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Prooemium

Commentarius in librum Sapientiae · Prooemium

Textus Latinus
English Translation
p. 107

Prooemium commentarii in Sapientiam.

Introductio generalis.

1. Diligite lumen sapientiae, omnes, qui praeestis populis, Sapientiae sexto1. Quoniam eodem habet res formari, et deformata reformari; et omnia leguntur per sapientiam esse facta, secundum illud Psalmi: Omnia in sapientia fecisti; necesse est, omnia per sapientiam reformari. Imago ergo rationalis animae, quae « ad totius sapientiae similitudinem legitur esse facta » in libro de Spiritu et anima, per peccatum vero postmodum deformata in tantum, ut merito possit quaeri: Cuius est imago et superscriptio haec2? per sapientiam est necessario reformanda. Item3, quia ad eius reformationem duo sunt necessaria, scilicet malitiae expulsio et perfecti boni introductio, ut eo informetur et ei cuius est imago, expresse conformetur; sapientia autem est malitiae expulsiva, unde Sapientiae septimo4: Sapientia vincit malitiam; item perfecti boni introductiva, quia « sapientia est, in qua perfecti boni forma consistit », ut dicit Hugo in libro de Origine artium5. Et quoniam imago divina, per peccatum in anima deformata, reformatione indiget secundum omnes tres suas partes, quae secundum Augustinum6 sunt intelligentia, memoria et voluntas; idcirco Sapiens ad sapientiam tripliciter allicit et invitat, scilicet ad sapientiae studiosam acquisitionem, et hoc quantum ad intelligentiam; ad acquisitae sapientiae firmam retentionem, et hoc quantum ad memoriam; ad acquisitae sapientiae et memoriter retentae dilectionem, et hoc quantum ad voluntatem.

2. Ad sapientiae studiosam acquisitionem; Proverbiorum vigesimo septimo7: Stude sapientiae, fili mi. Filium vocat, quemcumque paterna affectione informat, sive sit iuvenis, sive senex; Augustinus: « Ad discendum quod opus est nulla mihi aetas sera videri potest; quia, etsi senes magis docere deceat quam doceri, magis tamen decet eos discere, quam quid doceant ignorare ». Stude, inquit, et hoc innuit vehementem diligentiam circa acquisitionem sapientiae adhibendam. « Studium enim, ut dicit Tullius8, est vehemens applicatio animi cum summa voluptate ad aliquid agendum ». Haec autem vehemens animi applicatio requirit vacationem ab exterioribus occupationibus. « Impar enim efficitur ad singula qui confusa mente dividitur ad multa », ut dicit Gregorius. Propter quod Ecclesiastici trigesimo octavo9: Sapientiam scribe in tempore vacuitatis, id est vacationis ab opere exteriori; qui enim minoratur actu, scilicet exteriori, percipiet sapientiam, ut dicitur in eodem.

3. Ad sapientiae firmam retentionem; Ecclesiastici decimo quarto10, ubi dicit: Beatus vir, qui in sapientia morabitur; item Proverbiorum tertio: p. 108 Describe eam in tabulis cordis tui, id est in tribus partibus divinae imaginis, et specialiter in memoria, eam firmiter retinendo. Propter quod dicit: Describe, quod enim scribitur firmius et diutius retinetur; Proverbiorum vigesimo secundo: Ecce, descripsi eam tibi tripliciter, id est in intelligentia per studiosam acquisitionem, in memoria per firmam retentionem, in voluntate per dilectionem; ad quod monet in verbis propositis dicens: Diligite lumen sapientiae etc.

De quadruplici causa huius libri.

4. In quibus verbis nobis quatuor causae huius operis innuuntur, scilicet causa efficiens ex persona, quae loquitur dicens: Diligite; formalis, id est modus agendi, per lumen innuitur; materialis nomine sapientiae exprimitur; finalis ex ordine seu comparatione loquentis ad personam, ad quam sermo dirigitur, intelligi potest, cum dicitur: Omnes, qui praeestis populis.

