X. 1.  Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's oil; a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour.  Here he gives an example to illustrate the idea expressed above, in which he says that many good things can be outweighed by one fool, since one evil mixed with good in this way will pollute the greater part of it, just as flies if they die in oil, make it lose its colour and smell.  And since wisdom is often mixed with cleverness and prudence has wickedness, he teaches that we must search out wisdom alone, or that it be mixed with the innocence of doves.  Let us then be prudent to the good, and simple in the face of the wicked.  And this is the meaning: let the righteous man have little simplicity on account of his having too much suffering, and while he keeps his retribution for God, he seems foolish, and does wickedness at once in vindication under the guise of prudence.  Another meaning could be those flies that according to Isaiah inhabit a part of the river of Egypt, and destroy the sweetness of oil and according to one source leave the smell of their uncleanness[1].  The chief of these flies is called Beelzebub of the demons, and is interpreted as either 'the idol of flies' or 'the man of the flies', or 'he who has flies'[2].

2/3.  A wise man's mind tends to his right; while a fool's mind tends to his left.  Even on the road as the fool walks, he lacks sense, and proclaims to all that he is a fool.  And in the Gospel it is taught that a wise man's left does not know what his right is doing.  And when we are hit on the right side of the face, we do not show the left cheek to he who hit us, but the other one.  For a wise man does not have a left side in him, but is in fact completely the right side.  And when the Saviour comes to judge us, the lambs will stand on the right, and the goats on the left.  It is written in the prophets that "the Lord knows the ways to the right, which are wrong, and actually lead to the left."[3].  Therefore he who is wise always thinks about the future, because it leads him to the right.  But he who is foolish always thinks of the present, because it is set in the left.  What follows has also been said by the philosopher poet, who says, "the right leads to the walls of the lower world, this is our path to Elysium, but the left is for the wicked.  That gives out punishments and sends people down to the nether regions"[4].  Firmianus of our time in the famous work of his Institute recalls the passage about left and right, and argues that this is about virtues and about vices.[5]  And we shouldn't think that this is contrary to that passage, which says, "do not go to the right, nor to the left"[6].  In the first passage the right is taken to mean good; but in the second it is not just right but also the decline to the right.  We should not know more than we need to know, since virtues are in the middle and all excess in a vice.  In the following verse though he says, "but on the path that the fool walks, his heart is in need", and he says: "all is foolishness" or "all are fools".  This is the meaning: A fool hopes that all others sin as he himself sins, and judges all others by his own standards.  Then Symmachus has interpreted it in this way: but when the fool walks along the road, he supposes that all are stupid as he is.  But the Septuagint has another meaning, which says, 'all things which he thinks are foolish, are the most vain'. 

4.  If the anger of a ruler flares up against you, do not leave your place, for defence appeases great offences.  Now the Scripture mentions the chief of that world, the creator of the darkness and he who toils for the sons of despair, whom the apostle also recalls.[7]  For if he rises in our heart and the spirit of bad thoughts is wounded, we ought not to give way, but fight against the worst thoughts and free ourselves from the greatest sins, so that we do not fill our work with that thought, since it is one thing in thought, another in the deed of sinning.  Reference to this great sin can also be found in the Psalm: "if they had not conquered me, I would be clean and purified from the greatest crime"[8].  Symmachus translates the Hebrew word marphe as all the others do: iama, that is, 'cleanliness' or 'neatness'.  He has interpreted the meaning too, and he says, "if the spirit of a ruler defeats you, do not move from your place; since virtue wins over the greatest sin".  That is, if the devil entices your mind and incites you to lust, do not follow the thought of sin and flattering desire, but stand firm and fast and extinguish the flame of desire with the cold of chastity.  My Hebrew tutor suspected certain things about this passage for a reason I do not know.  If you take any high-up position in the world, or are appointed a post higher than the other people, do not let go of your former works and start to forget your former virtues, or cease from your previous work, because the cure for sins is born out of doing good things, and not from pompous and overflowing rank. 

