Wisdom — Chapter 2

FOR THEY HAVE SAID, REASONING WITH THEMSELVES, BUT NOT RIGHT: THE TIME OF OUR LIFE IS SHORT AND TEDIOUS, AND IN THE END OF A MAN THERE IS NO REMEDY. The impious reason \"among themselves\" — not in the public forum but in their darkened consciences. \"Exiguum et cum taedio\" — our life is brief and filled with toil; \"in fine hominis non est refrigerium\" — at man's end there is no refreshment, no afterlife consolation. This is Epicurean reasoning: denying the immortality of the soul and the resurrection, they conclude that pleasure in this life is the only good. Lapide refutes this at length: (1) the soul is naturally immortal; (2) Scripture and tradition affirm the resurrection; (3) even pagan philosophers (Plato, Cicero) held the soul's immortality. The \"tedium\" of life is acknowledged, but Lapide notes that tedium is caused precisely by the disorder of sin; the just man who lives virtuously finds life's labors sweetened by divine consolation.

FOR WE WERE BORN OF NOTHING, AND AFTER THIS WE SHALL BE AS IF WE HAD NOT BEEN: FOR THE BREATH IN OUR NOSTRILS IS SMOKE: AND SPEECH IS A SPARK TO MOVE OUR HEART. The impious draw radical nihilism from their denial of the afterlife: we came from nothing (ex nihilo) and return to nothing. \"Spiritus in naribus nostris\" — the breath in our nostrils is smoke (fumum), i.e., vanishing, insubstantial. \"Et sermo scintilla\" — and speech is a spark moving the heart — meaning either (a) our word is but a fleeting spark, or (b) reason itself is a mere spark, not an immortal light. Lapide refutes: the soul's origin is not from nothing as its principle, but from God who breathed the breath of life into Adam (Gen 2); the soul retains its divine origin and destination. The philosophers who denied immortality (Epicurus, Lucretius) are cited as examples of this impious reasoning.

WHICH BEING PUT OUT, OUR BODY SHALL BE ASHES, AND OUR SPIRIT SHALL BE POURED ABROAD AS SOFT AIR, AND OUR LIFE SHALL PASS AWAY AS THE TRACE OF A CLOUD: AND SHALL BE DISPERSED AS A MIST, WHICH IS DRIVEN AWAY BY THE BEAMS OF THE SUN, AND OVERCOME WITH THE HEAT THEREOF. A poetic description of the materialist view of death: when the spark of life goes out, body becomes ashes and spirit (breath) disperses as air. Four metaphors for the soul's supposed dissolution: (1) poured out as soft air; (2) life passes like a cloud's trace; (3) dispersed like mist; (4) overcome by the sun. Lapide refutes each metaphor: (1) the rational soul is not mere air — it is a spiritual substance, created in God's image; (2) the cloud leaves no trace for the eye, but the soul leaves an eternal trace before God; (3) mist dissolves but the soul, created from nothing by God, continues sustained by His power; (4) the sun overcomes mist but not the immortal soul.

AND OUR NAME IN TIME SHALL BE FORGOTTEN, AND NO MAN SHALL HAVE ANY REMEMBRANCE OF OUR WORKS. The impious add a fourth argument: even our memory will perish. Lapide responds: the memory of the just is eternal before God even if men forget (Ps 111:6, \"in eternal remembrance shall the just be\"). The memory of the wicked will also perish — but as a curse rather than a blessing (Prov 10:7). Applied to martyrs: far from being forgotten, they are remembered eternally in the Church's calendar and honored in heaven.

FOR OUR TIME IS AS THE PASSING OF A SHADOW, AND THERE IS NO GOING BACK OF OUR END: FOR IT IS FAST SEALED, AND NO MAN RETURNETH. Time passes like a shadow — swift, insubstantial, irreversible. \"Consignatum est\" — it is sealed, fixed; death admits no appeal or return in this life. Lapide meditates on the swiftness of life to encourage detachment from earthly goods: since life is so brief, why cleave to it? Rather, prepare for eternity. Death is sealed not by fate (fatalism) but by divine providence ordering each person's lifespan.

