“The words of the Gatherer, the son of Vomenti. Hitherto are the Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. From henceforth, again, the words of Solomon, by himself, which is called in Greek Ecclesiastes, now translated into Latin under that name, is called the Gatherer. For the church is called a congregation.”

“I am the most foolish of men, etc. For the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light (Luke XVI). And the Apostle says, If anyone seems to be wise in this world, let him become foolish, that he may be wise (1 Cor. III). And he himself about himself and his fellows, in whom is God, We preach Christ crucified; to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. I).”

“Solomon in Proverbs says: "I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me. I have not learned wisdom, and I have not known the wisdom of the Saints." Christ was foolish in outward appearance, when he departed from the desire of the foolish; more foolish, when he willed to be afflicted; most foolish indeed, when he chose the death of the cross and died by the most shameful death. This is the wisdom of the Saints.”

“Indeed, that Will for whom everything is easy constrains these abundant fountains of paradise, confining them with land, like water channels; he summoned them to issue forth in our direction, just as he bound up the waters in the bosom of his clouds, ready to be sent forth into the atmosphere at the bidding of his Will.”

“Raise your eyes to heaven, therefore, like him who said, "To you who lives in heaven, I lift my eyes." Look upon the sun of righteousness and, as you are directed by the commandments of the Lord, which resemble the most radiant of stars, have vigilant eyes. Do not allow the eyes [of the soul] to slumber or the eyelids to rest, that the commandments might lead you perpetually. "For, your law is a lamp to my feet," he says, "and a light to my path." Indeed, if you never fall asleep at the helm while steering through life, given the obviously unstable state of worldly affairs, you will obtain the cooperation of the Spirit, who will lead you beyond and transport you with gentle breezes and in peaceful security until you arrive unharmed at that tranquil and serene gate by the will of God, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.”

“I have not learned wisdom, etc. Solomon did not learn wisdom from man, but received it from God who freely offers, so that he might know the knowledge of the saints. But also the Apostle who says, We are fools for Christ's sake, he again says, We speak wisdom among the perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, and the rest (1 Cor. II).”

“The objector who has brought forward these questions from Porphyry has added this one in the next place: Will you have the goodness to instruct me as to whether Solomon said truly or not that God has no Son? The answer is brief: Solomon not only did not say this, but, on the contrary, expressly said that God hath a Son. For in one of his writings Wisdom saith: "Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was brought forth." And what is Christ but the Wisdom of God? Again, in another place in the book of Proverbs, he says: "God hath taught me wisdom, and I have learned the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven and descended? who hath gathered the winds in His fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name?" Of the two questions concluding this quotation, the one referred to the Father, namely, "What is His name?"—with allusion to the foregoing words, "God hath taught me wisdom,"—the other evidently to the Son, since he says, "or what is His Son's name?"—with allusion to the other statements, which are more properly understood as pertaining to the Son, viz. "Who hath ascended up into heaven and descended?"—a question brought to remembrance by the words of Paul: "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens;"—"Who hath gathered the winds in His fists?" i.e. the souls of believers in a hidden and secret place, to whom, accordingly, it is said, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God;"—"Who hath bound the waters in a garment?" whence it could be said, "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ;"—"Who hath established all the ends of the earth?" the same who said to His disciples, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."”

“Who ascended into heaven, and descended? This is the knowledge of the saints, which is considered foolishness by the wise of this world, because evidently the Son of God, in assumed flesh, after His death and resurrection, ascended into heaven, and at the time of our resurrection will descend from heaven to judge the living and the dead. Who has gathered the wind in his hands? Every spirit, human and angelic, and of animals and storms, is contained by the power of God so that it may not fail.”

“Every word of God is a fired shield for those who hope in him. This all of Christ's Church knows, and especially those who, with God dwelling in them, despise earthly wisdom, because every divine word kindles the hearts of the elect with the fire of charity, and enlightens with the knowledge of truth, and consumes the filth of vices, and protects against the snares of enemies and all adversities. But it should be observed more attentively because the peculiarity of the Greek language, which is pepyromenon, is not explained in Latin by one word; hence it is now translated as ignitum, now as ignited by fire, as Your word is vehemently ignited (Ps. CXVIII), and Silver tried by fire (Ps. XI). Both of which are said in Greek by one word, pepyromenon. And what sounds very similar to this saying of Solomon is, The words of the Lord are tried by fire (Ps. XVII): that is, pepyromena. Therefore, purified as though melted, in fire, it is cleansed; for just as any metals melted by fire do not contain in themselves any foreign and useless dross, all that remains in them is true and perfect, and cleansed from all stain of faults; so the word of God, testifying the faith of eternal goods in itself. Hence it is that the Lord says, Not one iota or one apex will perish from the law until all things are accomplished (Matthew V). For all things are true, and outside of all ambiguity, kindled by superfluous vanity.”