5/7.  There is an evil that I have observed in the world as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is placed on lofty heights, while rich men sit in low places.  I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves.  Where we read "as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler" Aquila, Theodotion and the Septuagint have interpreted this as "as if not of their own will", that is hos akousian, from the face of the ruler.  Symmachus agrees with this, saying, "the fool is placed in great elevation, but humble riches remain fixed."  And he remembers that he has seen this wickedness in this time, because the judgement of God seems to be unjust.  And it happens either through not knowing, or without his will, that either in the rulers of the world, or in the leadership of the Church, often these men, who are rich in words and wisdom, rich too in good deeds, remain ignoble and foolish holding a position in the Church.  But this happens in front of his face, he who has power in that time, while he oppresses the powerful and learned men, and he does not let them come out in public, but those whom he knows to be foolish in the Church he makes greater, so that the blind are led by the blind into pitfalls.  The following verse also has this meaning: "I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves".  Because these men are slaves of vices and sins, or are so humble, that they are thought to be slaves by other men, they are suddenly inflated by the devil's pompousness, and they wear out the public roads with their ponies[9].  And each noble or wise man that is oppressed by poverty takes the road and occupation of slaves.  The Hebrew seems to say that ignorance seems to leave the face of the powerful and rulers.  He explains this as God, because men think that in this inequality of matter He is not acting justly, and judging as is correct.  More precisely, some men believe as their predecessors do that there must be judgement so that He himself is powerful, a topic that is mentioned before these verses: if a ruler comes up against you, do not give way.  Should we not be sad therefore if we seem to be humble in this world, and know from the face of the devil, that the foolish are raised and the rich thrown down? If we know that slaves have the ranks of their masters and rulers do the work of their slaves.  Remember though that this horse is seen in a good context, just as in the verse, which says, "and riding will be your salvation".[10] 

8.  He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who breaks down a wall will be bitten by a snake.  This is partly unambiguous and partly to be understood in a more complicated way.  Since elsewhere Solomon also says, "he that sets a trap will be caught in it"[11].  And in the seventh Psalm: "he laid out a pond and dug it out, and then he fell into the hole he had made"[12].  But the wall and the fence as well are the doctrines of the Church, and the institution set up by the apostles and prophets.  And whoever knocks them down or wants them to come to an end is bitten by a snake where he is not looking.  Amos writes about this snake: "if he goes down into the underworld, I will order a snake to kill him"[13].

9.  He who moves about stones will be hurt by them; he who splits logs will be endangered by them.  In Zechariah sacred stones are moved about the earth.[14]  For they do not stay firm in their place, but revolve, and always inclining to other places, they hasten to move away.  The Saviour also teaches about these living stones in the city of the Apocalypse[15], and the apostle doesn't forget to mention the building of the Church.  Therefore if anyone doing wrong by their heresy, should take away those stones from the building of the Church, then he will suffer torture afterwards.  Aquila and Symmachus write about this man, and where we have 'he who moves about stones, will suffer from them', both write, "he who moves stones, will be wounded by them".  But because the Scripture says very clearly, "he who moves about stones", or 'moves stones', he does not add 'good' or 'bad'.  Moreover and to the contrary it must be understood, that the man of the Church seemingly a bishop and elder, (if we are taking this according to the mandate of Leviticus), took a stone away from the house of lepers, and was obliterated in dust and ashes.[16]  And he will suffer for this himself, because he was forced to take away a stone from the Church of Christ and saying, (according to the apostle), "to weep with the weeping, to mourn with the mourners"[17], and "who is weak, and I burn not?"[18].  Also cutting wood, he will be endangered by it.  Heretics are non-fruit-bearing wood, and copse that do not bear fruit.  Pertaining to this too is that we must not plant a glade in the house of God, and leafy openings, that is arbours of such sounding words are scorned.  However learned and wise a man may be therefore who chops this wood with the sword of speech, he will be endangered by it, unless he diligently pays attention.  This is similar to what follows, this will happen, "if iron is shaped" and its appearance is changed.  This means that if his argument is found to be weaker, or if he does not have a point, in which each argument is well balanced, then the argument of his heart is blunt.  Then the strength of wickedness will come upon him and fortify him.  For this is what the Septuagint interprets this passage to mean: it says, "and he is fortified by strength, and he will begin to have more wisdom than strength; his wisdom will become strong, and superfluous, but it will not help him who possesses it.