5. De primo notandum, quod triplex est causa efficiens huius libri: prima per modum inspirantis, scilicet Deus; unde Iob trigesimo secundo1: Inspiratio Omnipotentis dat intelligentiam; item Ecclesiastici primo: Omnis sapientia a Domino Deo est, sicut omnis essentia ab eius essentia, et ab eius veritate omnis veritas, et ab eius bonitate omnis bonitas. « Primum enim in unoquoque genere eorum quae post ipsum sunt, causa est2 »; et omne perfectum a perfecto causatur, secundum Boethium.

6. Secunda causa efficiens per modum invenientis est ipse Salomon; unde in ecclesiastica historia3 « omnis antiquorum chorus librum, qui Sapientia intitulatur, Salomonis esse dixerunt ». Unde liber ipse Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur, et more ecclesiastico lectionibus de hoc libro sumtis praemittitur: « Dixit Salomon filiis Israel », quia scilicet de eius sententiis liber iste compilatus fuit. — Proxima causa efficiens per modum compilantis fuit Philo, sapientissimus Iudaeorum, qui temporibus Apostolorum fuit, ut refert ecclesiastica historia4; qui ab amore sapientiae Philo non immerito est appellatus. Rabanus etiam librum istum potius asserit non a Salomone, ut putatur, sed a Philone, sapientissimo Iudaeo, fuisse conscriptum, id est compilatum.

7. Causa autem formalis, id est modus agendi, ut dictum est, per lumen innuitur, quia, sicut lumen habet radicalis suae originis occultationem, in egressu claram manifestationem, in fluxu continuationem; sic et iste liber Sapientiae habet in sententiis profundam difficultatem et originis occultationem, secundum illud Iob vigesimo octavo5: Trahitur sapientia de occultis; in sermonibus claram manifestationem, Sapientiae sexto: Clara est et quae nunquam marcescit sapientia, clara, inquam, per eloquentiae venustatem; « stilus enim huius libri, secundum Hieronymum, Graecam redolet eloquentiam »; in processu vero rationum consequentiam et ordinatam continuationem, Ecclesiastici vigesimo primo6: Scientia sapientis tanquam inundatio abundabit, continue fluendo, non stillando; et consilium illius sicut fons vitae permanet.

8. Causa vero materialis nomine sapientiae exprimitur. « Sapientia autem, secundum Augustinum7, est divinarum rerum cognitio »; res autem divinae sunt Dei potentia, sapientia et bonitas; de quibus agitur in hoc libro, quamvis principalius de sapientia intendatur. Potentiam Dei notificat in punitione p. 109 rebellium, ut patet primo, secundo, tertio, quarto, quinto capitulis; sapientiam in illuminatione humilium, ut patet sexto, septimo, octavo, nono capitulis; bonitatem in collatione beneficiorum, quantum ad utrosque, ut patet a decimo capitulo et inde. Agitur autem hic non tantum de sapientia increata, eius laudibus insistendo, sed etiam de creata, eius utilitates ostendendo; unde infra sexto1: Quid autem, id est qualis sit, sapientia, scilicet increata; et quemadmodum facta sit, scilicet creata, referam etc.; quamvis illud totum possit intelligi de sapientia increata tanquam de subiecto. Merito ergo liber Sapientiae intitulatur, quia in eo de sapientia tanquam de subiecto vel de materia principaliter tractatur, sicut liber de Anima, quia in eo principaliter de anima determinatur.

