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Dist. 37

Book III: On the Incarnation of the Word · Distinction 37

Textus Latinus
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DISTINCTIO XXXVII.

Cap. I. — De decem mandatis, quomodo contineantur in duobus.

Sed iam distributio Decalogi, qui1 in duobus mandatis completur, consideranda est. « Habet enim Decalogus decem praecepta, quae sunt decachordum Psalterium; quae sic sunt distributa, ut tria, quae sunt in prima tabula, pertineant ad Deum, scilicet ad cognitionem et dilectionem Trinitatis; septem, quae sunt in secunda tabula, ad dilectionem proximi2 ».

Primum in prima tabula est: Non habebis deos alienos; non facies tibi sculptile neque omnem similitudinem etc. Haec Origenes3 dicit duo esse mandata, sed Augustinus unum. Hoc ipsum enim, quod dixerat: non habebis deos alienos, perfectius explicat, cum prohibet coli figmenta, scilicet idolum, vel similitudinem alicuius rei; quae duo Origenes4 ita dicit distare, « ut idolum sit quod nihil habet simile sui; similitudo vero, quod habet speciem alicuius rei; verbi gratia, si quis in auro vel ligno vel alia re faciat speciem serpentis vel avis vel alicuius rei et statuat ad adorandum, non idolum, sed similitudinem fecit. Qui vero facit speciem, quam non vidit oculus, sed animus sibi fingit, ut si quis humanis membris caput canis vel arietis formet, vel in uno habitu hominis duas facies; non similitudinem, sed idolum facit, quia facit quod non habet aliquid simile sui ».

Cap. II. — Quare idolum nihil esse in mundo dicitur.

« Ideo dicit Apostolus5, quia idolum nihil est in mundo. Non enim aliqua ex rebus constantibus assumitur species, sed quod mens otiosa et curiosa reperit. Similitudo vero est, cum aliquid ex his quae sunt vel in caelo vel in terra vel in aquis, formatur ». — Augustinus6 vero ita exponit illud: idolum nihil est in mundo, id est, inter creaturas mundi non est forma idoli. Materiam enim formavit Deus, sed stultitia hominum formam dedit. Quaecumque facta sunt naturaliter, facta sunt per Verbum; sed forma hominis in idolo non est facta per Verbum, sicut peccatum non est factum per Verbum, sed est nihil; et nihil fiunt homines, cum peccant.

Sed quaeritur, quomodo hic dicatur forma idoli non esse facta per Verbum, cum alibi7 legatur: « Omnis forma, omnis compago, omnis concordia partium facta est per Verbum ». — Hoc autem a diversis varie solvitur. Quidam enim dicunt, omnem formam, et quidquid est, a Deo esse, in quantum est, et formam idoli, in quantum est, vel in quantum forma est, a Deo esse, sed non in quantum est idoli, id est, posita ad adorandum. In hoc enim non est creatura, sed perversio creaturae. Sicut illud quod peccatum est, in quantum peccatum est, nihil est8; et homines, cum peccant, nihil fiunt, quia ab illo qui vere est, separantur. Unde Hieronymus9: « Quod ex Deo non est, qui solus vere est, non esse dicitur ». Ideoque peccatum, quod nos a vero esse abducit, nihil esse vel non esse dicitur. — Alii vero dicunt, omnem formam, quae scilicet naturaliter est, et omne quod naturaliter est, esse a Deo; sed forma idoli non est naturaliter, quia naturae iustitiae non servit. Id enim naturaliter esse dicitur, quod simplici naturae iustitiae, quae Deus est, militat, non resultat et naturam creatam non vitiat.

Secundum praeceptum est: Non assumes nomen Dei tui in vanum; quod est dicere secundum litteram: non iurabis pro nihilo nomen Dei; « allegorice vero praecipitur, ut non putes, creaturam esse Christum, Dei Filium, quia omnis creatura vanitati subiecta est, sed aequalem Patri10 ».

