Wisdom — Chapter 4

HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE CHASTE GENERATION WITH GLORY: FOR THE MEMORY THEREOF IS IMMORTAL: BECAUSE IT IS KNOWN BOTH WITH GOD AND WITH MEN. Chaste generation (casta generatio) = virgin chastity. Three excellences of chastity: (1) it is beautiful — externally (the virgin's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 6:19) and internally (the soul's beauty consists in conformity to God). (2) It is glorious — honored both in this life (by the wise and good) and in the next (with a special crown). (3) Its memory is immortal — the saints and martyrs who lived chastely are remembered forever in the Church's calendar and before God. Lapide invokes classical and patristic praise of virginity.

WHEN IT IS PRESENT, THEY IMITATE IT: AND THEY DESIRE IT WHEN IT HATH WITHDRAWN ITSELF, AND IT TRIUMPHETH CROWNED FOR EVER, WINNING THE REWARD OF UNDEFILED CONFLICTS. Chastity, when present, draws others to imitate it; when the chaste person dies, others desire what they had. The chaste person \"triumphs crowned for ever\" — the crown of virginity surpasses all earthly crowns. \"Winning the reward of undefiled conflicts\" — the victory of chastity over concupiscence, temptation, and the devil, is won through constant spiritual combat.

BUT THE MULTIPLIED BROOD OF THE WICKED SHALL NOT THRIVE, AND BASTARD SLIPS SHALL NOT TAKE DEEP ROOT, NOR ANY FAST FOUNDATION. The impious may produce many offspring, but without virtue this multitude profits nothing. \"Spuria vitulamina\" — bastard slips: those born of impious or adulterous unions lack the spiritual root that would make them flourish. This applies both literally (disordered families) and spiritually (heterodox sects and heresies, which multiply but lack the root of true faith).

FOR IF THEY FLOURISH IN BRANCHES FOR A TIME, YET STANDING NOT FAST, THEY SHALL BE SHAKEN WITH THE WIND, AND THROUGH THE FORCE OF WINDS THEY SHALL BE ROOTED OUT. Even if the wicked briefly flourish, they have no stability. The wind is tribulation, persecution, temptation, or the judgment of God — under which the roots of the impious, shallow and weak, give way. Applied to heresies: they flourish briefly but are eventually uprooted by the winds of persecution or refutation.

FOR THE BRANCHES NOT BEING PERFECT SHALL BE BROKEN, AND THEIR FRUITS SHALL BE UNPROFITABLE, AND SOUR TO EAT, AND FIT FOR NOTHING. Imperfect branches — lacking the sap of grace and virtue — bear bitter and useless fruit. Applied to the works of sinners: even naturally noble works, when performed without grace and without God's love, are unfruitful for eternal life. The \"sour\" (acerbi) fruit contrasts with the sweet fruits of virtue.

FOR THE CHILDREN THAT ARE BORN OF UNLAWFUL BEDS ARE WITNESSES OF WICKEDNESS AGAINST THEIR PARENTS IN THEIR TRIAL. At the Last Judgment, children born of sinful unions will bear witness against their parents — not necessarily by formal accusation, but by their own disordered lives which manifest and continue the parents' wickedness. This is a sobering meditation on the responsibility of parents for the spiritual formation of their children.

BUT THE JUST MAN, IF HE BE PREVENTED WITH DEATH, SHALL BE IN REST. Early death, far from being a punishment, is a grace for the just: God takes the just early to spare them from further trials or from the danger of falling. \"Shall be in rest\" — the sabbath rest of the blessed dead, freed from the turbulence of this life. Lapide cites patristic tradition on the early death of holy souls as a sign of God's particular love.

FOR VENERABLE OLD AGE IS NOT THAT OF LONG TIME, NOR COUNTED BY THE NUMBER OF YEARS: BUT THE UNDERSTANDING OF A MAN IS GREY HAIRS, AND A SPOTLESS LIFE IS OLD AGE. True old age is measured not by years but by wisdom and moral integrity. A young man who is wise and virtuous is truer to old age than an aged man who is foolish and vicious. This paradox is developed at length: God measures life by its quality, not its quantity. Applied to child saints: the Holy Innocents, St. Agnes, St. Tarcisius, etc., achieved in brief lives what others never achieve in long ones.

FOR BEING WELL PLEASING TO GOD HE WAS BELOVED, AND LIVING AMONG SINNERS HE WAS TRANSLATED. Lapide reads \"translated\" (translatus est) as referring both to Henoch/Enoch (Gen 5:24, \"he was no more, for God took him\") and to any just man whom God removes early from the world to preserve his virtue. The just man is \"well pleasing to God\" — this is the criterion: not long life but divine favor.

