Bonaventure, on Eccl 7:26

“I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:”

“The vehement proneness of concupiscence itself is touched upon, because it leads to the greatest bitterness under the appearance of sweetness. Therefore he says: "I found a woman more bitter than death," and this after the perpetration of the wicked deed to which concupiscence drags one: whence Proverbs 5: "The lips of a harlot are as a dropping honeycomb, and her throat is smoother than oil." That concupiscence drags one to this, which had its origin from woman and has its fuel in woman, which by its beauty ensnares through desire: therefore he says: "It is the snare of hunters," that is, of demons, who hunt the souls of men. It ensnares by words and glances: Proverbs 7: "She entangled him with many words and drew him forth with the flatteries of her lips." It ensnares by the beauty of the face: Sirach 9: "On account of the beauty of a woman many have perished." It also ensnares by words: whence in the same place: "Her conversation burns like fire." Not only does it ensnare in desire, but it also swallows up in wicked deed: whence he says: "And her heart is a net," when according to her wish one consents to the wicked deed. This is the dragnet of the devil: Habakkuk 1: "He lifted up the whole with a hook; he drew it in his dragnet." But afterward it binds through affection: and therefore he says: "And her hands are bonds": Proverbs 7: "He follows her and does not know that the fool is drawn to bonds." From this inclination no one is delivered unless he is aided by the Lord, so great is it; therefore he says: "He who pleases God shall escape her," according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 6: "Flee fornication"; Wisdom 8: "I knew that I could not otherwise be continent unless God should grant it." "But he who is a sinner shall be captured by her": Proverbs 5: "His own iniquities capture the wicked man, and he is bound by the cords of his own sins."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.