COME THEREFORE, AND LET US ENJOY THE GOOD THINGS THAT ARE PRESENT, AND LET US SPEEDILY USE THE CREATURES AS IN YOUTH. This verse begins the impious conclusion from their premises: since life is brief, let us enjoy it. This is classic Epicurean hedonism, which Lapide cites via Lactantius (Div. Inst. III.17) who describes and refutes Epicurus's syllogism. Lapide applies this to the worldly philosophy of his own age: those who subordinate religion and virtue to politics and pleasure. The goods to be \"enjoyed\" are carnal pleasures — food, drink, sensual gratification — which are treated as life's purpose rather than as means.

LET US FILL OURSELVES WITH COSTLY WINE AND OINTMENTS: AND LET NOT THE FLOWER OF THE TIME PASS BY US. Lapide treats the specific pleasures enumerated: wine (feasting and drunkenness), ointments (luxury and self-indulgence). \"Flos temporis\" — the flower of time or youth — should not be wasted on virtue and austerity, say the impious; it should be spent on pleasure. Lapide rebukes this with Eccl 11:9 (\"rejoice, O young man... but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment\") and with the example of the rich fool (Lk 12).

LET US CROWN OURSELVES WITH ROSES BEFORE THEY BE WITHERED: LET NO MEADOW ESCAPE OUR LUXURY. The garland of roses — symbol of fleeting pleasure — is a classical topos (Horace, Ovid). Lapide notes the irony: they crown themselves with roses (pleasure) but ultimately receive the crown of thorns in spiritual destruction. Lapide references Godfrey of Bouillon who refused the crown of gold in Jerusalem because Christ was crowned with thorns there. \"Nullum pratum sit\" — let no meadow escape our luxury; a grandiose expression of hedonistic excess. Lapide cites Augustine on how the impious progress from \"let us crown ourselves with roses\" to \"let us oppress the just man\" (v.10).

LET NONE OF US GO WITHOUT HIS SHARE IN LUXURY: LET US EVERYWHERE LEAVE TOKENS OF OUR JOY: FOR THIS IS OUR PORTION, AND THIS OUR LOT. \"Nemo nostrum exors sit luxuriae nostrae\" — let everyone share in our luxury. The Latin luxuria here means not merely lust but the full overflow of pleasure, insolence, and excess (as Cicero and Festus explain). \"Haec est pars nostra\" — this is our portion and our lot: the impious acknowledge no other inheritance, no other life, no other good beyond carnal pleasure in this world. Lapide contrasts this with the psalmist (Ps 15:5): \"The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my chalice.\"

LET US OPPRESS THE POOR JUST MAN, AND NOT SPARE THE WIDOW, NOR HONOUR THE ANCIENT GREY HAIRS OF THE AGED. Pleasure (luxuria) gives birth to cruelty and tyranny. Those who have squandered their wealth on gluttony and lust become like ravening wolves, preying on the poor, widows, and the elderly to replenish their resources. Lapide cites Augustine in Ps 51: from \"let us crown ourselves with roses\" the impious proceed to \"let us oppress the poor just man.\" The progression from sensuality to tyranny is documented by Cicero and Ovid. \"Machiavelli's principle\" is identified by Lapide as this very teaching: that religion, virtue, and justice should serve political power and self-interest — a diabolical and bestial principle, not human.

BUT LET OUR STRENGTH BE THE LAW OF JUSTICE: FOR THAT WHICH IS FEEBLE IS FOUND TO BE NOTHING WORTH. The impious make strength the law of justice: might makes right. This is the maxim of tyrants and atheists: the weak are useless except as prey for the strong, as in nature where larger fish devour smaller. Lapide identifies this as Machiavellian tyranny renewed from antiquity (Callicles in Plato's Gorgias). But this is a bestial, not human, principle: man is governed by reason and equity given by God as his light and guide.

