Cornelius a Lapide

Verse 10. We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver.

We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver. — As if to say: We will adorn you with the golden laws of obedience, and with the silver of wisdom set with studs. In the Hebrew: small chains of gold we will make for you, dotted with silver; the Septuagint: likenesses or images of gold (Symmachus: golden insignia; the fifth edition: twisted gold) we will make for you with markings or distinctions of silver; Symmachus: with varieties; the fifth edition: in beads, that is, in small points of silver; another: with variegations; Vatablus: fitting ornaments of gold we will make for you with marks or nails of silver. Our version renders it best, inlaid with silver, that is, variegated with points of silver, after the likeness of certain little worms, whose back is marked with spots of various colors, or which by night shine and glisten like silver. The Syriac translates: golden curls we will make for you with plates, or thin leaves of silver; the Arabic: images, or figures, or gold carvings shall be made for you, most like to you.

Murena is a fish the same as the eel, or certainly very like it, as is evident from its likeness, which Aldrovandi and Rondelet display in their work On Fishes, under "murena": hence the gold of the neck is called a murenula, because, the gold being drawn out into little rods, it is woven together in a chain of winding order, the word being shaped, in any case, from the image of the fish — so says Caelius Rhodiginus, book IV, chapter X, out of St. Jerome.

Again, just as the murena is marked with various spots as if with points, so too the murenula is inlaid and marked with points of silver. Whence Pliny, book IX, chapter XXIII: "In northern Gaul," he says, "in all morays, seven spots on the right jaw shine with a golden color in the shape of the Septentrion, only while they are alive, and they are extinguished together with the life."

Golden murenulae, then, are little rods of gold woven in a winding pattern, and variegated with points and spots, and so very like the murena fish, which bends itself into a circle, whether they encircle and adorn the hand, or the head, or some other limb. Properly, however, they belong to the head and neck, as St. Jerome indicates to Marcella, epistle 15, where, praising the Blessed Asella, he says: "The gold of her neck," he says, "which the common people call a murenula, because it is woven of metal drawn out into little rods in a chain of winding order, she sold without her parents' consent." Following him, Cassiodorus: "Murenulae," he says, "are an ornament of the maidenly and girlish neck: namely, interwoven little rods of gold, sometimes intermixed, with a beautiful variety, with very fine threads of silver. And this is what he means by inlaid with silver, that is, marked in the manner of earthly worms, which they call lumbrici, distinct yet joined to one another. Murenulae, moreover, are so called from the likeness of the sea fish which is called murena." Whence Aponius reads, chainlets of gold we will make, which St. Anselm and Bernard assign not to the neck but to the adorning of the ears. Better, Justus of Urgell: "Murenulae," he says, "are an ornament descending from the head, by which the neck is adorned." Finally, murena is said to come from myren, that is, to flow, says Eustathius, because, on the testimony of Macrobius, on account of its fatness it floats on the surface of the water, and cannot submerge itself, being of course scorched by the sun. Whence Martial, book XIII, epigram 77: The great murena that swims in the Sicilian deep / cannot submerge its skin, scorched by the sun.

So likewise the golden murenula floats about the neck, and, struck by the rays of the sun, flashes forth.

In the Hebrew it is תורי thore, a word which the Vulgate, a little before, rendered turturis; whence some here understand a turtledove or little dove, but a river one, that is, a trout: for this fish, just as it is marked with the most beautiful spots, so it is also the healthiest and the most savory of all: hence too the fifth edition renders it tortilis auri, after the likeness of the turtledove, or of the trout or of the murena. Whence also some hold that the turtledove is called in Hebrew תור tur, as it were "twisted," because with its neck twisted it continually looks about, to see whether anywhere it can find and see its absent mate. Others render thore as dispositions, orders, series, such as are found in the linking of rings and thin plates in little chains. Our version best renders murenulas, that is, little chains and golden collars.

He alludes to that verse, Psalm LXVII, 14: "If you sleep among the midst of lots, (you will be as) the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back in the paleness of gold." St. Gregory, Cassiodorus, and Bede hold these to be the words of the bridegroom. Better, Justus of Urgell, Anselm, Rupert, and St. Bernard hold them to be the words of the companions of the bridegroom; whence they say: We will make you golden chains, in the plural; not I will make, in the singular.

First Sense, Full: Concerning Christ and the Church.

It is asked, what the golden murenulae signify?

First, the Chaldean understands the tables of the Decalogue given by God to Moses on Sinai; for thus he renders it: then it was said to Moses: Ascend to the firmament, and I will give you two tables of stone, cut from the sapphire of my throne of glory, and shining like the finest gold, arranged in lines, written by my finger, on which are written the ten words, which are purified more than silver, which is purified seven times: and I will give it by your hand to the people of the house of Israel.

