Exposition of Proverbs

He who honors the king honors his commands; for he who dishonors him, through the transgression of the law, dishonors him. Cast away the impious from the presence of a king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

By the spiritual word, having killed the old man, the one decaying according to the desires of deception, he establishes his own mind in righteousness, which is said to be the throne of God; for nowhere else has wisdom, knowledge, and righteousness been permitted to sit, except in the rational nature; and all these are Christ. Nor does he stand in the places of the powerful.

Do not say, 'Above the stars I will set my throne, I shall be like the Most High' (Ps 113:4), for it is better to be spoken of regarding you by Zeus, and God exalted him, and granted him a name above every name (Acts 17:29). Do not fall headlong into battle too quickly: through battle he struck the evil. Whenever your friend reproaches you, withdraw to the rear, do not despise: and the Savior in the Gospels reproaches the cities in which most of his powers have become, because they did not repent: 'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!' (Matt 11:21). Grace and friendship set free, which you have kept for yourself, so that you may not become reproachable.

Solomon more densely remembers friend and friendship; therefore it is good now to attend to the name, what friendship intends to signify: for he says, 'Grace and friendship set free.' And yet the Savior in the Gospels says to the Jews who had believed in him: 'If you remain in my word, truly you are my disciples, and the truth will set you free' (John 8:31-32). And Paul again writes: 'Christ has freed us from the curse of the law' (Gal 3:13). If therefore friendship sets free, and the truth sets free, and the Savior sets free, Christ is the truth and the friendship; whence also all those having the knowledge of Christ are friends of one another.

Thus also the Savior has called the disciples friends, and John was a friend of the Bridegroom, and Moses and all the saints; and by this only friendship are his friends and friends of one another. But guard your paths with good sociality: the one having been taught concerning virtues and acting according to them guards his paths with good sociality.

A golden apple in a sardius setting: Just as a golden apple fits a sardius, so knowledge of God fits a pure soul. Before a golden and sardius setting, much wealth is laid out; a wise word for obedient ears: Cast a precious sardius before a golden setting, and the wisdom of the Lord into an impassive mind. Just as the departure of snow in a drought benefits against a heat: Just as snow cools a heatwave, so the knowledge of saints dissolves the toil of the soul.

And a soft tongue crushes bones: Now he named the irascible soul soft, which crushes the bones that were endowed to speak; Lord, who is like you? Bring a small amount with your foot to your friend: It is necessary to approach theological matters sparingly and not to do this densely, lest we say something of the unsaid things concerning God, and as impious ones fall away from knowledge, the mind being continuously unable to contemplate through its own weakness by such a theory. The way of evil and the path of lawlessness shall perish in an evil day: This is, that evil and lawlessness shall perish in the day of judgment.

Thus a fallen passion grieves the heart in the body: The passions falling upon the heart are evils; of which, by deprivation, the impassive one is named. Thus the sorrow of a man harms the heart: Sorrow is a choice, a deprivation of corrupt pleasure; but sorrow is praiseworthy, a deprivation of virtues and knowledge of God. For having done this, you will heap coals of fire upon his head: Through kindness and goodwill, purifying his ruling principle. But a shameless face provokes the tongue: He said the devil is a shameless face, provoking the soul; and everywhere Solomon says the tongue is the mind; therefore, this is not good to feel shame of the face in judgment.

Good news from afar from the earth: Thus knowledge of God from the earth is good. Thus the unseemly has fallen against the impious: Regarding the thoughts of the mind, its falls are called so, and its uprisings, and its descent, and its standing, and others a walk and some of its obstacles are named; and others hard and soft, and fragrant and malodorous, and sweet and bitter, and smooth and straight and crooked; and again some of its things are called thorns and...