Tertium vero est: Memento, ut diem Sabbati sanctifices; ubi secundum litteram praecipitur Sabbati observantia; allegorice11 vero, ut requiem hic a vitiis et in futuro in Dei contemplatione exspectes ex Spiritu sancto, id est ex caritate et dono Dei, non quod Spiritus sanctus sine Patre et Filio hoc operetur.

Cap. III. — Quare in Spiritu sancto proprie dicitur fieri remissio peccatorum.

« Accepit utique Ecclesia hoc donum, ut in Spiritu sancto fiat remissio peccatorum; quam remissionem cum Trinitas faciat, proprie tamen ad Spiritum sanctum dicitur pertinere, quia ipse est Spiritus adoptionis filiorum, ipse est Patris et Filii Amor et Connexio vel Communitas12 »; ideoque iustificatio nostra et requies ei attribuitur saepius. — Haec sunt tria mandata primae tabulae ad Deum pertinentia; et primum

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quidem, quod est de uno Deo colendo, pertinet ad Patrem, in quo est unitas vel auctoritas; secundum ad Filium, in quo est aequalitas; tertium ad Spiritum sanctum, in quo est utriusque communitas.

In secunda vero tabula septem erant mandata ad dilectionem proximi pertinentia. « Quorum primum ad patrem carnalem refertur, sicut primum primae tabulae ad Patrem caelestem, quod est: Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam, ut sis longaevus super terram13 », scilicet viventium. Parentes vero sic sunt honorandi, ut eis debita reverentia exhibeatur, et necessaria ministrentur.

Secundum est: Non occides; ubi secundum litteram actus homicidii prohibetur, secundum spiritum vero etiam voluntas occidendi. Unde huic mandato secundum litteram fit superadditio in Evangelio14, quia littera Evangelii exprimitur, quod Legis littera non exprimebatur.

Cap. IV. — De sensu spirituali et carnali Legis.

Evangelii littera exprimit intelligentiam spiritualem, id est, quam spirituales habent, et secundum quam spiritualiter vivitur; littera Legis sensum carnalem, id est, quem carnales habent, et secundum quem carnaliter vivitur; cui facta est superadditio.

Tertium est: Non moechaberis, « id est, ne cuilibet miscearis, excepto foedere matrimonii. A parte enim totum intelligitur15 » : « Nomine igitur moechiae omnis concubitus illicitus illorumque membrorum non legitimus usus prohibitus debet intelligi ».

Quartum est: Non furtum facies; ubi sacrilegium et rapina omnis prohibetur. « Non enim rapinam permisit qui furtum prohibuit, sed furti nomine bene intelligi voluit omnem illicitam usurpationem rei alienae ». — « Sacrilegium tribus modis committitur, quando scilicet vel sacrum de sacro, vel non sacrum de sacro, vel sacrum de non sacro aufertur ». Sacrum vero dicitur quidquid mancipatum est cultui divino, ut Ecclesia vel res Ecclesiae. — Hic etiam usura prohibetur, quae sub rapina continetur. Unde Hieronymus16: « Usuras quaerere, vel fraudare, vel rapere nihil interest. Commoda fratri tuo, et accipe quod dedisti, et nihil superfluum quaeras, quia superabundantia in usura computatur ». Est enim usura, ut ait Augustinus17, cum quis plus exigit in iniuria, vel qualibet re, quam acceperit. Item Hieronymus18: « Putant aliqui, usuram tantum esse in pecunia; sed intelligant, usuram vocari superabundantiam, scilicet quidquid est, si ab eo quod dederit, plus est; ut si in hieme demus decem modios, et in messe quindecim recipiamus ».

Cap. V. — De furto.