Second, Cassiodorus, St. Gregory, Bede, Justus, Aponius, and Anselm understand by the murenulae the charism of the understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, which are called golden either on account of the wisdom and clarity of the spiritual sense, or on account of the charity which they teach; and they are said to be inlaid with silver either on account of the brightness of eloquence, or on account of resonant preaching, or, as St. Anselm says, so that the doctors of sacred Scripture may know how to dispense its sentences according to each person's capacity and fruit; or, as Aponius says, they are called inlaid because they contain diverse prophecies, some fitting Christ's conception, others his nativity, others his passion, others his resurrection, etc., which, as if interwoven with a wormwork of silver, elegantly gleam. To this agree Nyssen, St. Augustine, Origen, Theodoret, and the three Fathers, who understand by the murenulae the knowledge of the Sacred Letters, and especially of the figures of the Old Testament.

These, then, following the version of the Septuagint, which has, likenesses of gold we will make for you out of stigmata, or distinctions of silver, until the king be in his resting-place; St. Ambrose, in his reclining — that is, on his throne, where he reclines — explain it thus: Nyssen indeed holds that these murenulae pertain to the mare or to the cavalry, to which he had a little before compared the bride, as if the angels, companions of the bridegroom, or the holy doctors, addressed her thus: To you, O soul, who have rightly been likened to horses, we will make certain images of truth, and certain likenesses, which cannot accurately and exactly show the beauty of mind that is in you. But you, having received these, will become, through faith, a beast of burden and a dwelling place of him who is to dwell in you: for you will be both the seat and house of Christ. More fully, Origen, homily 2 of four, thus interprets, as if he said: Sacred Scripture, and the knowledge of God, was handed down to the ancient fathers through likenesses and enigmas, until Christ, rising from the dead, reclining, lay down as a lion, Genesis XLIX, 9; for he it was who laid open the sense of the prophets and of the Sacred Scriptures. The same author, in the same place, explains it thus tropologically: The imperfect soul is instructed in divine things through likenesses and examples, until the king be in his resting-place, that is, until such a soul so advance that it may take hold of the king, and have him reclining within itself; for the Word of God dwells in the perfect soul, according to that word of Christ: "We will come to him, and make our dwelling with him"; John XIV, 23. On the other hand, St. Augustine, book I, On the Trinity, chapter VIII, explains it thus: "Likenesses of gold we will make for you with distinctions of silver," that is,

to the throne, on which the king, descending, reclines and rests. So says Psellus.

The golden murenulae, therefore, signify the adornment — that is, the ornament — of Sacred Scripture, shining with the gold of spiritual senses, and gleaming and resounding with the silver of eloquence. Hear St. Gregory: "The murena is a fish which, when caught, turns itself into a circle, after whose likeness is made the earring which is called a murenula, by which is signified preaching, which clings to the ears and penetrates them. Necklaces are bound to the neck by murenulae, because both wisdom and religion are joined to preachers by the sacred Scriptures. For by the murenulae is understood holy Scripture, which is rightly said to be inlaid with gold and silver, because holy Scripture both shines with wisdom, and is heard through the whole world by resonant preaching. For just as wisdom is shown through gold, so holy preaching is shown through silver." To this applies that verse, Psalm XI, 7: "The words of the Lord are pure words, (like) silver tried by fire, proved by the earth, purified seven times."

Third, St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian, understands by the golden murenulae, virginity. Before Christ, he says, the Church had the silver of widows and married women, but received the gold of virginity through Christ. For it seems here that the golden murenula, inlaid with silver, is given to the most chaste bride on account of her chastity, so that it looks back to what he said: "Your cheeks are as the turtledove's," that is, she is supremely chaste and modest after the likeness of the turtledove. To this agree others, who understand by the golden murenulae the aureole to be given to virgins: for the Hebrew תורי thore, that is, murenulae, is the same as תורים thorim, that is, turtledoves, as if these murenulae had been woven from the likenesses of turtledoves, which are a symbol of chastity; granted that thorim, extended from turtledoves, is applied to signify the likenesses of other things also, such as of murenulae and serpents, of which the collars and murenulae of the ancients were made, as Clement of Alexandria teaches, book II Paedagogus, chapter XI. Whence the Septuagint renders thorim as homoiomata, that is, likenesses or images in general.