10.  If a blade is blunt and one has not sharpened the edge, nevertheless it strengthens the warriors.  Wisdom is a more powerful skill.  If someone, he says, has seen himself lose knowledge of the Scriptures through negligence, and the shrewdness of his intelligence has been blunted, nonetheless he remains disturbed, and he would be just as he had been when he started.  But it happens, meanwhile, that he that has a little knowledge is led into pride and stops learning and reading, and little by little takes away from that which now adds nothing to him.  Thus the heart of the pupil remains empty, and a blade that has been sharpened is made blunt.  For rest and laziness are like a kind of rust of wisdom.  So then if anyone has suffered this, let him not despair the remedy for his health, but let him go to his teacher and be instructed again by him, and then after much toil and hard work, and a great deal of much sweat, he will be able to regain that wisdom that he had lost.  And this is what is said in the Hebrew more to the point: he will be strengthened by might, that is, by toil, by sweat, by hard work, and daily reading, then wisdom will follow suit, and his toil will come to an end, so that he might be able to receive wisdom once more.

11.  If the snake bites because it has not been charmed, then there is no advantage to the charmer's art.  The meaning of this is very apparent: the serpent and the disparager are of the same ilk.  For just as the hidden snake bites and injects its poison, so too the other disparages in private, and he pours out the poison of his heart against his brother, and there will be nothing between him and the serpent.  For although the tongue of man was created for benediction and encouragement of others, the disparager makes it equal to that of the serpent, while he uses his virtues to bad purposes.  Another meaning of this is, that if the serpent devil should bite anyone secretly, and he doesn't know it, he infects him with the poison of sin; and if he who has been struck keeps silent, and does not repent, and does not want to confess his wound to his teacher and brother, they who want to encourage him and see to it that he gets better, are not able to be of any use to him.  For if an ill man is ashamed to confess his wound to a doctor, the doctor will not be able to cure what he does not know exists. 

12.  The words of a wise man win favour, but a fool's lips devour him.  Foolishness, if it is happy in its rusticity, will know less evil.  But now he wages war against wisdom, and whatever prudence he sees in a learned man, he does not take to be incited by enthusiasm.  For a wise man speaks words of knowledge, words of thanks, which are of use to those that hear them, but the lips of a fool do not receive what is said, as it is said; on the contrary they try to trip up a wise man and make him similar to a fool.  And in fact a wise man is taught when a foolish man speaks in his ear, and you could almost say that his words are lost in the deep swell.  Therefore he is blessed, who speaks in the ear of a wise man. 

13/14.  His talk begins as foolishness and ends as evil madness.  The fool prates on and on, but man does not know what will be; and who can tell him what will be after him?  So far the discussion has been about the fool, whose lips teach the wise man, or according to another interpretation, his lips make himself corrupt.  The beginning and the end of his speech are foolishness and evil madness; or as Symmachus has translated it, confusion, or some kind of inconsistency of words.  For while he doesn't keep to the one opinion, he thinks he can escape sin in the many arguments he speaks at the same time.  But he does not remember all those who have gone before him, and does not know what will happen after him, and so is confused in ignorance and the darkness, promising himself false knowledge; by this he thinks that he is wise, and that he is learned, if he uses lots of words.  This can be taken to refer to the heretics, who do not heed the words of wise men, but continue to argue different sides so they intertwine the beginning and end of their speech in vanity, confusion, and madness; and though they know nothing, they speak more than they know. 

