Jerome, on Eccl 10:8

“He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.”

“"He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who breaks down a wall will be bitten by a snake. "This is partly unambiguous and partly to be understood in a more complicated way. Since elsewhere Solomon also says, "he that sets a trap will be caught in it" [Eccli. 27, 29.]. And in the seventh Psalm: "he laid out a pond and dug it out, and then he fell into the hole he had made" [Ps. 7, 16.]. But the wall and the fence as well are the doctrines of the Church, and the institution set up by the apostles and prophets. And whoever knocks them down or wants them to come to an end is bitten by a snake where he is not looking. Amos writes about this snake: "if he goes down into the underworld, I will order a snake to kill him" [Am. 9, 3.].”

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