YEA, SOON WAS HE TAKEN AWAY, LEST WICKEDNESS SHOULD ALTER HIS UNDERSTANDING, OR DECEIT BEGUILE HIS SOUL. God sometimes takes the just early to protect them from the corrupting influence of the wicked world. \"Lest wickedness should alter his understanding\" — the world's malice (malitia) can pervert even a good mind through long exposure. God's mercy preempts this by an early, holy death. This should comfort those who mourn the early death of the innocent and virtuous.

FOR HIS SOUL PLEASED GOD: THEREFORE HE HASTENED TO BRING HIM OUT OF THE MIDST OF INIQUITIES. God's love for the holy soul is expressed in the urgency of His call — He \"hastened\" to bring him out. The world full of iniquities is like a pestilential air; God removes the just to protect them. Lapide applies this pastorally: parents should not over-mourn the early death of a holy child, since God has taken the child to Himself out of love.

FOR WICKEDNESS SUBVERTETH THE UNDERSTANDING OF MANY, AND VANITY TROUBLETH THE MIND. Two corrupting forces: (1) wickedness (nequitia) — moral depravity — which subverts the understanding; (2) vanity — the allure of earthly goods — which troubles and distracts the mind from God. Lapide sees these as two great dangers to the spiritual life, requiring vigilance and mortification.

HE, BEING MADE PERFECT IN A SHORT TIME, FULFILLED A LONG TIME. The just man perfected early fulfilled (in moral and spiritual terms) what others do not achieve in long lives. \"Consummatus in brevi\" — brought to full perfection. Applied to martyrs: Stephen, Lawrence, Agnes, Cecilia, who in brief lives achieved perfection. Also applied to priests and religious who die young in holiness.

FOR HIS SOUL WAS PLEASING TO GOD: THEREFORE GOD MADE HASTE TO BRING HIM OUT OF THE MIDST OF INIQUITIES. Lapide reads this as a variant or complementary statement to v.11. God's haste to bring the just soul out of the world is an act of merciful love, not cruelty. The shortness of life is compensated by the eternity of the reward.

BUT THE PEOPLE SAW THIS, AND UNDERSTOOD NOT, NOR DID THEY LAY UP SUCH THINGS IN THEIR HEART: THAT THE GRACE OF GOD AND HIS MERCY IS WITH HIS SAINTS, AND THAT HE HATH RESPECT TO HIS CHOSEN. The foolish people who see the early death of the just do not understand that God's grace and mercy attend upon His saints. \"His chosen\" — God's elect are under a special providential care. Lapide: this verse is a call to the spiritual understanding that interprets events according to faith rather than according to mere appearances.

THUS THE JUST MAN WHO IS DEAD CONDEMNETH THE UNGODLY WHO ARE LIVING, AND YOUTH SOON ENDED CONDEMNETH THE MANY YEARS OF THE UNJUST. The just man dead condemns the wicked living: his holy example, the memory of his virtuous life, and his presence before God as intercessor all serve as condemnations of the wicked who continue in sin. \"Youth soon ended\" — a young person who dies holy is a greater reproach to aged sinners than anything else, since it shows that holiness is possible at any age.

FOR THEY SHALL SEE THE END OF THE WISE MAN, AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD HATH PURPOSED FOR HIM, AND WHY THE LORD HATH SET HIM IN SAFETY. At the Last Judgment, the wicked will see the honor and glory of the just man whom they despised, and will be confounded — they will finally understand what they refused to understand in this life: God's purpose in the life and death of the just.

THEY SHALL SEE HIM, AND SHALL DESPISE HIM: BUT GOD SHALL MOCK THEM. The wicked, even confronted with the glory of the just at judgment, will despise him in their hearts — such is the hardness of their malice. \"God shall mock them\" — the divine irony: those who mocked the just will be mocked by God Himself (Ps 2:4, \"He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall mock them\").

AND THEY SHALL FALL AFTER THIS WITHOUT HONOUR, AND BE A REPROACH AMONG THE DEAD FOR EVER: FOR HE SHALL BURST THEM PUFFED UP AND SPEECHLESS, AND SHALL SHAKE THEM FROM THE FOUNDATIONS, AND THEY SHALL BE UTTERLY LAID WASTE: THEY SHALL BE IN SORROW, AND THEIR MEMORY SHALL PERISH. A graphic description of the final destruction of the impious: burst up (inflated with pride), laid waste, silent (no word of defense), shaken from their foundations. Their memory will perish — the exact opposite of the just, whose memory is immortal (v.1). Complete irony and contrast.

THEY SHALL COME WITH FEAR AT THE THOUGHT OF THEIR SINS, AND THEIR INIQUITIES SHALL STAND AGAINST THEM TO CONVICT THEM. At the Last Judgment, the impious will come trembling, their own sins standing as witnesses against them. \"Cogitatio peccatorum suorum\" — even the thought of their sins will terrify them; how much more will the actual record of all their deeds, words, and thoughts convict them.