Si vero quaeritur de filiis Israel, qui, Domino iubente, ab Aegyptiis mutuaverunt vasa aurea et argentea et vestes pretiosas et asportaverunt, utrum furtum commiserint; dicimus, eos qui, ut parerent Deo iubenti, illud fecerunt, non fecisse furtum nec omnino peccasse. Unde Augustinus19: « Israelitae non furtum fecerunt, sed Deo iubenti ministerium praebuerunt. Hoc enim Deus iussit, qui Legem dedit; sicut minister iudicis sine peccato occidit quem lex praecipit; sed si id sponte faciet, homicida est, etiam si eum occidat, quem scit a iudice occidendum ». « Infirmi autem, qui ex cupiditate Aegyptios deceperunt, magis permissi sunt hoc facere illis qui talia iure passi sunt, quam iussi ». — Hic opponitur, quod etiam boni in illo opere peccaverunt, quia naturalem legem, cui concordat Evangelium et lex moralis praeceptionis, transgressi sunt, quae est: quod tibi non vis fieri alii ne feceris; quam Veritas scripsit in corde hominis, et quia non legebatur in corde, iteravit in tabulis, ut voce forinsecus admota rediret ad cor et ibi inveniret quod extra legeret. Hanc igitur illi praevaricati20 videntur in illo facto, aliis facientes quod nolebant sibi fieri. — Sed ibi subintelligendum est: iniuste, ut non alii, scilicet iniuste, facias quod tibi non vis fieri. Alioquin huius praevaricator est iudex, dum punit reum, nolens aliquid tale sibi fieri. Ita etiam illud Domini verbum21: Omnia quaecumque vultis, ut faciant vobis homines etc.; de bonis accipiendum est, quae nobis invicem exhibere debemus.

Quintum praeceptum est: Non loqueris contra proximum tuum falsum testimonium; ubi crimen mendacii et periurii prohibetur.

Cap. VI. — De mendacio.

« Solet autem quaeri, utrum prohibitum sit omne mendacium. Quidam dicunt, illud tantum prohiberi, quod obest et non prodest ei cui dicitur. Tale enim non est adversus proximum; ut ideo videatur hoc addidisse Scriptura22 ». — Sed de mendacio magna quaestio est nec cito explicari potest.

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English Translation

DISTINCTION XXXVII.

Ch. I. — On the ten commandments, how they are contained in the two.

But now the distribution of the Decalogue, which1 is completed in two commandments, must be considered. « For the Decalogue has ten precepts, which are the ten-stringed Psaltery; and they are so distributed that three, which are in the first table, pertain to God, namely to the knowledge and love of the Trinity; seven, which are in the second table, to the love of neighbor2 ».

The first in the first table is: You shall not have strange gods; you shall not make for yourself a graven thing nor any likeness etc. Origen3 says that these are two commandments, but Augustine that it is one. For this very thing, which he had said: you shall not have strange gods, he explains more fully when he forbids that fashioned things be worshiped, namely an idol, or a likeness of some thing; and these two Origen4 says differ thus, « that an idol is what has nothing similar to itself; but a likeness is what has the appearance of some thing; for example, if someone in gold or wood or some other material makes the appearance of a serpent or a bird or some thing and sets it up to be adored, he has made not an idol but a likeness. But he who makes an appearance which the eye has not seen, but which the mind fashions for itself, as if someone should form upon human limbs the head of a dog or of a ram, or in one figure of a man two faces; makes not a likeness but an idol, because he makes what has nothing similar to itself ».

Ch. II. — Why an idol is said to be nothing in the world.

« Therefore the Apostle5 says that an idol is nothing in the world. For no appearance is taken from existing things, but what an idle and curious mind devises. But there is a likeness when something is formed from those things which are either in heaven or on earth or in the waters ». — But Augustine6 expounds that text thus: an idol is nothing in the world, that is, among the creatures of the world there is no form of an idol. For God formed the matter, but the foolishness of men gave the form. Whatever things were made naturally were made through the Word; but the form of a man in an idol was not made through the Word, just as sin was not made through the Word, but is nothing; and men become nothing when they sin.

But it is asked how here the form of an idol is said not to have been made through the Word, when elsewhere7 it is read: « Every form, every framing, every concord of parts was made through the Word ». — But this is solved variously by various authors. For some say that every form, and whatever is, is from God, insofar as it is, and that the form of an idol, insofar as it is, or insofar as it is a form, is from God, but not insofar as it is of an idol, that is, set up to be adored. For in this there is not a creature, but a perversion of a creature. Just as that which is sin, insofar as it is sin, is nothing8; and men, when they sin, become nothing, because they are separated from him who truly is. Hence Jerome9: « What is not from God, who alone truly is, is said not to be ». And therefore sin, which leads us away from true being, is said to be nothing or not to be. — But others say that every form, namely which is naturally, and everything that is naturally, is from God; but the form of an idol is not naturally, because it does not serve the nature of righteousness. For that is said to be naturally which fights for the simple nature of righteousness, which is God, does not rebound against it, and does not vitiate the created nature.