LET US THEREFORE LIE IN WAIT FOR THE JUST, BECAUSE HE IS NOT FOR OUR TURN, AND HE IS CONTRARY TO OUR DOINGS, AND UPBRAIDETH US WITH TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE LAW, AND DIVULGETH AGAINST US THE SINS OF OUR WAY OF LIFE. Lapide reads this verse both literally (of any just and outspoken man who rebukes the impious) and primarily as prophecy of Christ's passion. He proves the Christological reading in five ways: (1) The very words here are those used by the Jews against Christ at Calvary (Matt 27:43, \"He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him\"). (2) \"Filium Dei se nominat\" (v.13) corresponds to the charge against Christ at His trial (Jn 5; 10). (3) These twelve reasons for persecuting the just man (listed in vv.12-16) perfectly match the charges brought against Christ. (4) The Fathers (SS. Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Cyril) unanimously read this prophecy of Christ. (5) The Liturgy of the Church reads this passage in Holy Week. Lapide catalogs the twelve reasons the impious cite: the just man is useless to them; he is contrary to their works; he rebukes their sins against the law; he exposes the sins of their way of life.

HE BOASTETH THAT HE HATH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND CALLETH HIMSELF THE SON OF GOD. This is the fifth charge against the just man/Christ: he claims divine knowledge and divine sonship. Lapide notes that this was the central point of contention between Christ and the Pharisees (Jn 5; 8; 10). Christ's claim to be the natural Son of God (not merely an adoptive son by grace) was the primary cause of the Jewish hatred and the crucifixion. Applied more generally: the just man's claim to know and love God is itself an implicit rebuke to the impious who deny or disregard God.

HE IS BECOME A CENSURER OF OUR THOUGHTS. The sixth charge: the just man — and specifically Christ — exposes and rebukes the secret thoughts and intentions of the impious. Christ, who knew men's hearts (Jn 2:25), exposed the Pharisees' hidden designs (Matt 9:4; Lk 6:7). Lapide notes that \"traducit cogitationes nostras\" means to drag out into the open and expose publicly. Applied generally: the holy man whose life is a silent reproach reveals by contrast the wickedness of others' thoughts.

HE IS GRIEVOUS UNTO US, EVEN TO BEHOLD: FOR HIS LIFE IS NOT LIKE OTHER MEN'S, AND HIS WAYS ARE VERY DIFFERENT. The just man — preeminently Christ — is a burden even to look upon. Hatred and envy make one unable to bear the sight of the hated one (Augustine, Confessions VII). Saul's evil eye pursued David (1 Reg 18:9). The cause is the dissimilarity of lives: the just man lives mortification, humility, patience, charity for enemies; the impious live pride, wealth-seeking, revenge, and carnal pleasure. These opposed ways of life create irreconcilable enmity (Aristotle, Ethics; Seneca, Epistles). Christ foretold this to the Apostles (Jn 15:18-20).

WE ARE ESTEEMED BY HIM AS TRIFLERS, AND HE ABSTAINETH FROM OUR WAYS AS FROM FILTHINESS, AND HE PREFERRETH THE LATTER END OF THE JUST, AND GLORIETH THAT HE HATH GOD FOR HIS FATHER. The just man abstains from the ways of the impious as from uncleanness. The ten, eleven, and twelfth charges: he counts them as triflers; he avoids their ways; he prefers the destiny of the just; he boasts of God as his Father. Lapide identifies these as perfectly fulfilled in Christ: He told the Pharisees they were of their father the devil (Jn 8:44); He avoided their corrupt customs; He promised the kingdom of heaven to the just.

LET US SEE THEN IF HIS WORDS BE TRUE, AND LET US PROVE WHAT SHALL HAPPEN TO HIM, AND WE SHALL KNOW WHAT HIS END SHALL BE. The impious propose a test: let us see whether God actually delivers the just man. This corresponds exactly to the mockery at Calvary: \"Let God deliver Him if He wills it; He said He is the Son of God\" (Matt 27:43). Lapide notes the dramatic irony: the test the impious propose — Christ's passion and death — will not disprove but prove His claim, since the Resurrection vindicates Him.