9. Causa vero finalis intelligi potest ex ordine personae loquentis ad illos, ad quos dirigitur sermo; qui tanguntur ibi2: Omnes, qui praeestis populis. Sicut enim est in illuminationibus angelicis, quod divinae lucis radium, secundum beatum Dionysium, primo recipiunt Angeli de prima hierarchia, secundo illi de media, ultimo illi de postrema — « lex enim, ut ipse dicit3, divinitus promulgata est, per prima media et per media postrema reducere », unde in Psalmo: Illuminans tu mirabiliter a montibus aeternis, id est superioribus Angelis inferiores — sicut etiam videmus in illuminationibus corporeis, quia primo derivatur solis illuminatio ad loca superiora et caelo viciniora, deinde in media, ultimo in postrema, Ecclesiastici quadragesimo tertio: Sol enim, tripliciter exurens montes, radios exsufflat, scilicet in valles: sic etiam debet esse in illuminationibus humanis, ut primo in supremos, id est in praelatos, deinde in medios, id est in eorum ministros, tertio in postremos, id est eorum subditos, lumen sapientiae diffundatur, secundum illud Psalmi4: Suscipiant montes pacem populo etc. Hic enim est processus sapientiae. Attingit enim a fine, scilicet supremo, usque ad finem ultimum, et disponit omnia, scilicet media, suaviter, infra capitulo octavo. Propter hoc dicebat Plato, « beatas vel bonas fore respublicas, si eas sapientes regerent, aut earum rectores sapientiae studerent », sicut ait Boethius libro de Consolatione5. Secundum enim iudicem populi, sic ministri eius; et qualis rector civitatis, tales et inhabitantes in ea; ubi tangit tres ordines, scilicet iudicum, ministrorum et subditorum. Propter praedicta auctor iste primo et principaliter intendit diffundere lumen sapientiae in loca excelsa, id est in superiores et per eos in inferiores. Unde patet, causam finalem huius doctrinae esse exhortationem seu provocationem principum et praelatorum, et per consequens omnium, ad studium et amorem sapientiae.

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p. 107

Prooemium of the commentary on Wisdom.

General introduction.

1. Love the lumentr. of wisdom, all ye that rule over peoples, Wisdom, the sixth chapter1. Since a thing has its being formed and, once deformed, its being re-formed from the same source; and all things are read to have been made through wisdom, according to that word of the Psalm: Thou hast made all things in wisdom; it is necessary that all things be re-formed through wisdom. The image of the rational soul, therefore, which « is read to have been made to the likeness of the whole of wisdom » in the book On the Spirit and the Soul, but afterwards through sin so deformed that it may rightly be asked: Whose is this image and inscription2? must of necessity be re-formed through wisdom. Likewise3, because for its re-formation two things are necessary, namely the expulsion of malice and the introduction of perfect good, so that it may be informed by this and be expressly conformed to him whose image it is; and wisdom is expulsive of malice, whence Wisdom, the seventh chapter4: Wisdom overcometh malice; likewise introductive of perfect good, because « wisdom is that in which the form of the perfect good consists », as Hugh says in the book On the Origin of the Arts5. And since the divine image, deformed in the soul through sin, needs re-formation according to all three of its parts, which according to Augustine6 are intelligence, memory and will; therefore the Wise Man entices and invites to wisdom in three ways, namely to the studioustr. acquisition of wisdom, and this as regards intelligence; to the firm retention of wisdom acquired, and this as regards memory; to the love of wisdom acquired and retained in memory, and this as regards the will.

2. To the studious acquisition of wisdom; Proverbs, the twenty-seventh chapter7: Be studious of wisdom, my son. Son he calls whomever he informs with fatherly affection, whether he be young or old; Augustine: « For learning what is needful no age can seem to me too late; because, although it befits old men rather to teach than to be taught, yet it befits them more to learn than to be ignorant of what they teach ». Be studious, he says, and by this he suggests that vehement diligence is to be applied to the acquisition of wisdom. « For study, as Tully says8, is the vehement application of the mind, with the highest pleasure, to doing something ». But this vehement application of the mind requires freedomtr. from exterior occupations. « For he is made unequal to single things who is divided in a confused mind among many », as Gregory says. On which account Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-eighth chapter9: Write wisdom in the time of leisure, that is, of freedom from exterior work; for he that is less in action, namely exterior action, shall receive wisdom, as is said in the same place.

3. To the firm retention of wisdom; Ecclesiasticus, the fourteenth chapter10, where he says: Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom; likewise Proverbs, the third chapter: p. 108 Write it out in the tables of thy heart, that is, in the three parts of the divine image, and especially in the memory, by retaining it firmly. On which account he says: Write it out, for what is written is retained more firmly and longer; Proverbs, the twenty-second chapter: Behold, I have written it out for thee in three ways, that is, in the intelligence through studious acquisition, in the memory through firm retention, in the will through love; to which he admonishes in the words proposed, saying: Love the lumen of wisdom etc.

On the fourfold cause of this book.

4. In which words four causes of this work are suggested to us, namely the efficient cause from the person who speaks, saying: Love; the formal, that is, the manner of proceeding, is suggested by lumen; the material is expressed by the name of wisdom; the final can be understood from the order or relation of the one speaking to the person to whom the discourse is directed, when it is said: All ye that rule over peoples.

