Proverbs — Chapter 14

Mulier sapiens aedificat domum suam; insipiens exstructam quoque manibus destruet

A wise woman builds her house; but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands. Lapide: The wise woman — the industrious, prudent, virtuous wife and mother — is the builder of the domestic church. She builds through: (1) sound management of household resources; (2) raising children in virtue and the faith; (3) supporting her husband's authority with loving wisdom; (4) maintaining peace and order in the home. The \"insipiens\" (foolish woman) destroys by: extravagance, quarrelsomeness, negligence of children, and moral corruption of the household. Lapide: This proverb echoes and prepares for the great praise of the virtuous wife in chapter 31.

Ubi non sunt boves, praesepe vacuum est: ubi autem plurimae segetes, ibi manifesta est fortitudo bovis

Where there are no oxen, the trough is empty; but where there are many crops, there the strength of the ox is manifest. Lapide: A proverb on the necessity of instruments for great results. The ox must be fed — it requires maintenance (empty trough) — but without it there is no plowing, no harvest. The farmer who eliminates the oxen to save fodder costs himself his harvest. Applied to governance and society: leaders must maintain and support the institutions and instruments of the common good, even when they seem costly, because without them production and order collapse.

Est via quae videtur homini justa: novissima autem ejus deducunt ad mortem

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Lapide: One of the most sobering proverbs — a direct refutation of moral relativism and the following of private judgment in matters of morality. \"Videtur homini justa\" = seems right to the individual man, appears to his own estimate to be correct. But human judgment, corrupted by passion, pride, and ignorance, is an unreliable guide. Lapide insists: this is why God gave us an external teacher — the Church — whose authority guides where private judgment errs. The Protestant principle of \"scripture alone\" and \"private judgment\" leads directly into this trap.

Vir patiens multa gubernatur prudentia: qui autem impatiens est, exaltat stultitiam suam

A patient man is governed by much prudence, but one who is impatient exalts his folly. Lapide: Patience (patientia) = the virtue of bearing wrongs, trials, and difficulties with equanimity and without undue disturbance. \"Multa prudentia gubernatur\" = patience is itself a form of prudence, or more precisely, patience enables prudence to operate — the patient man thinks before acting, weighs consequences, and chooses wisely. The impatient man (qui impatiens est) \"exalts his folly\" — his impatience makes him conspicuously foolish, leading to hasty decisions, rash words, and destructive actions.

Justitia elevat gentem: miseros autem facit populos peccatum

Justice exalts a nation, but sin makes peoples wretched. Lapide: One of the great political proverbs. Justice (justitia) — understood as the ordering of society according to the divine natural law, with each person and institution receiving its due — is the fundamental source of national greatness and prosperity. \"Sin makes peoples wretched\" — not merely individual sin but public, social, institutionalized sin: injustice in the courts, oppression of the poor, violation of treaties, persecution of the Church. Lapide cites Roman history extensively: Rome's greatness was founded on justice and piety; its fall began when these were abandoned.