Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 15
Chapter 15 shows how wisdom greets and nourishes those who fear God and pursue justice (vv. 1-6), then contrasts the fools and proud whom wisdom flees (vv. 7-10), and concludes with a vigorous defense of human free will against the error of attributing sin to God (vv. 11-22). The chapter contains one of Scripture's most explicit affirmations of free choice.
Verse 1
He that feareth God will do good; and he that possesseth justice shall lay hold on her. Wisdom is attained through the fear of God and the practice of justice—the same practical virtues expounded in the preceding chapter. Lapide treats this verse as a summary recapitulation of chapter 14's teaching.
Verse 2
And she will meet him as an honourable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin. Wisdom comes to meet the God-fearing as a loving mother and young bride: with maternal care and spousal intimacy. Lapide treats the spousal imagery as pointing forward to Christ's union with the soul in contemplative prayer.
Verse 3
She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink. Wisdom's maternal hospitality: she feeds with bread (Scripture, doctrine) and water (contemplative wisdom). Lapide anticipates the Eucharistic dimension: the bread of life ultimately points to Christ.
Verse 7
Foolish men shall not obtain her; and wise men shall meet her; foolish men shall not see her; for she is far from pride and deceit. Wisdom is inaccessible to the proud, the foolish, the deceitful. Lapide systematically explains why: pride blinds, deceit distorts, folly cannot value what it cannot see.
Verse 11
Say not: It is through God that she is not with me; for do not thou the things that He hateth. The great defense of free will: God is not the author of sin. Lapide refutes predestinarian errors with this text, noting that God has given us commandments precisely because we have the freedom to obey or disobey.
Verse 14
God made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel. God created man free and preserves that freedom. Lapide establishes the theological foundation of free will in creation: man is made \"in the hand of his own counsel\"—his will is genuinely self-determining within God's providential order.
Verse 17
Before man is life and death, good and evil; that which he shall choose shall be given him. The clearest Scriptural statement of free choice: life and death, good and evil are set before man, and his genuine free choice determines which he receives. Lapide cites this as a fundamental proof text against all forms of necessitarianism and fatalism.