5. Concerning the first it must be noted that the efficient cause of this book is threefold: the first by way of one inspiring, namely God; whence Job, the thirty-second chapter1: The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding; likewise Ecclesiasticus, the first chapter: All wisdom is from the Lord God, as every essence is from his essence, and from his truth every truth, and from his goodness every goodness. « For the first in each genus is the cause of those things that come after it2 »; and everything perfect is caused by the perfect, according to Boethius.

6. The second efficient cause, by way of one finding, is Solomon himself; whence in the ecclesiastical history3 « the whole chorus of the ancients said that the book which is entitled Wisdom is Solomon's ». Whence the book itself is inscribed The Wisdom of Solomon, and by ecclesiastical custom there is set before the lessons taken from this book: « Solomon said to the children of Israel », because, namely, this book was compiled from his sentences. — The proximate efficient cause, by way of one compiling, was Philo, the wisest of the Jews, who lived in the times of the Apostles, as the ecclesiastical history relates4; who from the love of wisdom is not undeservedly called Philo. Rabanus too asserts that this book was written, that is, compiled, not by Solomon, as is supposed, but rather by Philo, a most wise Jew.

7. But the formal cause, that is, the manner of proceeding, is suggested, as has been said, by lumen, because, as lumen has the hiddenness of its radical origin, in its going forth a clear manifestation, in its flowing a continuation; so also this book of Wisdom has in its sentences a profound difficulty and hiddenness of origin, according to that word of Job, the twenty-eighth chapter5: Wisdom is drawn out of secret places; in its discourses a clear manifestation, Wisdom, the sixth chapter: Clear is wisdom, and such as never fadeth away, clear, I say, through the charm of eloquence; « for the style of this book, according to Jerome, savours of Greek eloquence »; but in the procession of its reasons a consequence and ordered continuation, Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-first chapter6: The knowledge of a wise man shall abound like a flood, flowing continuously, not in drops; and his counsel continueth like a fountain of life.

8. But the material cause is expressed by the name of wisdom. « Now wisdom, according to Augustine7, is the cognition of divine things »; and the divine things are the power, wisdom and goodness of God; of which this book treats, although wisdom is intended more principally. It makes known the power of God in the punishing p. 109 of the rebellious, as is clear in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth chapters; his wisdom in the illumination of the humble, as is clear in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth chapters; his goodness in the conferring of benefits, as regards both, as is clear from the tenth chapter onward. But here it is treated not only of uncreated wisdom, by dwelling on its praises, but also of created wisdom, by showing its usefulness; whence below, in the sixth chapter1: Now what, that is, of what kind, wisdom is, namely uncreated wisdom, and how she was made, namely created wisdom, I will declare etc.; although that whole can be understood of uncreated wisdom as of the subject. Rightly therefore is it entitled the book of Wisdom, because in it wisdom is principally treated as the subject or the matter, as the book On the Soul is so called because in it the soul is principally determined.