The second precept is: You shall not take the name of your God in vain; which is to say according to the letter: you shall not swear the name of God for nothing; « but allegorically it is commanded that you not think a creature to be Christ, the Son of God, because every creature is subject to vanity, but equal to the Father10 ».

But the third is: Remember to sanctify the Sabbath day; where according to the letter the observance of the Sabbath is commanded; but allegorically11, that you await rest here from the vices and in the future in the contemplation of God, from the Holy Spirit, that is from charity and the gift of God — not that the Holy Spirit works this without the Father and the Son.

Ch. III. — Why remission of sins is properly said to be made in the Holy Spirit.

« The Church has indeed received this gift, that in the Holy Spirit remission of sins should be made; and although the Trinity makes this remission, nevertheless it is properly said to pertain to the Holy Spirit, because he is the Spirit of the adoption of sons, he is the Love and Connection or Communion of the Father and the Son12 »; and therefore our justification and rest is attributed to him more often. — These are the three commandments of the first table pertaining to God; and the first

indeed, which is about worshiping the one God, pertains to the Father, in whom is unity or authority; the second to the Son, in whom is equality; the third to the Holy Spirit, in whom is the communion of both.

But in the second table there were seven commandments pertaining to the love of neighbor. « Of which the first refers to the carnal father, just as the first of the first table refers to the heavenly Father, which is: Honor your father and your mother, that you may be long-lived upon the land13 », namely of the living. And parents are to be honored thus, that due reverence be shown to them, and necessities be supplied.

The second is: You shall not kill; where according to the letter the act of homicide is forbidden, but according to the spirit even the will to kill. Hence to this commandment, according to the letter, an addition is made in the Gospel14, because the letter of the Gospel expresses what the letter of the Law did not express.

Ch. IV. — On the spiritual and carnal sense of the Law.

The letter of the Gospel expresses the spiritual understanding, that is, which spiritual men have, and according to which one lives spiritually; the letter of the Law the carnal sense, that is, which carnal men have, and according to which one lives carnally; to which an addition has been made.

The third is: You shall not commit adultery, « that is, do not mingle with anyone, except in the covenant of matrimony. For by a part the whole is understood15 » : « Under the name of adultery, therefore, every illicit intercourse and the unlawful use of those members must be understood as forbidden ».

The fourth is: You shall not steal; where all sacrilege and robbery is forbidden. « For he who forbade theft did not permit robbery, but under the name of theft he willed every illicit usurpation of another's property to be well understood ». — « Sacrilege is committed in three ways, namely when either the sacred is taken from the sacred, or the non-sacred from the sacred, or the sacred from the non-sacred ». And whatever is dedicated to divine worship is called sacred, as the Church or the property of the Church. — Here also usury is forbidden, which is contained under robbery. Hence Jerome16: « There is no difference whether one seeks usury, or defrauds, or robs. Lend to your brother, and receive what you gave, and seek nothing superfluous, because superabundance is reckoned as usury ». For usury is, as Augustine17 says, when someone exacts more, by injury or in any matter, than he had received. Likewise Jerome18: « Some think that usury is only in money; but let them understand that superabundance is called usury, namely whatever there is, if from that which he gave there is more; as if in winter we should give ten measures, and at harvest receive fifteen ».

Ch. V. — On theft.

