Historical chapter commentary
Verse 1. Voice. Men are wanting to themselves: they cannot plead ignorance. Calmet.—Wisdom stands on high in the Catholic Church inviting all to virtue and happiness. Worthington.—Some explain this of the light which is communicated to men; but the Fathers apply it to Jesus Christ, some of the expressions regarding his divinity, and others his human nature. Sirach 24.
Verse 3. Doors. Amid disputants, whose eagerness ought to convince us of the preference due to wisdom over all terrestrial concerns. verse 10.
Verse 10. Money. They are generally incompatible.
Verse 12. Thoughts. All good comes from God, the eternal wisdom, ( Calmet.) which speaks here. Worthington.
Verse 15. Things. Power and knowledge are the gift of the Almighty. Romans 12:1. A prince who resembles God the most, is his best present. Pliny in Trajan.
Verse 18. Glorious. Lit. “proud.” Bible.—But here it only means great. Isaiah 9:15 and 61:6. Riches too commonly nourish pride, and it is very rare to see them joined with justice. Calmet.
Verse 19. Stone. So the Septuagint translate paz, ( Bible.) which designates a more pure sort of gold. Genesis 2:11. Calmet.
Verse 21. Enrich. Hebrew “grant what is (real goods) an inheritance to them,” and so forth—Treasures. Septuagint add, “with goods. If I announce to you daily occurrences, I will admonish you to number the things of the world,” ( Bible.) and all past events. Calmet.
Verse 22. Possessed. As Christ was with God, equal to him in eternity. John 1. Septuagint “created,” which many of the Fathers explain of the word incarnate, (see Corn. a Lapide. Bossuet) or he hath “placed me,” (Saint Athanasius iii. con. Arian. Euseb.) a pattern of all virtues. The Septuagint generally render kana, “possessed,” as Aquila does here. Calmet.
Verse 23. Up. Hebrew “anointed.” Septuagint “he founded.” Christ was appointed to be the foundation, on which we must be built. Saint Athanasius iii. Orat.
Verse 24. Conceived. Having yet manifested none of my works. Since the creation, wisdom only seeks to communicate itself to us. Calmet.
Verse 26. Poles. Hebrew “head or height of the dust of the world.” Bible.—I subsisted with the chaos, before things appeared in their present form. Calmet.—The poles denote the north and south, or the four quarters of the world. Menochius.
Verse 28. Sky. Prot. “clouds.” Pagn. “the air.” Vulg. æthera. Septuagint “the clouds above.” Bible.—Moses assigns the higher and lower waters the same origin. Genesis 1:7.
Verse 29. Pass. This is often remarked. Psalms 41:8.—Earth. See Job 38:8. Calmet.
Verse 30. Forming. Hebrew “one nursed,” ( Calmet.) or nursing, nutritius. Pagn.—He was not an idle spectator.—Playing. With ease and surprising variety. Calmet.
Verse 31. Men. God saw that all was good, but delighted most in his own image. Menochius.—He prefers man before all other corporeal creatures. Worthington.—To him alone below he has granted understanding, and a soul capable of virtue. The Son has also assumed our nature. Baruch 3:37.
Verse 35. Lord. Wisdom, or Jesus Christ, is our salvation, happiness, and life. Septuagint “and the will is prepared by the Lord.” Saint Augustine often quotes this to prove the necessity of preventing grace. Ep. ccxvii. and clxxxvi. Calmet.
Verse 36. Death. Not in itself, ( Bible.) but by adhering to such things as bring death. Menochius.