9. But the final cause can be understood from the order of the person speaking to those to whom the discourse is directed; who are touched on there2: All ye that rule over peoples. For as it is in the angelic illuminations, that the ray of divine light, according to blessed Dionysius, is received first by the Angels of the first hierarchy, secondly by those of the middle, lastly by those of the last — « for the law, as he himself says3, has been divinely promulgated, to lead back the middle things through the first and the last through the middle », whence in the Psalm: Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting mountains, that is, the inferior Angels from the superior — as we also see in bodily illuminations, because the illumination of the sun is derived first to the higher places and those nearer to heaven, then to the middle, lastly to the lowest, Ecclesiasticus, the forty-third chapter: For the sun, burning the mountains threefold, breathes out its rays, namely into the valleys: so also it ought to be in human illuminations, that the lumen of wisdom be diffused first into the highest, that is, into prelates, then into the middle, that is, into their ministers, thirdly into the lowest, that is, their subjects, according to that word of the Psalm4: Let the mountains receive peace for the people etc. For this is the procession of wisdom. For she reacheth from end, namely the supreme, to end, the last, and ordereth all things, namely the middle ones, sweetly, below in the eighth chapter. On account of this Plato said that « commonwealths would be blessed or good if wise men ruled them, or if their rulers were studious of wisdom », as Boethius says in the book On Consolation5. For as is the judge of the people, so are his ministers; and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein; where he touches on three orders, namely of judges, of ministers and of subjects. On account of the foregoing this author first and principally intends to diffuse the lumen of wisdom into lofty places, that is, into superiors, and through them into inferiors. Whence it is clear that the final cause of this teachingtr. is the exhortation or provocation of princes and prelates, and consequently of all, to the study and love of wisdom.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Vers. 23. — Sequitur Ps. 103, 24.
    V. 23. — There follows Ps. 103:24.
  2. 2
    Matth. 22, 20. — Auctor libri de Spiritu et anima (inter opera August.), c. 6: « Anima ad similitudinem totius sapientiae facta omnium in se gerit similitudinem » etc. Respicitur Gen. 1, 26: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram.
    Matt. 22:20. — The author of the book On the Spirit and the Soul (among the works of Augustine), c. 6: « The soul, made to the likeness of the whole of wisdom, bears in itself the likeness of all things » etc. Gen. 1:26 is alluded to: Let us make man to our image and likeness.
  3. 3
    Supple: per sapientiam est necessario reformanda.
    Supply: must of necessity be re-formed through wisdom.
  4. 4
    Vers. 30: Sapientiam autem non vincit malitia.
    V. 30: But no evil can overcome wisdom.
  5. 5
    Libr. I. Eruditionis didascalicae, c. 2, quod inscribitur de origine artium et animae perfectione: Omnium expetendorum prima est sapientia, in qua etc.
    Didascalicon (Eruditio didascalica) I, c. 2, which is entitled On the origin of the arts and the perfection of the soul: Of all things to be sought the first is wisdom, in which etc.
  6. 6
    Libr. X. de Trin. c. 11. n. 17. seqq. et XIV. c. 8. n. 11; de Spiritu et anima (inter opera August.), c. 35. Cfr. I. Sent. lit. Magistri, d. III. c. 2, et ibid. Comment. p. II. a. 1. q. 1.
    On the Trinity X, c. 11, n. 17 ff., and XIV, c. 8, n. 11; On the Spirit and the Soul (among the works of Augustine), c. 35. Compare I Sent., the Master's text, d. III, c. 2, and the Commentary there, p. II, a. 1, q. 1.
  7. 7
    Vers. 11. — Sententia August. habetur in Epist. 166. (alias 28.) c. 1. n. 1: Ad discendum... quia, etsi senes magis decet docere quam discere, magis tamen discere, quam quid doceant ignorare.
    V. 11. — Augustine's saying is found in Letter 166 (otherwise 28), c. 1, n. 1: For learning... because, although it befits old men rather to teach than to learn, yet it befits them more to learn than to be ignorant of what they teach.
  8. 8
