour, wherein he hath laboured under the sun; gladness, as to inward pleasantness; and this while he can; wherefore he adds also: By the number of the days of his life, which God hath given him, as if he did not look for another time. And this is his portion. Of all these things, Isaias, the twenty-second chapter⁷: « Behold joy and gladness, slaying rams, eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die », as though that were his portion. — And this consideration he approves, as if it were pleasing to God; wherefore he adds also: And every man to whom God hath given riches and substance; for these things are from God; hence Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh chapter⁸: « Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and honour, are from God ». And hath given him power to eat thereof, by delighting outwardly; and to enjoy his portion, by resting in them; and to rejoice of his labour, by spending gladly what has been acquired. This is the gift of God, for this power is from God; because John, the fifteenth chapter: « Without me you can do nothing ». And that it is a great gift, he shows, because the torments of cares and solicitudes, which are great pains, are tempered by delights. Therefore he adds: I say well that it is the gift of God, inasmuch as it frees from the torments of avarice. — For he shall not much remember the days of his life, that is, he will not be much afflicted by the cares which pertain to life; because God entertaineth his heart with delight, not spiritual, of which in the Canticle, the seventh chapter⁹: « How beautiful art thou, and how comely, my dearest, in delights »! but carnal, of which it was said above, in the second chapter: « I made me singing men and singing women, and the delights of the sons of men ».

Questions.

I. But a question falls in here, first, concerning what he says: This hath seemed good to me, that he should eat. p. 49

On the contrary: 1. Below, the tenth chapter¹: Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when thy princes eat in the morning: he contradicts himself, therefore.

II. Moreover he says: And let him rejoice.

On the contrary: 1. Below, the seventh chapter²: It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting; and again: The heart of the wise is where there is sadness.

2. Likewise, Truth herself says, Luke, the sixth chapter³: Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep: therefore it is evil to rejoice, and the whole of Scripture reproves the gladness of the flesh; what, then, is the reason that he commends it here?

To this it is answered by the manner of proceeding in this book, singular among all the books of sacred Scripture. For he speaks as a preacher weaving his disputation, in which various opinions are adduced according to various persons, according to whom he speaks; hence in one way in the person of the carnal man, as here, in another in the person of the wise man, as below: It is better to go etc. But afterwards he speaks in his own person, where he says⁴: Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse, where, as it were, he gives the verdict of those whose cause he had before sifted: Fear God, and that God will judge all things. Hence whatever is read in the book which is opposed to that verdict is overruled by that verdict; and such are all the things which are said in commendation of present pleasure; and so by one solution an answer is made to all.

Otherwise it can be said that Ecclesiastes himself, whatever he says, says in his own person; but yet for understanding what he says two things are to be attended to, namely the reason of speaking and the mode. The mode of speaking varies in two ways: for some things he says truly, some ironically: truly, as that saying: Cast thy bread upon the running waters, below, the eleventh chapter⁵; ironically, as that: Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth. And this is plain from what follows: And know thou that for all these God will bring thee into judgment, below, the eleventh chapter. — Another variation is attended to in the mode, because some things he says approvingly⁶: Speak not rashly anything etc.; some by reciting that he himself did so, as he said above, in the second chapter: I withheld not my heart, but that it enjoyed every pleasure etc.; this he does not approve, but recites that he so did, as the Apostle also says of himself that he was a blasphemer. Likewise some things he says by reciting that he so thought, as when he said above, in the second chapter: Is it not better to eat and drink? etc. And of this kind of speech he makes much use in this little book, as if narrating his temptations; hence this book was as it were a kind of meditation of Solomon. And as a man falls from one meditation into another⁷ according to different considerations, as when one thinks that this is good, and afterwards falls into another estimate; so Solomon narrates, in this book also.

As to the reason of speaking, it is to be attended to that some things he says simply for his own approval, but some he says not in approval, but by way of comparison with others and detestation of them, as one who wished to censure avarice would praise prodigality; so in this book also he praised the dead by comparison with the living⁸, pleasure in respect of avarice; because in avarice there is both punishment and fault. But this he does that he may call back from the one, not that he may draw to the other. — Further, as to the reason of speaking, it is to be attended to that some things he says to all, some to some, who suppose something, and from their supposition he argues against them, as he said above⁹, that there is no remembrance of the wise, as of the fool. This he said to those wise men who set their whole reward in the praises of men.

This, therefore, is the rule to be attended to generally in his words: that what he says truly and approvingly he says commending it of itself, says to all, that is, truly and assertively, universally and absolutely; these indeed are to be adduced as authority. But what he says ironically and what he says recitatively he says for the detestation of others, or from some supposition, or by way of contrast. That saying, therefore, is said not assertorically, but recitatively; for he recites his own temptation, which he intends to narrate. — Or it is said not absolutely, but for the detestation of avarice.

III. Likewise it is asked concerning what he says, that this is the gift of God, that he enjoy riches; but this is a sin: therefore etc.

IV. Likewise he says that God occupieth the heart with delights in this life; but this again is a sin.

I respond: it must be said that goods of fortune as well as of nature and also of grace are gifts of God; but those of fortune are least, those of nature middle, but those of grace best. Among the gifts of nature are reckoned health and strength; among the goods of fortune, prosperity and rest. For God gives riches to some, to whom he gives neither health nor rest, and these do not enjoy the goods; to some he adds in addition rest and health, and such have the power of enjoying; and since those are gifts of God, so also is the power; but further, the abuse of the power is evil, and this is not from God.

III. As to what is asked, that God is said to occupy the heart of that man with delights; it is to be answered that some things God does mercifully, some by deserting in just judgment, as it is said¹⁰ that he delivered up the wise of the world to a reprobate sense; so also to occupy the heart with delights is said by permitting, in just judgment, that it be occupied and forget eternal things.

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