But if it is asked concerning the sons of Israel, who, at the Lord's command, borrowed from the Egyptians vessels of gold and silver and precious garments and carried them off, whether they committed theft; we say that those who did it in order to obey God's command did not commit theft nor sin at all. Hence Augustine19: « The Israelites did not commit theft, but rendered a ministry to God who commanded it. For God commanded this, who gave the Law; just as the minister of a judge kills without sin the one whom the law prescribes; but if he does this of his own accord, he is a homicide, even if he kills the one whom he knows is to be killed by the judge ». « But the weak, who out of greed deceived the Egyptians, were rather permitted to do this to those who by right suffered such things, than commanded ». — Here it is objected that even the good sinned in that deed, because they transgressed the natural law, with which the Gospel and the moral law of precept agree, which is: do not do to another what you do not wish to be done to yourself; which Truth wrote in the heart of man, and because it was not read in the heart, he repeated it on the tablets, so that, the voice being applied from without, it might return to the heart and there find what it read outside. This, therefore, they seem to have transgressed20 in that deed, doing to others what they did not want to be done to themselves. — But there it must be understood: unjustly, namely that you not do unjustly to another what you do not wish to be done to yourself. Otherwise the judge is a transgressor of this, when he punishes a guilty man, not wishing anything such to be done to himself. So also that word of the Lord21: All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you etc.; must be taken of the good things which we ought to render to one another.

The fifth precept is: You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor; where the crime of lying and of perjury is forbidden.

Ch. VI. — On lying.