    Libr. I. Rhetor. c. 25: Studium est animi assidua et vehemens ad aliquam rem applicata magna cum voluntate occupatio, ut philosophiae etc. — Superius post inquit Vat. in hoc innuens, vehementem debere esse diligentiam etc.
    Rhetoric (On Invention) I, c. 25: Study is the assiduous and vehement occupation of the mind, applied to some thing with great will, as of philosophy etc. — Above, after inquit, the Vatican edition reads in hoc innuens, vehementem debere esse diligentiam (by this suggesting that the diligence ought to be vehement) etc.
  9. 9
    Vers. 25, ubi etiam seq. locus. Verba Vulgatae vide supra pag. 66, nota 1. — Gregor., Regulae pastoralis, p. I. c. 4: Impar quisque invenitur ad singula, dum confusa mente etc. — Vat. et codd. Imperitus pro Impar.
    V. 25, where the following passage also stands. For the words of the Vulgate see above, p. 66, note 1. — Gregory, Pastoral Rule, p. I, c. 4: Each man is found unequal to single things while with a confused mind etc. — The Vatican edition and the codices have Imperitus (unskilled) for Impar.
  10. 10
    Vers. 22. — Duo seqq. loci sunt Prov. 3, 3, ubi Vulgata omittit eam, et 22, 20.
    V. 22. — The two following passages are Prov. 3:3, where the Vulgate omits eam, and 22:20.
  11. 1
    Vers. 8. — Sequitur Eccli. 1, 1.
    V. 8. — There follows Ecclus. 1:1.
  12. 2
    Secundum Aristot., II. Metaph. text. 4. (I. brevior c. 1.), in cuius expositione Averroes ait: Manifestum est per se, quod unumquodque principiorum in unoquoque genere est proprie causa eorum quae dicuntur de aliis rebus collocatis in illo genere etc. Cfr. V. Metaph. text. 12. (IV. c. 6.) et X. text. 3. seqq. (IX. c. 1. seq.), de quo vide tom. II. pag. 94, nota 4. — De sententia Boethii cfr. III. de Consol. prosa 10, ubi ostendit, imperfecta et minus perfecta supponere perfectum, immo perfectissimum, quod sit origo et fons omnis boni et perfecti. Tamen Vat. et codd. habent omne perfectum.
    According to Aristotle, Metaphysics II, text 4 (I brevior, c. 1), in whose exposition Averroes says: It is manifest of itself that each one of the principles in each genus is properly the cause of those things that are said of the other things placed in that genus etc. Compare Metaphysics V, text 12 (IV, c. 6), and X, text 3 ff. (IX, c. 1 f.), on which see tom. II, p. 94, note 4. — On the opinion of Boethius compare On Consolation III, prose 10, where he shows that imperfect and less perfect things presuppose a perfect, indeed a most perfect, which is the origin and fount of all good and perfect. Yet the Vatican edition and the codices have omne perfectum.
  13. 3
    Eusebii, libr. IV. c. 22, secundum versionem Rufini (Aquileiensis presbyteri), quae tamen cum textu originali non concordat. Eusebius enim ait: Non solum autem ipse [Hegesippus], sed et Irenaeus et omnis antiquorum chorus, omni virtute refertam sapientiam Salomonis Proverbia nuncuparunt [πανάρετον Σοφίαν τὰς Σολομῶνος Παροιμίας ἐκάλουν] Cfr. Cornel. a Lapide, Prolegom. in lib. Sap., ubi etiam, perpensis tribus opinionibus de auctore huius libri (prima tenet, Salomonem esse auctorem, altera ab Hieron. allata, Philoni librum attribuit; tertia ab Augustino primitus posita sed postmodum improbata ipsum tribuit Iesu, filio Sirach); quartam ponit, secundum quam incertum est, quis fuerit auctor secundarius, qui, dictante Spiritu sancto, librum conscripserit.
    Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History], book IV, c. 22, according to the version of Rufinus (priest of Aquileia), which, however, does not agree with the original text. For Eusebius says: Not only he himself [Hegesippus], but also Irenaeus and the whole chorus of the ancients called the Proverbs of Solomon wisdom filled with every virtue [πανάρετον Σοφίαν τὰς Σολομῶνος Παροιμίας ἐκάλουν]. Compare Cornelius a Lapide, Prolegomena to the book of Wisdom, where also, having weighed three opinions on the author of this book (the first holds that Solomon is the author; the second, put forward by Jerome, attributes the book to Philo; the third, first proposed by Augustine but afterwards rejected, attributes it to Jesus, son of Sirach), he sets down a fourth, according to which it is uncertain who was the secondary author who, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, wrote the book.
  14. 4