Fourth, Psellus understands by the murenulae progress in virtue and holiness, as if the angels addressed the pious soul thus: Because it is to come to pass that the king may rest in you, O bride, who chastely love and seek him, come, allow yourself to be instructed and adorned by us: for although you do not yet shine with virtues like gold, but as yet gleam like silver, we will nonetheless adorn you to the likeness of gold, and render you like the cherubic and flaming and venerable throne, on which the king, descending, may recline and rest. So says Psellus.

To this applies the fact that the Hebrew תורי tore, that is, murenulae, plainly alludes to תורה thora, that is, law, and to תור tor, that is, disposition, order, series; whence the Chaldean understands by tore the Decalogue; and Origen, Theodoret, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and the others cited in the second exposition, understand Sacred Scripture, which contains and promulgates the law of God.

Therefore, upon the neck of the bride, so obedient, God casts, as a reward and an ornament, the murenulae, that is, his divine laws, which, since they emanate from the eternal reasons that are in the mind of God, are in themselves most wise, as well as most beautiful, so that they wonderfully, for the one who obediently accepts them, not so much bind as adorn; under the laws, understand not only the precepts, but also the evangelical counsels, as well as the beatitudes, which make a man heavenly and angelic, indeed an earthly angel. Therefore the murenulae given to the Church of Christ are the evangelical laws, which St. Matthew recounts, chapters V, VI, and VII, among which the first are the eight beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek," etc. For what can be conceived more beautiful, more worthy, more noble, more divine than these? The Church, therefore, embracing these laws and beatitudes of Christ, is adorned by them as if by golden murenulae fitly linked to one another; for gold, since it is more flexible and ductile than the other metals, is a symbol of obedience.

Hence, too, the sentences of Sacred Scripture, which contain these laws, are murenulae, from whose linking the Church grows beautiful; they are golden, because full of the spirit of charity; they are marked with silver, because tempered with the spirit of knowledge and discretion. Whence Bede: "She surrounds her neck," he says, "with murenulae composed by skilled craft, when every faithful soul, in all that it speaks and does, indeed in everything that it lives and breathes, continually attends to the holy Scriptures, and diligently directs its own sense and words according to their example."

Again, these murenulae denote beautiful and constant acts of obedience, by which, as if by new gifts, Christ polishes and adorns his obedient faithful, and makes them praiseworthy, admirable, and venerable to the whole world: for by the gold is denoted the worth and excellence of the actions, by the silver their purity, brightness, and splendor. For, as our own Sanchez rightly says, if this most obedient bride is moved by the Spirit of God, it is fitting that the Holy Spirit, who sits upon the neck as a charioteer and guide, should adorn the neck with his gifts and virtues. For those collars are called, in Hebrew, torim, that is, turtledoves or doves, because the divine Spirit, signified by the dove, loves her as a bride, and, as a bridegroom, tightly grasps and embraces her neck.

Moreover, the murenulae denote the hierarchical order of the Church, which wonderfully perfects and adorns her: for this order is nothing other than the order of obedience, by which the patriarchs are subordinated to, are subject to, and obey the supreme pontiff; to the patriarchs, the primates; to the primates, the archbishops; to the archbishops, the bishops; to the bishops, the priests; to the priests, the deacons; to the deacons, the subdeacons and the rest of the clergy, and to these, the laity. Behold this order at Rome, when the pontiff celebrates, when cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests clothed in sacred vestments, legates of kings and princes, etc., attend upon him, and you will truly say that there is fulfilled this oracle: "We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver." For the murenulae are called in Hebrew tore, that is, dispositions, orders, series, such as most beautifully appear in this sacred senate, as also in the other offices and rites of the Church.

Second Sense, Partial: Concerning Christ and the Holy Soul.