“You shall hate all hypocrisy; and whatever is pleasing to the Lord, that shall you do. By no means forsake the commands of the Lord. But you shall observe what things you have received from him, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. "For you shall not add unto his words, lest he convict you and you become a liar." You shall confess your sins unto the Lord your God; and you shall not add unto them, that it may be well with you from the Lord your God, who wills not the death of a sinner but his repentance. .”

“I have asked two things of you, do not deny them to me, etc. These things still a man with whom God is, his speech radiated by fire, addresses to the Lord himself with a converted voice, beseeching that he may never prefer the unity of the world or lying words to the truth of the heavenly Scripture; nor again, either through abundance or lack of passing things, may he fall into oblivion of eternal things.”

“Solomon says, "Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only what is necessary and sufficient," lest being filled I should deny and say, Who sees me? Or being poor, I should steal and forswear the name of my God; thus representing riches as satiety, poverty as a complete lack of the necessities of life, and sufficiency as a state both free from want and without superfluity. Sufficiency varies, however, according to physical condition and present need.… In every case, care must be taken for a good table, yet without overstepping the limits of the actual need.”

“Therefore, pay attention to yourself, poor man, pay attention, wealthy man; because there are trials in both poverty and riches. And therefore the Wise Man says: Do not give me riches or poverty, give me only what is sufficient for me. Because riches, like feasts, stretch the stomach and the mind with worries and anxieties. And therefore he asks to be established with what is necessary and sufficient: Lest, he says, being filled, I become a liar and say: Who sees me? But if I become poor, I will commit theft and swear in the name of the Lord (Ibid.). Therefore, the temptations of the world must be avoided and guarded against; lest the poor despair and the wealthy become arrogant.”

“Furthermore, Proverbs thirty: Give me neither riches nor beggary; and afterward: Lest compelled by want I steal and perjure the name of my God; but nothing pertains to evangelical perfection which the Wise Man wisely refuses: therefore etc. It can be said that those things were said in the time of the written law, which promised temporal things, not eternal, in which poverty was despised. Whence Chrysostom, in the eighteenth homily on the Epistle to the Hebrews, treating the aforesaid word: Riches and beggary etc., says: "These things were said in the Old Testament, where much account was made of riches, where there was very great contempt for poverty, where this indeed was a curse, namely poverty, but that was a blessing, namely riches. But now it is by no means so. But if you wish to hear the praise of poverty, Christ Himself professed it and said: But the Son of man has not where to lay His head; and again He said to the disciples: Do not possess gold." From which it is apparent that the authority is not contrary to those who assume voluntary poverty, since that was said in the time of the written law, but this in the time of the law of grace. Nor was that said in the person of a perfect man, but rather of a weak one, as is clear from the word of Chrysostom.”

“A generation that curses its father, etc. When previously he asked for the purity of life to be given to him by the Lord, he suddenly turns his gaze to contemplate the wickedness of the perverse, how many miseries they are involved in, how far they are from the truth, insinuating that they do not honor their parents.”

“A generation that has swords for teeth, etc. Concerning this the Psalmist, Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and other things (Psalm LVI). These are the persecutors of the Church of Christ. But if you consider more diligently, you will find these generations to be the most wicked congregations of Jews and heretics. Therefore, the generation of the Jews curses its father, that is, him who says, Israel is my firstborn son (Exodus IV), when it denied his Son living in the flesh. And it did not bless its mother, namely the synagogue, whose former faith concerning Christ it took away, which it had from the fathers and prophets. The generation of the Novatians seems pure to itself, saying: They do not need repentance. And yet it cannot be pure from the filth of sins, which, by denying the fountain of repentance to sinners, closes off forgiveness. Likewise, the generation of the Arians has lofty eyes, and eyelids raised above God, inquiring who was before, and saying there was a time when the Son was not, or what the power of the Holy Spirit is, whether equal or unequal. Likewise, the generation that has swords for teeth, is the congregation of the wicked, which strives to impart its perfidy to others; and just as bodies are wont to be cut down by swords, so it strives to subject the souls of those who hear the poison of its wicked speech to eternal death.”

