The Shepherd and the Slanderer

Almsgiving purifies the passion while acquiring love; and the poor man is trained to be humble through his poverty.

Four generations of wisdom: fear of the Lord, wealth, glory, and life. 'These are the generations of Noah' (Gen 5:32), 'these are the generations of Abraham' (Gen 11:10).

Thorns and snares in crooked paths; but he who guards his own soul will escape them (Prov 2:18). And the Lord says to Adam: 'the earth shall bring forth for you thorns and thistles' (Gen 3:18), that is, the soul. Thorns and thistles he calls the sins, from which even the crown of Christ was struck; for he himself bore the sin of the world.

The rich shall rule the poor, and servants shall lend to their own masters (Prov 22:4). In the age to come, those enriched in every way in all knowledge and all wisdom shall rule over the unclean and those deprived of this wealth.

But who are the servants and who are the masters? It is not necessary now to publish this, because the word concerning them is mystical and deeper.

God blesses a cheerful and giving man (Prov 22:8a); but the Lord brings to completion the vanity of his works through virtue and knowledge (Prov 22:8b).

The one giving gifts acquires victory and honor (Prov 22:9a), but his soul is taken away from what he has possessed. The gifts of a man are called virtues, through which, conquering the devil, he offers himself as an honor to God, and his soul is taken away from the demons who had possessed it.

'Cast out a pestilence from the council, and strife shall come out with him' (Prov 22:10); for when he sits in a council, he dishonors all. He spoke of the most critical state, from which the wise Solomon wishes to cast out the man through spiritual teaching; and the strife signifies contention. He may also mean a pestilence and the devil, whom it is necessary to drive away from the soul. For if he sits in it, through impurity he dishonors all the righteous thoughts. And the apostle also shows the soul as a council, into which he introduces accusing thoughts and defending ones; 'for, he says, among one another, thoughts are either accusing or defending' (2 Cor 1:24 allusion); where there is accusation and defense, there is also a council.

A king shall rule with his lips (Prov 22:11); and the eyes of the Lord shall preserve perception (Prov 22:12); but the lawless one makes words contemptible.

The Lord himself is the shepherd of our souls and through spiritual knowledge he shepherds us, a knowledge which he who transgresses his law despises. It should be noted that since Christ is king, he is said to shepherd us through his condescension; 'for I,' he says, 'am the good shepherd' (John 10:11). But if he is a king among kings and a shepherd of sheep, he will at some time be only a king, as a dignity for those sheep who have transitioned into the kingdom.

The enemy, the devil, is seen to say: 'a lion in the roads, and murderers in the streets' (Prov 28:1); our enemy the devil prowls about like a lion seeking someone to devour, whom the sluggard, fearing him, rises up to meet in the work of virtues.

'A deep pit, the mouth of the lawless' (Prov 22:13); but he who is hated by the Lord will fall into it. Job, not being hated by the Lord, but on account of testing, fell into it (Job 5:7).

'Folly spreads from the heart of a youth; but a rod and instruction are far from him' (Prov 22:15); far from the heart of the foolish is the rod which is from the root of Jesse (Isa 11:1).

'The slanderer's poverty does many of his own evils; but he gives to the rich upon less' (Prov 14:4); just as the devil slanders us, taking from us the virtues which he did not give to us, so also we slander him, taking from him the evils which we did not give to him. And just as we take from him the evils, as if from a poor man we take in virtues; so also we give our virtues to him at a loss, as if to a rich man we give in evil. One of the elders was saying that we are the slanderers, slandering Christ, having made him poor through us, even though he owes nothing to us, and taking much from him and giving to Satan upon the humiliation of our souls.

'Compare your ear with the words of the wise and hear my word; and examine your own heart, so that you may know that they are good' (Prov 23:23); this one hears the words of God, the one doing the things commanded by them; 'for not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified' (James 1:22).

'And you also shall write them down for yourself thrice for counsel and knowledge upon the breadth of your heart'; he who broadens his heart through purity will perceive the words of God, both the practical, the natural, and the theological. For all the...