« But it is usually asked whether every lie is forbidden. Some say that only that is forbidden which harms and does not profit the one to whom it is told. For such is not against the neighbor; so that on this account Scripture22 is thought to have added this ». — But concerning lying there is a great question and it cannot be quickly explained.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. Ita codd. B C D E; in cod. A et in edd. quae; deinde pro completur cod. E et edd. 1, 8 continetur.
    So codd. B C D E; in cod. A and in the editions, quae; then for completur cod. E and edd. 1, 8 read continetur.
  2. August., Serm. 9. (alias 96. de Tempore) c. 5. n. 6. — Decalogus est Exod. 20, 3. seqq. et Deut. 5, 7. seqq.
    Augustine, Sermon 9 (otherwise 96, On the Seasons) c. 5, n. 6. — The Decalogue is Exod. 20:3 ff. and Deut. 5:7 ff.
  3. In Exod. hom. 8. n. 2; Augustini locus est ex Quaestion. super Exod. quaest. 71. n. 2.
    On Exodus, hom. 8, n. 2; the passage of Augustine is from Questions on Exodus, q. 71, n. 2.
  4. Loc. cit. n. 3; verbotenus apud Lyranum in Glossa ordinaria in locum cit. — Pro alicuius rei cod. B, Vat. et edd. 4, 6 alterius. Deinde pro ad adorandum edd. 1, 8 habent tantum adorandum, et pro sibi fingit codd. B D cum Vat. et pluribus edd. sibi finxit.
    Loc. cit. n. 3; word for word in Lyra in the Glossa ordinaria at the cited place. — For alicuius rei cod. B, the Vatican edition, and edd. 4, 6 read alterius. Then for ad adorandum edd. 1, 8 have only adorandum, and for sibi fingit codd. B D with the Vatican edition and several editions read sibi finxit.
  5. Epist. I. Cor. 8, 4. Hic continuatur locus Origenis. — Infra pro cum aliquid edd. 1, 8 dum aliquid.
    Epistle, I Cor. 8:4. Here the passage of Origen is continued. — Below, for cum aliquid edd. 1, 8 read dum aliquid.
  6. Super Evang. Ioan. tr. 1. n. 13; sententialiter usque ad verba: Sed quaeritur etc.
    On the Gospel of John, tr. 1, n. 13; in substance up to the words Sed quaeritur (But it is asked) etc.
  7. Ibid., parum inferius.
    Ibid., a little further below.
  8. Cfr. II. Sent. d. XXXVII. c. 2. — Paulo superius pro perversio creaturae edd. 1, 8 perversio naturae.
    Cf. Sentences II, d. 37, c. 2. — A little above, for perversio creaturae edd. 1, 8 read perversio naturae.
  9. Epist. 15. (alias 57.) n. 1: et VIII. super Ezech. c. 26, 19.
    Epistle 15 (otherwise 57), n. 1; and On Ezekiel, bk. VIII, c. 26, 19.
  10. Isidor., Quaestiones in Exod. c. 29. n. 3. Locus Scripturae est Rom. 8, 20.
    Isidore, Questions on Exodus, c. 29, n. 3. The Scripture passage is Rom. 8:20.
  11. Isidor. loc. cit. n. 4.
    Isidore, loc. cit., n. 4.
  12. August., Serm. 71. (alias 11. de Verbis Dom.) c. 17. n. 28. 29. Cfr. II. Quaestion. in Exod. q. 71. n. 1. — Respicitur Rom. 8, 15. — De seqq. cfr. I. Sent. d. XXXI.
    Augustine, Sermon 71 (otherwise 11, On the Words of the Lord) c. 17, nn. 28, 29. Cf. Questions on Exodus II, q. 71, n. 1. — Rom. 8:15 is in view. — On what follows, cf. Sentences I, d. 31.
  13. Hugo a S. Vict., Summa Sent. tr. 4. c. 4, unde plurima sumsit Magister. — Locus Scripturae est Deut. 5, 16.
    Hugh of St. Victor, Summa Sententiarum, tr. 4, c. 4, from which the Master took much. — The Scripture passage is Deut. 5:16.
  14. Matth. 5, 21. De his praeceptis cfr. Hugo, loc. cit. c. 6.
    Matt. 5:21. On these precepts cf. Hugh, loc. cit., c. 6.
  15. August., Quaestion. in Exod. quaest. 71. n. 4. et Glossa interlinearis super Exod. 20, 14. — Seq. locus est in Glossa ordinaria ibid.; tertius, August., loc. cit., qui est etiam in Decret. Gratian. II. parte XXXII. q. 4. c. Meretrices.
    Augustine, Questions on Exodus, q. 71, n. 4, and the interlinear Gloss on Exod. 20:14. — The following passage is in the Glossa ordinaria at the same place; the third, Augustine, loc. cit., which is also in Gratian's Decretum II, part 32, q. 4, c. Meretrices.
  16. Libr. VI. in Ezech. 18, 8, ubi loquitur quidem de usura, sed ipsa verba apud Hieronymum nec ibi nec alibi inveniuntur, licet et Hugo a S. Vict. (loc. cit.) et Magister ipsi eadem tribuant.
    Bk. VI On Ezekiel, 18:8, where indeed he speaks of usury, but these very words are found in Jerome neither there nor elsewhere, although both Hugh of St. Victor (loc. cit.) and the Master himself attribute them to him.
  17. Enarrat. in Ps. 54. n. 14; sententialiter, sed verbotenus in Petr. Lomb. Commentar. in Ps. 54, 12.
    Enarration on Psalm 54, n. 14; in substance, but word for word in Peter Lombard's Commentary on Psalm 54:12.
  18. Loco in nota 4. cit. ad v. 6.
    At the place cited in note 4, on v. 6.
  19. Quaestion. in Exod. quaest. 39, ubi pro Deo iubenti, quod habent edd. 1, 8, in aliis est Deo iubente; deinde post praecipit edd., exceptis 1, 8, addunt, favente originali, occidi. — Seq. loc. est in eiusdem Enarrat. in Ps. 104. n. 28; XXII. contra Faustum c. 71.
    Questions on Exodus, q. 39, where for Deo iubenti, which edd. 1, 8 have, in the others it is Deo iubente; then after praecipit the editions, except 1, 8, add, with the support of the original, occidi. — The following passage is in the same author's Enarration on Psalm 104, n. 28; Against Faustus, bk. 22, c. 71.
  20. Cod. plurimi cum Vat. praevaricari. — Superius verba rediret ad cor respiciunt Isai. 46, 8.
    Very many codices with the Vatican edition read praevaricari. — Above, the words rediret ad cor (return to the heart) refer to Isa. 46:8.
  21. Matth. 7, 12; Luc. 6, 31.
    Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31.
  22. August., Quaestion. in Exod. quaest. 71. n. 6. — Edd., exceptis 1, 8, post quaestio est addunt quae.
    Augustine, Questions on Exodus, q. 71, n. 6. — The editions, except 1, 8, after quaestio est add quae.
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