“As to the horse-leech. There were three daughters fondly loved by sin-fornication, murder, and idolatry. These three did not satisfy her, for she is not to be satisfied. In destroying man by these actions, sin never varies, but only grows continually. For the fourth, he continues, is never content to say "enough," meaning that it is universal lust. In naming the "fourth," he intends lust in the universal. For as the body is one, and yet has many members; so also sin, being one, contains within it many various lusts by which it lays its snares for men. Wherefore, in order to teach us this, he uses the examples of Sheol (Hades), and the love of women, and hell (Tartarus), and the earth that is not filled with water. And water and fire, indeed, will never say, "It is enough." And the grave (Hades) in no wise ceases to receive the souls of unrighteous men; nor does the love of sin, in the instance of the love of women, cease to be given to fornication, and it becomes the betrayer of the soul. And as Tartarus, which is situated in a doleful and dark locality, is not touched by a ray of light, so is every one who is the slave of sin in all the passions of the flesh Like the earth not filled with water he is never able to come to confession, and to the laver of regeneration, and like water and fire, never says, "It is enough."”

“Who can hide from himself what is thus enigmatically expressed? "The horseleech had three daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say Enough: the grave, and woman's love, and the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that does not say Enough." The horseleech is the devil, the daughters of the devil are dearly loved, and they cannot be satisfied with the blood of the slain: "the grave, and woman's love, and the earth dry and scorched with heat." It is not the harlot or the adulteress who is spoken of, but woman's love in general is accused of ever being insatiable. Put it out, it bursts into flame; give it plenty, it is again in need. It enervates a man's mind and engrosses all thought except for the passion which it feeds.”

“The leech has two daughters, etc. The leech is the devil, who is incessantly inflamed with the thirst for sinning and persuading to sin. He has two daughters because there are two special allurements of the human race; they imitate the ardor of this ancient enemy, namely lust and avarice. For lust, the more its reins are loosened, the more noxious it becomes; and as one of the poets says, The love of money grows as much as the money itself grows. There are three insatiable things, etc. Fire does not say, It is enough; hell never overflows: similarly the nearby harlot, her body is not satisfied with delights; and the greedy man never says, It is enough. Some interpret hell as the devil, because he is insatiable in the seduction of humans. The mouth of the womb and the land, which are not satisfied with water, as above; fire that does not say, It is enough: the fire of hell, which never ceases, but with infinite ardor burns those who did not want to put an end to their sins.”

“"The eye that mocketh at his father, and dishonours the old age of his mother." That is to say, one that blasphemes God and despises the mother of Christ, the wisdom of God,-his eyes may ravens from the caves tear out, i.e., him may unclean and wicked spirits deprive of the clear eye of gladness; and may the young eagles devour him: and such shall be trodden under the feet of the saints.”

“The eye that mocks a father, and despises the birth of his mother, etc. The perverse, while they reproach divine judgments, mock the Father; and any heretics, while despising the preaching of the holy Church with ridicule, despise the birth of the mother, because from her come those who speak against her. They went out from us, he says, but they were not of us (John ...). Whose intention, while the Catholic preachers rebuke them coming from the streams of the divine Scriptures, they pluck out the hateful eye of the raven from the torrents, and the sons of the eagle eat it. For the holy teachers are called ravens, because through the grace of humility, they confess the blackness of sin in themselves. But the sons of the eagle, because they are reborn through his grace, who in the habit of assumed flesh flies to the heavens. Hence elsewhere they are called the sons of the bridegroom.”

“"There be three things which I cannot understand, and the fourth I know not: the tracks of an eagle flying," i.e., Christ's ascension; "and the ways of a serpent upon a rock," i.e., that the devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ; "and the ways of a ship crossing the sea," i.e., the ways of the Church, which is in this life as in a sea, and which is directed by her hope in Christ through the cross; "and the ways of a man in youth," -the ways of Him, namely, who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. For behold, says the Scripture, a man whose name is the Rising.”

“An eagle and a ship and a serpent are not of one family and nature but of a distinguishable and different substance, and yet they are three. On the testimony of Scripture, therefore, [the Arians] learn that their arguments are against themselves.Therefore, in saying that the substance of the Father and of the Son is diverse and their Godhead distinguishable, [the Arians] themselves assert there are two gods. But we, when we confess the Father and the Son, in declaring them still to be of one Godhead, say that there are not two gods but one God. And this we establish by the Word of the Lord.”

