HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT

WISDOM 12

CHAPTER XII.

Ver. 1. O how. Sept. "for incorruptible is thy Spirit;" which S. Athanasius (ad Serap.) adduces as a proof of the Holy Ghost's divinity. C. --- God loves the soul of man. Grot.

Ver. 5. Consecration. Lit. sacrament, or land. That is, the land sacred to thee, in which thy temple was to be established, and man's redemption to be wrought. Ch.

Ver. 8. Wasps. These were the auxiliaries of the Hebrews. Deut. vii. 20. S. James saved Nisibis from the Persian army, by praying for gnats to descend. Theod. Philot. i. --- The inhabitants of Belgrade incensed bees, by fire and smoke, to attack the troops of Amurath. Bonf. iv. dec. 3.

Ver. 10. Natural. We are all by nature children of wrath. Eph. ii. 3. H. --- But the Chanaanites were accursed by Noe, (Gen. ix. 25.) and were brought up in wickedness (Ps. lvii. 4.) by their parents. S. Aug. de Bapt. ii. 8. --- Changed. Because they would not employ well the time allowed them. C. --- By custom, malice became as it were natural, after nature was corrupted. W.

Ver. 11. Pardon. Or impunity. C. --- "Thou art angry, and yet are tranquil. S. Aug. Conf. i. 4.

Ver. 12. Done? Shall the clay say to the potter, why hast thou made me thus? Is. xlv. 9. and lxiv. 8. We know, that under a just God, no one is miserable, unless he deserve it. v. 15.

Ver. 15. Punished. S. Aug. ep. 106. Some have read incorrectly: "Thou condemnest him who ought not to be punished, and deemest him a stranger to thy virtue," which S. Greg. (Mor. iii. 11.) explains of Jesus Christ, the victim of sinners; other, of people born in sin, (Lyran.) while some would hence prove the decree of reprobation. Duran. --- But it is needless to explain a text which the Greek shews to be inaccurate. C.

Ver. 19. Hope. Under a God of such clemency, none should despair.

Ver. 27. God. Who destroyed their idols: yet they did not serve him, (W.) which was true of all the pagans. Rom. i. 21. C.