FOR IF HE BE THE TRUE SON OF GOD, HE WILL DEFEND HIM, AND WILL DELIVER HIM FROM THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES. This verse, cited at Calvary by Christ's enemies (Matt 27:43), is read by Lapide as the clearest proof of the Christological interpretation. The impious reason: if God truly defends His Son, let Him save Him from death. But they fail to understand that death was itself the chosen means of salvation — Christ descended into death to destroy it from within. The resurrection is God's definitive answer to this taunt.

LET US EXAMINE HIM BY OUTRAGE AND TORTURE, THAT WE MAY KNOW HIS MEEKNESS AND PROVE HIS PATIENCE. \"Per contumeliam et tormenta interrogemus eum\" — let us examine him through outrage and torture. Lapide reads this as a prophetic description of Christ's passion: the scourging, crowning with thorns, mockery, and crucifixion are all forms of examining him \"by outrage and torture.\" \"His meekness and patience\" — Christ bore all these torments with supreme meekness (Matt 27:14) and patience (Isa 53:7, \"He opened not His mouth\"). The Fathers (Chrysostom, Augustine) are cited on Christ's patient suffering as fulfilling this prophecy.

LET US CONDEMN HIM TO A MOST SHAMEFUL DEATH: FOR THERE SHALL BE RESPECT HAD UNTO HIM BY HIS WORDS. \"Morte turpissima condemnemus eum\" — crucifixion was the most shameful death in Roman law, reserved for slaves and the basest criminals. The taunt \"there shall be respect unto him by his words\" (i.e., \"he claimed God would honor him — let us see\") is a final mockery. Lapide notes that the very words of this verse were applied to Christ by the Fathers unanimously. The ironical fulfillment: Christ condemned to the most shameful death becomes the Lord of glory; \"the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone\" (Ps 117:22).

THESE THINGS THEY THOUGHT, AND WERE DECEIVED: FOR THEIR OWN MALICE BLINDED THEM. The impious were deceived — their malice blinded them to the truth. Lapide on the cause of their blindness: (1) willful malice, which clouds the intellect; (2) pride, which refuses to submit to the truth; (3) envy, which distorts perception of the just. Malice is a spiritual blindness: as sin darkens the intellect progressively, the sinner becomes increasingly incapable of seeing truth (Augustine, John Chrysostom).

AND THEY KNEW NOT THE SECRETS OF GOD, NOR HOPED FOR THE WAGES OF JUSTICE, NOR ESTEEMED THE HONOUR OF HOLY SOULS. Three things they failed to know: (1) the secrets of God — His plans of redemption, the mystery of the cross, the resurrection, and eternal life; (2) the reward of justice — they denied the resurrection and eternal reward; (3) the honor of holy souls — they did not believe in the glorification of the just after death. Lapide: this ignorance was partly culpable (they refused the revelation) and partly punitive (God blinded them as a consequence of their malice, cf. Rom 1:28).

FOR GOD CREATED MAN INCORRUPTIBLE, AND TO THE IMAGE OF HIS OWN LIKENESS HE MADE HIM. God created man originally immortal and incorruptible — in body and soul. The image and likeness of God in man: (1) in the soul's spirituality and rationality; (2) in the soul's immortality; (3) in its capacity for God (capax Dei); (4) in its original justice and holiness. Lapide notes that \"incorruptible\" refers to Adam's preternatural gift of bodily immortality, which was lost through sin. The soul remains naturally immortal; bodily immortality was a supernatural gift (donum integritatis) conditioned on obedience.

BUT BY THE ENVY OF THE DEVIL, DEATH CAME INTO THE WORLD: AND THEY FOLLOW HIM THAT ARE OF HIS SIDE. The devil envied man's happiness, immortality, and friendship with God, and therefore deceived Eve in order to bring about man's fall and death. \"Death entered the world through the devil's envy\" — not through God's will (v.13) but through the devil's malice freely embraced by man. \"They follow him that are of his side\" — the impious who choose sin and death align themselves with the devil's party. Lapide applies this to heretics, atheists, and persecutors of the just, who are spiritual children of the devil (Jn 8:44). This verse is the conclusion and key to the whole chapter.