“Three things are difficult for me, etc. As far as history is concerned, it is as it is written; but because he speaks through parables, the way of an eagle in the sky is difficult to find: that is, the subtlety of the enemy, which flies around the hearts of heavenly men, is discovered with great labor. Similarly, the way of a serpent on the ground, that is, the cunning of the poisonous enemy, never ceasing to lay snares for those he sees founded on the rock of faith. Likewise, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, that is, the way of iniquity, which runs through the bitter waves of this world, driven by the blasts of unclean spirits, with such subtlety that its path can hardly or not at all be discovered. For that the eagle signifies the malicious enemy, the prophet testifies, who says: Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the sky (Lamentations IV), that is, men who persecuted us were so cruel that they seemed to be more savage than the demons themselves. That the serpent often signifies the devil is proven both in the transgression of the first man and when a wise man said, Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent (Ecclesiasticus XXI). The ship, which signifies lightness, indicates those who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine, as the prophet demonstrates when he says, "And the Chaldeans in their ships glorifying" (Isa. XLIII); that is, the unclean spirits exalting themselves from the fragility and instability of the human mind, and rejoicing as victors over its ruin. Just as those things are so pure that they cannot be found, so is it difficult to comprehend how a youth who has deserted the way of truth can deviate with a wandering mind into countless thoughts every hour. Such is also the way of an adulterous woman, who eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wickedness." The adulterous mind is always unstable and wandering like those mentioned above. Whoever can conceal the vile act that they committed denies having done any crime.”

“Most incomprehensible is wisdom that travels along roads that are beyond investigation. Concerning this, it is said in Proverbs: "Three things are too wonderful for me, yes, four I cannot understand: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden." "The way of an eagle in the air" came about in the ascension of Christ; "the way of a serpent upon the rock," in the resurrection, for a serpent is renewed upon the rock where it sheds its old skin; "the way of a ship on the high seas," in the passion; "the way of a man with a maiden," in the incarnation, which the author says he cannot understand. And it is true in terms of human reason, but not so in terms of faith.”

“For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, "Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and will find nothing in me." -For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as she holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course.-As the Church does not leave her hope behind in the world, her hope in the incarnation of Christ which bears us all good, she did not leave the track of death in Hades.-Of whom but of Him who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin?-who, in renewing the perfect man in the world, works miracles, beginning from the baptism of John, as the Evangelist also testifies: And Jesus was then beginning to be about thirty years of age. This, then, was the youthful and blooming period of the age of Him who, in journeying among the cities and districts, healed the diseases and infirmities of men.”

“Neither against the rock on which Christ builds the church nor against the church will the gates of hades prevail; just as the way of a serpent upon a rock, according to what is written in the Proverbs, cannot be found. Now, if the gates of hades prevail against any one, such cannot be a rock upon which Christ builds the church.”

“Most incomprehensible is wisdom that travels along roads that are beyond investigation. Concerning this, it is said in Proverbs: "Three things are too wonderful for me, yes, four I cannot understand: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden." "The way of an eagle in the air" came about in the ascension of Christ; "the way of a serpent upon the rock," in the resurrection, for a serpent is renewed upon the rock where it sheds its old skin; "the way of a ship on the high seas," in the passion; "the way of a man with a maiden," in the incarnation, which the author says he cannot understand. And it is true in terms of human reason, but not so in terms of faith.”

“"Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who, when she has done the deed of sin, wipeth herself, and will say that no wickedness has been done." Such is the conduct of the Church that believes on Christ, when, after committing fornication with idols, she renounces these and the devil, and is cleansed of her sins and receives forgiveness, and then asserts that she has done no wickedness.”

“I will describe two persons who have sinned the same abominable sin of fornication, yet between these two who have fornicated, the one is not aggrieved nor feels pain nor is vexed but experiences what was said in Proverbs concerning the adulterous woman "who having washed herself, if she does something, says she has done nothing wrong." See with me the other who after the mistake is unable to contain himself but punishes the conscience, tortures the heart, is unable to eat and drink, who fasts not because of a judgment but because of grief of repentance. I will describe him as the kind of person who "appears sad all day long" and who wears himself down with suffering and who goes "wailing from the groaning of his heart," who sees his sin reproved before himself on account of all which happened before. And see that this sort of person punishes himself not only for one day nor one night but for a long time. Who do you say has hope before God? Is it that first person who has fornicated and does not care but is callous and also has hardened himself just as one who has "given himself up to licentiousness"? Or is it this latter person who after one sin goes into mourning, lamenting it?This latter [has some grounds for hope]. The more such a one is burnt by the fire of grief, the more he is shown mercy, and there is for him such sufficient time for punishment, as there is a time of punishment given to that person who fornicated and was grieved.”