The holy soul, especially one professed to obedience and religious life, is adorned, as a reward for this profession and obedience of hers, with golden murenulae marked with silver, that is, with the rules, constitutions, and ordinances proper to each religious order, which represent nothing other than the gold of charity and the silver of prudence, by which the order is wonderfully adorned. Again, the murenulae are the acts of obedience, by which the whole life of the religious is, as it were, linked together and crowned like a golden murenula, which is variegated with silver points, that is, with acts of humility, temperance, patience, and the other virtues: for from morning to evening, whatever the religious does, he does from the rules of obedience. He rises from bed, prays, sings the psalms, studies, teaches, preaches, dines, sups, goes to bed, whenever obedience gives the sign. See Jerome Platus, book II, On the Good of the Religious State, chapter five, who also brings forward, as fitting to this place, an example, in book III, in the last chapter, after the middle, of a certain excellent young man, who, called by God to the Cistercian order, kept putting it off from day to day, and began to grow lukewarm. Wherefore, when he had returned home from a pilgrimage to Compostella, that very same night the Lord Christ appeared to him with the two apostles Peter and James; and Peter held before the Lord a most beautiful open book, in which the young man's name, John, was written. Then the Lord said to St. Peter: "Blot out," he said, "this one from my book." But James began to plead with him for his, as he called him, pilgrim, and moreover even promised his amendment; but John, seeing that this concerned himself, was afraid and trembled, and promised a new life for the future. The Lord, however, as if putting less trust in his inconstancy, demanded a guarantor of his resolve; St. James offered himself as this; and when the young man had been roused, and, marveling to himself over these things, had again fallen asleep, the same vision was presented to him a second time, and this further, that in that book there appeared an inscription of this kind from the Canticle: "We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver." He, therefore, both invited by this pleasant promise, and terrified by those threats, betook himself without delay to Cîteaux, where, having made great progress in virtue, he became first abbot of Bonneval, and afterward even bishop of Valence.

This is related by Platus from the Chronicles of the Cistercians. To this applies the example of our own Father Peter Faber, who, the first companion of St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, having spent his whole life religiously in obedience, traversing various provinces and everywhere scattering the seeds of piety, likewise died in obedience. Whence, appearing after death to a certain religious person, he said, most joyfully, that he had met death for the sake of obedience, and related much concerning the joy which he obtained in heaven on that account. Deservedly is he crowned in heaven with the aureole of obedience, who was a victim of obedience on earth. So our own Orlandinus, in his Life, book II, chapter XXVIII.

Again, some understand by the murenulae the charisms which the Holy Spirit imparts to the obedient and to religious, and especially the gifts of wisdom and of eloquence: for wisdom is denoted by gold, eloquence by silver, because it, ringing, resounds beautifully after its likeness. Whence St. Gregory, St. Thomas, Bede, and others give these murenulae to doctors, because just as through the neck the power of sensation is carried from the head to the rest of the body, so from the head, Christ, heavenly doctrine is derived to the people through the doctors. This neck, however, ought to be enclosed and fortified with necklaces marked with the image of doves, because the Holy Spirit ought to encircle the neck, and truly to blow, as through his own trumpet, into the throats of the doctors.

Let this neck, then, be golden with charity, fervor, and zeal, and silver with the brightness of eloquence. Furthermore, obedience and religious life suggest to the doctor a great force and efficacy of doctrine, eloquence, zeal, and spirit: for the obedient man is ruled through his superior, and is moved by God and by his Spirit, as his voice and instrument. Whence most of the early doctors of the Church were religious, namely three of the four Latin ones, that is, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory; and as many of the Greek ones, that is, St. Basil, St. Nazianzen, St. Chrysostom. Such too were St. Bernard, St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, and very many others. See Jerome Platus, book II, On the Good of the Religious State, chapter XXV, 30 and following.

Again, a charism almost proper to obedience is the grace of miracles: for God makes use of the obedient, as of his own instruments, most closely joined to himself, for the conversion of souls, and therefore, when there is need, works miracles through them. Many examples are found in the Lives of the Fathers, in Cassian, and in St. Gregory, book I of the Dialogues, chapter XII, and book II, chapter VII.

Finally, the murenulae are the beautiful rites and ceremonies, both of the Church and of the individual orders, which wonderfully adorn them.

Anagogically, the murenula is the aureole prepared in heaven for doctors, religious, and the obedient, which is golden through the glory of the soul, and silver through the glory of the body. Whence St. Thomas is depicted with a golden collar hanging from his neck, because in heaven he is collared with the aureole of these murenulae. Hence also, after death, he appeared from heaven as if bejeweled and collared, as Father Ribadeneira relates in his Life, toward the end.

Third Sense, Principal: Concerning Christ and the Blessed Virgin.

All these things already said apply, before all others, to the Blessed Virgin. This is proper to her, that her fruitfulness did not harm but adorned her virginity, just as silver adorns golden murenulae. Again, the golden murenula hanging from the neck of the Blessed Virgin was her son, the Lord Christ, hanging as a little child from her neck and nursing, and in turn instilling into her the gold of charity and the silver of humility.

Finally Rupert: Murenulae, he says, are discourses, golden in their holy senses, silver in the brightness of their expression. "We will make for you, then, murenulae of truth, ornaments of blessing and of thanksgiving, by blessing and giving thanks, because thus I have done for you; so that there may be no place where this voice of praise is not heard, a resounding voice, a lofty praise, which, continually celebrating your name, may surround you, and in a certain way hang down upon your neck." So says Rupert.