    Eusebii, lib. II. c. 5, ubi ex XVIII. Antiquitatum Iosephi narratur, quod Philo legationem pro Iudaeis susceperit ad imperatorem Caium Caligulam. Cfr. Nicephor., II. Eccles. Histor. c. 9. — Rabanus, Prolog. Comment. in lib. Sap.: Quem [lib. Sap.] tamen beatus Hieronymus asserit non a Salomone, ut usus habet, sed a Philone, doctissimo Iudaeo, fuisse conscriptum etc — Cornel. a Lapide, loc. in praeced. nota cit., ait: Causa erroris, cur scilicet nonnulli Sapientiam tribuunt Philoni, est, quod Salomon a Deo, II. Reg. 12, 25, nuncupatus sit Hebraice Iedidia [cfr. supra pag. 10, nota 3.], id est amabilis Domino, qui Graece dicitur φίλων; φιλέω enim est amo, φιλία amor, φίλος amicus. Unde et Philon Iudaeus a Rabbinis... Hebraice vocatur Iedidia etc. — Opinionem, quam hoc loco S. Bonav. proponit, insinuavit etiam in Collation. in Hexaëm. collat. 6. n. 7. seqq. (tom. V. pag. 361 col. II.). In nota ibid. adiecta neque S. Hieron. neque S. Bonav. Prologum in librum Sapientiae allegavimus; qua allegatione, si eam fecissemus, res clarior apparuisset. Allegavimus autem plura opuscula Philonis, in quibus ipse eamdem rem tantum tangit. Plura de convenientia libri Sapientiae et opusculorum Philonis exhibet P. Aug. Calmet, Comment. in libr. Sap., Dissertat. de auctore libri Sapientiae.
    Eusebius, book II, c. 5, where it is related from Josephus' Antiquities XVIII that Philo undertook an embassy on behalf of the Jews to the emperor Gaius Caligula. Compare Nicephorus, Ecclesiastical History II, c. 9. — Rabanus, Prologue to the Commentary on the book of Wisdom: Which [the book of Wisdom] blessed Jerome nevertheless asserts was written not by Solomon, as custom has it, but by Philo, a most learned Jew etc. — Cornelius a Lapide, in the place cited in the preceding note, says: The cause of the error, namely why some attribute Wisdom to Philo, is that Solomon was named by God, II Kings 12:25, in Hebrew Jedidiah [compare above, p. 10, note 3], that is, lovely to the Lord, which in Greek is said φίλων; for φιλέω is I love, φιλία love, φίλος friend. Whence Philo the Jew too is called by the Rabbis... in Hebrew Jedidiah etc. — The opinion which St. Bonaventure proposes in this place he also suggested in the Collations on the Hexaëmeron, collation 6, n. 7 ff. (tom. V, p. 361, col. II). In the note added there we cited neither St. Jerome's nor St. Bonaventure's Prologue to the book of Wisdom; had we made that citation, the matter would have appeared clearer. We cited, however, several opuscula of Philo in which he himself merely touches on the same matter. More on the agreement of the book of Wisdom with the opuscula of Philo is offered by Fr. Augustin Calmet, Commentary on the book of Wisdom, Dissertation on the author of the book of Wisdom.
  15. 5
    Vers. 18. — Sequitur Sap. 6, 13. — Sententia Hieron. habetur in Prologo in lib. Sap. paulo inferius allegato.
    V. 18. — There follows Wis. 6:13. — Jerome's saying is found in the Prologue to the book of Wisdom cited a little below.
  16. 6
    Vers. 16.
    V. 16.
  17. 7
    Libr. XIV. de Trin. c. 1. n. 3: Sapientia est rerum humanarum divinarumque scientia... Verum secundum hanc distinctionem, qua dixit Apostolus [I: Cor. 12, 8.]: Alii datur sermo sapientiae, alii sermo scientiae, ista definitio dividenda est, ut rerum divinarum scientia proprie sapientia nuncupetur, humanarum autem proprie scientiae nomen obtineat.
    On the Trinity XIV, c. 1, n. 3: Wisdom is the knowledge of human and divine things... But according to this distinction, by which the Apostle said [I Cor. 12:8]: To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, that definition is to be divided, so that the knowledge of divine things is properly called wisdom, while that of human things properly obtains the name of knowledge.
  18. 1
    Vers. 24. — Inferius e codd. supplevimus: Merito... determinatur.
    V. 24. — Below we have supplied from the codices: Merito... determinatur.
  19. 2
    Cap. 6, 23.
    Ch. 6:23.
  20. 3
    De Caelesti Hierarch. c. 4. § 3, c. 8. § 2. et c. 10. § 1; de Ecclesiast. Hierarch. c. 5. § 4. — Duo seqq. loci sunt Ps. 75, 5. et Eccli. 43, 4: Tripliciter sol... radios igneos exsufflans etc.
    On the Celestial Hierarchy c. 4, § 3, c. 8, § 2, and c. 10, § 1; On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy c. 5, § 4. — The two following passages are Ps. 75:5 and Ecclus. 43:4: The sun three times as much... breathing out fiery rays etc.
  21. 4
    Psalm. 71, 3. — Sequitur Sap. 8, 1, ubi pro ultimum Vulgata fortiter.
    Ps. 71:3. — There follows Wis. 8:1, where for ultimum the Vulgate has fortiter.