15.  The toil of fools exhausts them, as one who does not know the way to town.  Join these lines with the verse above; either to those verses that speak in general about fools, who know not God, or in particular to that one which argues about heretics.  Read in Plato for example: unravel the tricks of Aristotle, read Zeno and Carneas more diligently, and you will prove to be true what is written here: the toil of fools exhausts them.  For they seek the truth in fact with all their enthusiasm, but since they have no leader or anyone to lead the way on their journey, they are led by their human instincts to think that they can understand wisdom, and thus they do not arrive at the town; the Psalm speaks of this too: "Lord, you will scatter their image in your town"[19].  For the Lord will scatter in the town all shadows and strange appearances or characters, in which they clothe themselves in their many doctrines.  In another place the Psalm says of this: "the force of a river causes the city of God to rejoice"[20].  And in the Gospel: "a town built on a mountain cannot be hidden"[21].  And in Isaiah: "I am a strong city, a city which is attacked"[22].  And all the wise men and heretics of this world are trying to attack this city of truth and wisdom, although it is strong and fortified.  And that which I have said about philosophers can also be said of heretics, that they toil in vain, and are exhausted in their enthusiasm for the Scriptures, when they wander in the desert and are not able to find the town.  The Psalmist also mentions their madness too, saying, "they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in."[23] 

16/17.  Woe to you, O land, whose king acts as an adolescent, and whose ministers dine in the morning.  Happy are you, O land, whose king is a man of dignity, and whose ministers dine at the proper time- in strength and not in drunkenness.  He seems in fact here to reprove the young king and to condemn indulgent judges, which in another place has been called wisdom that is weakened by age, and even in other places mature age which is made frail by pleasure.  On the other hand he seems to approve the king with good morals, who is appointed easily.  He also seems to praise those judges who nonetheless prefer pleasure to the business of the town, but after much toil and the running of the township, are forced to eat as if by necessity.  But I find more holy what seems to lie hidden in the text, because those who depart from old laws and despise the precepts of their ageing fathers, are called young men in the scripture; they who do not heed the commandments of God, and desire to change the laws of mankind.  The Lord of Israel threatens in Isaiah[24], because the people did not want the waters of Shiloah that flows in silence, and averted the ancient stream, choosing for themselves the rivers of Samaria, and the surges of Damascus.  "And I will give", he says, "children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them"[25].  Read also Daniel and you will find the old God of Days.[26]  Or read the Apocalypse of John where the head of the Saviour is said to be white and snowy, and you will find it to be like white wool.  Look at Jeremiah too because he was wise and his hair was purported to be white because of his wisdom, and he is forbidden to call himself a young man[27].  Woe to the land therefore whose king is the devil, who always desirous of new things, and even rebels against its parent in the case of Abessalon, who regards as judges and leaders those, who love the pleasures of the world, and who say before the day of death comes, "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die"[28].  For the other part is the blessed land of the Church whose king, Christ, is the son of all peoples.  He is descended from Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, also from the stock of all the prophets and saints, for whom sin was not conquered.  On account of this they were indeed children.  Born of these was the virgin, more freely Saint Mary, who had no offspring, no seed from her flank, but all of her fruit burst out in flower, speaking in the Song of Songs: "I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valley"[29].  His leaders too are apostles and all are saintly, who see their king as the son of all men, the son of a free woman; not of the slave woman Agar, but born of Sara in freedom.  And they do not eat in the morning, or quickly.  For they do not seek enjoyment in their time, but eat in their time, and when the time for retribution will come, they will eat in strength, and not in disorder.  Every good thing of this world is a disorder, but an everlasting strength in the future.  Just this is said in Isaiah: "look at those who serve me, they will eat; but you will go hungry."[30]  And again, "look at those who serve me, they will be happy; but you will shamed."[31]

18.  Through slothfulness the ceiling sags, and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.  Our house, which is held up by the condition of mankind, even that abode that we have in heaven, sags if we are lazy and slow to do good work.  And every ceiling, which is supposed to hold the roof up high, falls to the ground and crushes its inhabitants.  And when the help of hands and virtues has eventually gone numb a great storm of all tempests and rain clouds will fall down upon us from above.  More precisely, although we have interpreted this with regard to one man, it can be better understood with bearing to the Church, because its stature is brought down by the neglect of its principate.  There in the Church we find the attractions of sins, where the roof is said to be virtue.