“"Such is the way of a prostitute: when she has washed herself she says that she has done something wrong." Clearly this is said of her who, after having washed herself at the source, does not remember the vices of her sins, assumes the virtue of preaching, and, wiping away her stains with living water, has no more awareness of her sin but is urged on by the ardor of faith. For in a certain way she says that she has done nothing wicked now that she has become a messenger of the truth, and by forgetfulness she renounces her impurity now that she preaches chastity in her devotion. For this is the power of Christ the Lord, that even a sinner who washes himself in his water returns afresh to virginity and forgets what he had done before. And in his new birth he manifests the innocence of infancy, he does not know the sins of youth, and although he had been an adulterer because of the corruption of sin, he becomes a virgin because of faith in Christ.”

“The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.-Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel. "The handmaid casting out her mistress: "i.e., the Church of the Gentiles, which, though itself a slave and a stranger to the promises, cast out the free-born and lordly synagogue, and became the wife and bride of Christ. By Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole earth is moved. The "fourth it cannot bear: "for He came first by lawgivers, and secondly by prophets, and thirdly by the Gospel, manifesting Himself openly; and in the fourth instance He shall come as the Judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation will not be able to endure.”

“The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.-Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel. "The handmaid casting out her mistress: "i.e., the Church of the Gentiles, which, though itself a slave and a stranger to the promises, cast out the free-born and lordly synagogue, and became the wife and bride of Christ. By Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole earth is moved. The "fourth it cannot bear: "for He came first by lawgivers, and secondly by prophets, and thirdly by the Gospel, manifesting Himself openly; and in the fourth instance He shall come as the Judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation will not be able to endure.”

“The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.-Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel. "The handmaid casting out her mistress: "i.e., the Church of the Gentiles, which, though itself a slave and a stranger to the promises, cast out the free-born and lordly synagogue, and became the wife and bride of Christ. By Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole earth is moved. The "fourth it cannot bear: "for He came first by lawgivers, and secondly by prophets, and thirdly by the Gospel, manifesting Himself openly; and in the fourth instance He shall come as the Judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation will not be able to endure.”

“I do not quote these words, however, as taking them in their literal signification, but, agreeably to the title of the book (for it is entitled "Proverbs"), I investigate them as containing a secret meaning. For it is the custom of these writers [of Scripture] to distribute into many classes those writings which express one sense when taken literally but which convey a different signification as their hidden meaning; and one of these kinds of writing is "Proverbs." … It is not, then, the visible ants which are "wiser even than the wise," but they who are indicated as such under the "proverbial" style of expression. And such must be our conclusion regarding the rest of the animal creation.”

“Four things are the smallest on the earth, etc. The righteous often seem smaller on the earth than the wicked, that is, humbler and more despised by this world; but yet they are wiser than the worldly-wise, in that they savor eternal and heavenly goods, and for the sake of desiring these which the others do not know, they strongly desire to endure all the adversities of the world.”

“Be prudent, and provide for yourself against the future in heaven. Be therefore prudent, copy the ant, as Scripture says, "Store in summer, lest you be hungry in winter." The winter is the last day, the day of tribulation; the winter is the day of offenses and bitterness. Gather what may be there for you in the future. If you do not, you will perish, being both imprudent and unwise.”

“The ants, a people not strong, etc. And the people of the Church show themselves weak temporally amidst raging adversaries in order to maintain mental fortitude; with the Lord saying through the Gospel, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. V). Those who prepare the fruits of good works in this life, by which they may merit to have eternal life.”

“The rock, in fact, is the refuge of badgers in which they live. You too, he says, even though you are weak, run to the rock of true faith, and with it restore life. The one who is supported by deeds enters the kingdom. Therefore, he says, do not despair of the kingdom of heaven because of the weakness of your faith; but believing in the promises, hasten to those works which are commanded.”