  22. 5
    Libr. I. prosa 4: « Atqui tu hanc sententiam Platonis ore sanxisti, beatas fore respublicas, si eas vel studiosi sapientiae regerent, vel earum rectores studere sapientiae contigisset ». De hac Platonis sententia cfr. V. de Republica (ed. Serrani tom. II. pag. 473 seqq.), ubi docet, beatam fore rempublicam, in qua philosophi essent reges, vel reges philosophi. Cfr. etiam Alcibiades primus sive de Natura humana, circa finem (ed. Serrani tom. II. pag. 134). — Sequitur Eccli. 10, 2, ubi Vulgata voci sic addit et.
    Book I, prose 4: « And yet you sanctioned with your own mouth this saying of Plato, that commonwealths would be blessed if either those studious of wisdom ruled them, or it befell their rulers to study wisdom ». On this saying of Plato compare Republic V (ed. Serranus, tom. II, p. 473 ff.), where he teaches that that commonwealth will be blessed in which philosophers are kings or kings philosophers. Compare also Alcibiades I or On Human Nature, near the end (ed. Serranus, tom. II, p. 134). — There follows Ecclus. 10:2, where the Vulgate adds et to the word sic.
Translator’s Notes
  1. tr.
    Translator's note: Latin has two words here where English has one. Lux is light in its source — this chunk has it once, in the divinae lucis radium that the Angels receive — while lumen is light as given off and received, which is what wisdom is when Wisdom 6:23 bids rulers love it. The received English of the verse reads "Love the light of wisdom", but the whole Introduction leans on the word: it returns as the formal cause of the book, where lumen is said to have a hidden origin, a clear going forth and a continuous flowing, and again as the lumen of wisdom diffused from prelates to their subjects. Collapsing it into "light" would hide the argument, so lux is "light" throughout and lumen is left standing, here and at its six further sites in this chunk, as in the rest of this translation.
  2. tr.
    Translator's note: the Latin studium — with studere and studiosus — holds together zeal, eager pursuit, application and study. Here the Introduction builds its first invitation on one root: the studiosa acquisitio of wisdom, Proverbs 27:11's Stude sapientiae, Tully's definition Studium est vehemens applicatio animi, and, at the close, the studium et amor sapientiae to which princes are exhorted. This translation therefore keeps one English root throughout — "studious", "be studious", "study" — so that the definition is seen to be defining the very word of the verse, at the cost of "study" reading more narrowly in English than Tully's "vehement application of the mind".
  3. tr.
    Translator's note: the Latin vacare holds together several senses that English has to split: being at leisure, being free, being free for something and being free from something (with ab). Here vacatio governs ab with the ablative twice — vacationem ab exterioribus occupationibus and vacationis ab opere exteriori, the second glossing Ecclesiasticus' tempore vacuitatis — so the English takes the side of being free from: the point is what the mind must be released from in order to apply itself to wisdom. The verse's own vacuitas keeps the Douay's "leisure". No vaca- word is rendered "rest" in this translation, because quies and requies take that word.
  4. tr.
    Translator's note: the Latin doctrina holds together what English divides among doctrine, teaching and learning — the body of what is taught, the act of teaching it, and what a learner takes away. Here causam finalem huius doctrinae names the book itself as an act of instruction directed at princes and prelates, whose end is their exhortation to the study and love of wisdom, so the English takes the side of "teaching". Where this translation renders the same word "doctrine" or "learning", it is because the Latin there names the body of what is taught or the thing learned.
Cited by

3 places in the Opera Omnia citethis question. Derived from Quaracchi’s own apparatus, never tagged by hand.

Secondly, he provokes to the likeness of the just in two ways
Commentarius in librum Sapientiae · Capitulum III
supra pag. 108, nota 7
First he takes a reason from the peril of the office of superiors
Commentarius in librum Sapientiae · Capitulum VI · 4×
supra pag. 108, nota 7
First he shows how he received wisdom
Commentarius in librum Sapientiae · Capitulum VII
supra pag. 108, nota 7
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