19.  A feast is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, but money answers everything.  I think that what follows relates to the preceding verses.  For with regard to the sloth and the indolence of teachers the Church is lowered, and its roof is made to fall, and its timbers leak, as we have shown above.  Therefore here he is speaking of the self-same teachers.  And he has been seen to accuse them, asking why they remain silent and do not make use of their duty as teacher, (that is both for bishops and elders in the Church), saying that they neither work on their speaking nor doctrine, the same that even Titus admonishes[32], and is taught by Timothy[33], so that one does not forget the grace of God, which is bestowed upon a great man.  But in this respect they see themselves as elders and bishops, so that they receive an allowance, and many teachers ask for a two-fold glory, which is owed in fact to those who work on their speaking and doctrines.  But now he takes the other side and accuses those who even speak in the Church and teach the congregation, but they teach the people that which they like to hear, because he flatters the sinner in his crime and incites the listeners to applaud.  For surely when such a teacher is giving a lascivious speech in the Church, does he not promise the blessing and realm of heaven to the crowd, as it will seem to you that his laughter makes bread, and he mixes wine with the happiness of those who drink?  Or as those who teach and seek riches, food, and wealth through the promised delights.  Or the bread of the Church, which is the bread of mourners, and not of those who laugh, because those who weep are blessed, for they will laugh, and will have joy in their happiness.  He also goes on to say: money or silver answers everything, and this must be taken as two-fold: either that those learned men become rich after their praise, and take their place at the head of the people, or indeed, since money is always taken in return for a speech: for "the words of the LORD are pure words: as silver extracted in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."[34]  He asserts this because the ignoble crowd is always moved easily by eloquence and speeches, which are composed of a great foliage of words.    Differently: those who have free-will and are forbidden to mourn and fast, make bread in their laughter.  Isaac gets his name from this bread as well, and in the happiness of drinking they prepare wine.  And so every holy man, who is teacher of the Church, as Christ commanded, makes bread in his laughter and happiness, and hands out cups of wine in his joy.  Money also, which answers everything, is given out as five, and two and one talent for the head of the family in the Gospel[35].  And ten coins which are thought to be for slaves in business.

20.  Even in your thoughts do not curse a king, and in your bed-chamber do not curse the rich, for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter.  This simple example teaches the listeners that we should not be overpowered by anger and fury, and curse and blame kings and leaders, since it seems to happen against one's wish, that what we curse is made known.  And we run into danger by the inability to hold our tongue.  He also says, "a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter", this is to be understood as a exaggeration, just as we are accustomed to saying, 'walls have ears to hear those things, which we think are said in private'.  But it is better to hear a teaching in this way, so that we know that we have a commandment to follow, not only that nothing should be spoken rashly against Christ, but also in the secret places of our heart, however we are troubled by our many problems, nothing should be blasphemed, nothing thought which is impious.  And since we owe love, that we have for Christ, the next part says, "love the Lord your God," and even " your nearest" and "yourself".[36]  He even orders this, so that afterwards we do not easily take the king away from the holy, and so that we do not slander by the wickedness of our tongue those who are rich in knowledge, wisdom and virtues, for they are the angels who fly around the earth and are administrators of the spirit.  They say in Zechariah, "we have traversed the earth and look all the world is inhabited and quiet"[37].  And just like birds, our words and thoughts are carried to heaven.  And whatever we think in secret, is not hidden from God's knowledge.