“The coney, a weak people, etc. And this too denotes the people of the Church, who are called weak; either because, as we said earlier, they do not seek to avenge their own injuries; or because they have learned not to trust in their own strength, but to hope for salvation in the aid of their Redeemer. And this is to place their habitation in the rock, to say to the Lord, against the assaults of life, with the Psalmist: "Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress" (Psalm. . . .). Instead of coney, the ancient translation used "chirogrillus." It is an animal not bigger than a hedgehog, resembling a mouse and a bear, abundant in the regions of Palestine; and they habitually live in rock crevices and earth holes. It should be noted that in the psalm, where we sing, "The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs" (Psalm CIII), in some manuscripts we find coneys, in others chirogrillus. And even in this saying of Solomon, some manuscripts have hedgehog instead of coney. For in the book of Hebrew names, we find the same Hebrew word, sapham in Jeremiah, translated as chirogrillus, coney, and hedgehog by Saint Jerome.”

“The locusts have no king, etc. Some interpret the locust as the people of the Gentiles, who once existed without a king, that is, without Christ, without a prophet, without a teacher, and now gathered into the unity of faith, they hurry to a spiritual battle against the devil. But in the locust, the harmonious unity of hermits can also be understood, who, though governed by no human preceptor in their retreats, nevertheless customarily fight for Christ in tireless persistence in their respective places and consume the pernicious seeds of carnal desires.”

“The lizard advances with its hands, etc. The lizard advances with its hands because it does not have wings to carry it. And it dwells in the king's palaces, signifying the humility of those who, though naturally slow in intellect, by the diligence of their effort, either to the knowledge of divine Scriptures or to the grace of virtues, attain the entrance to the kingdom of heaven. Many times indeed birds, elevated by their wings for flight, dwell below. And the gecko, which does not have wings to fly, clings to the building of a king with its hands: because indeed often some clever people, while they become sluggish through negligence, remain in depraved acts, and the simple ones, who are not aided by the wings of intellect, are lifted to the walls of the eternal kingdom by the virtue of their actions.”

“"There be three things which go well, and the fourth which is comely in going; "that is, the angels in heaven, the saints upon earth, and the souls of the righteous under the earth. And the fourth, viz. God, the Word Incarnate, passed in honour through the Virgin's womb; and creating our Adam anew, he passed through the gates of heaven, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection and of the ascension for all. "The whelp of the lion is stronger than the beasts: "i.e., Christ as prophesied of by Jacob in the person of Judah. "A cock walking with high spirit among his dames: "such was Paul, when preaching boldly among the churches the word of the Christ of God. "A goat heading the herd: "such is He who was offered for the sins of the world. "And a king speaking among the people: "so Christ reigns over the nations, and speaks by prophets and apostles the word of truth.”

“There are three things which go well, etc. In this place, a lion is introduced, about whom it is written, "The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered" (Revelation 5). He is called the mightiest of beasts, because in him what is weak of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1); he fears no encounter; for he says, "The prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14). The rooster girded with loins, that is, the holy preachers announcing the true dawn among the darkness of this night; who are girded with loins, because they restrain the flowing of luxury from their members. And a ram, and there is no king who resists him. Whom else do we accept in this place as the ram, if not the order of priests first within the Church? About whom it is written, "Bring to the Lord the sons of rams" (Psalm 29), who lead the flock of sheep following them by their examples; to whom, living spiritually and rightly, no king at all can resist, because any persecutor who confronts them cannot impede their intention. And because after these, even the Antichrist will appear, he adds this fourth saying:”

“And the fool who appears after he has been raised on high, etc. For he indeed will be lifted on high when he will falsely claim to be God. But raised on high, he will appear as a fool, because in his very exaltation, he will fall by the advent of the true judge; if he had understood this, he would have put his hand over his mouth, that is, if he had foreseen his own punishment when he began to grow proud, he perhaps would not have been lifted in such boasting of pride. Let it not disturb you what was said earlier, the fourth one that walks successfully: for he said that three walk well, and the fourth successfully; for not everything that is successful is good; nor in this life is everything that is good, successful. For the lion, the rooster, and the ram walk well, but not successfully here, as they endure wars of persecutions; but the fourth one walks successfully, and not well, because the Antichrist walks in his deception, but for the short time of the present life, that deception prospers for him.”

“But he who presses the breasts strongly to extract milk, etc. We press the breasts strongly when we ponder the words of sacred speech with subtle understanding, by which pressure while we seek milk, we find butter, because while we seek to be nourished even with slight understanding, we are anointed with the richness of internal abundance: which is not to be done excessively nor always, lest while we seek milk, blood follows from the breasts, because while the words of the sacred text are dissected more than they should be, they fall into carnal understanding. For he who milks vehemently draws blood, because what is perceived from excessive examination of spirit becomes carnal.”