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* Footnotes
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Leviticus
19:15
Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor: nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice.
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Deuteronomy
1:17
There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man's person, because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it.
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Deuteronomy
16:19
And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.
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Proverbs
24:23
These things also to the wise: It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment.
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James
2:1
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, with respect of persons.
*H Repeat not the word which thou hast heard, and disclose not the thing that is secret; so shalt thou be truly without confusion, and shalt find favour before all men: be not ashamed of any of these things, and accept no person to sin thereby:
Ver. 1. Men. Here the Gr. concludes the former chapter very properly, (H.) as we must be ashamed of doing these things, and not of those which follow. C. — "Of repeating [and] of the speech which thou hast heard, and of revealing secret words; (things. H.) and thou shalt be truly bashful, ( αισχυντηρος. C.) and find favour with every man." Grabe's edit. H. — Thereby. In such cases we must shew a holy impudence, like Jeremias, i. 10. 18.
*H Of the law of the most High, and of his covenant, and of judgment to justify the ungodly:
Ver. 2. Covenant. We must be ashamed of transgressing these, (C. xli. 24.) but not of complying with them. This is the first duty of man. — Ungodly. Blush not to oppose such a judgment, (C.) though all the judges should be against thee. Follow no collusion of man to do evil. H. — Pass sentence without respect of persons, (Deut. i. 16. C.) whether the parties be thy companions, or only travellers. v. 3. H.
*H Of the affair of companions and travellers, and of the gift of the inheritance of friends:
Ver. 3. Friends. Be not ashamed to leave something to thy friends, though relations may grumble; or execute thy friend's will exactly. C.
*H Of exactness of balance and weights, of getting much or little:
Ver. 4. Little. Be scrupulously exact in thy dealings, but not afraid of advancing thy fortune by lawful means.
*H Of the corruption of buying, and of merchants, and of much correction of children, and to make the side of a wicked slave to bleed.
Ver. 5. Buying. This regards magistrates, who must correct such frauds. Gr. "of the money (C.) to purchase from merchants." H. — We may examine whether the coin be good, and strive to get things as cheap as we can. — Bleed. Great severity was formerly used. C. xxx. 12. C.
*H Sure keeping is good over a wicked wife.
Ver. 6. Keeping. Lit. "a seal." H. — All must be locked up.
*H Where there are many hands, shut up, and deliver all things in number, and weight: and put all in writing that thou givest out or receivest in.
Ver. 7. In. Not out of distrust so much, as to keep servants honest. All who have written on economy give the same rules.
*H Be not ashamed to inform the unwise and foolish, and the aged, that are judged by young men: and thou shalt be well instructed in all things, and well approved in the sight of all men living.
Ver. 8. Men. So Daniel discovered the malice of the two ancients. Dan. xiii. 46. Admonish the aged not to enter into disputes, or strive with the young. C.
*H The father waketh for the daughter when no man knoweth, and the care for her taketh away his sleep, when she is young, lest she pass away the flower of her age, and when she is married, lest she should be hateful:
Ver. 9. Knoweth. Lit. "who is hidden." H. — An unmarried woman was styled Halma, or "hidden." Is. vii. 11. C. — Pass away. Gr. "abuse." H. — Some read adultera, (Sixt. V. Jans.) instead of adulta, improperly. It was deemed shameful for a parent not to have his daughter married soon. 1 Cor. vii. 36. — Hateful. Deut. xxiv.
*H In her virginity, lest she should be corrupted, and be found with child in her father's house: and having a husband, lest she should misbehave herself, or at the least become barren.
Ver. 10. Barren. And thus fall into contempt. Deut. vii. 14. If she committed adultery she must die; or if she were only suspected, she must drink the waters of jealousy. Num. v. 17. Husbands would often seek a divorce, on such occasions; which would involve the father in fresh difficulties.
*H Keep a sure watch over a shameless daughter: lest at anytime she make thee become a laughingstock to thy enemies, and a byword in the city, and a reproach among the people, and she make thee ashamed before all the multitude.
Ver. 11. Multitude, who will accuse thee of negligence. C.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 154, Article 6
[II-II, Q. 154, Art. 6]
Whether Seduction Should Be Reckoned a Species of Lust?
Objection 1: It would seem that seduction should not be reckoned a species of lust. For seduction denotes the unlawful violation of a virgin, according to the Decretals (XXXVI, qu. 1) [*Append. Grat. ad can. Lex illa]. But this may occur between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman, which pertains to fornication. Therefore seduction should not be reckoned a species of lust, distinct from fornication.
Obj. 2: Further, Ambrose says (De Patriarch. [*De Abraham i, 4]): "Let no man be deluded by human laws: all seduction is adultery." Now a species is not contained under another that is differentiated in opposition to it. Therefore since adultery is a species of lust, it seems that seduction should not be reckoned a species of lust.
Obj. 3: Further, to do a person an injury would seem to pertain to injustice rather than to lust. Now the seducer does an injury to another, namely the violated maiden's father, who "can take the injury as personal to himself" [*Gratian, ad can. Lex illa], and sue the seducer for damages. Therefore seduction should not be reckoned a species of lust.
_On the contrary,_ Seduction consists properly in the venereal act whereby a virgin is violated. Therefore, since lust is properly about venereal actions, it would seem that seduction is a species of lust.
_I answer that,_ When the matter of a vice has a special deformity, we must reckon it to be a determinate species of that vice. Now lust is a sin concerned with venereal matter, as stated above (Q. 153, A. 1). And a special deformity attaches to the violation of a virgin who is under her father's care: both on the part of the maid, who through being violated without any previous compact of marriage is both hindered from contracting a lawful marriage and is put on the road to a wanton life from which she was withheld lest she should lose the seal of virginity: and on the part of the father, who is her guardian, according to Ecclus. 42:11, "Keep a sure watch over a shameless daughter, lest at any time she make thee become a laughing-stock to thy enemies." Therefore it is evident that seduction which denotes the unlawful violation of a virgin, while still under the guardianship of her parents, is a determinate species of lust.
Reply Obj. 1: Although a virgin is free from the bond of marriage, she is not free from her father's power. Moreover, the seal of virginity is a special obstacle to the intercourse of fornication, in that it should be removed by marriage only. Hence seduction is not simple fornication, since the latter is intercourse with harlots, women, namely, who are no longer virgins, as a gloss observes on 2 Cor. 12: "And have not done penance for the uncleanness and fornication," etc.
Reply Obj. 2: Ambrose here takes seduction in another sense, as applicable in a general way to any sin of lust. Wherefore seduction, in the words quoted, signifies the intercourse between a married man and any woman other than his wife. This is clear from his adding: "Nor is it lawful for the husband to do what the wife may not." In this sense, too, we are to understand the words of Num. 5:13: "If [Vulg.: 'But'] the adultery is secret, and cannot be provided by witnesses, because she was not found in adultery (_stupro_)."
Reply Obj. 3: Nothing prevents a sin from having a greater deformity through being united to another sin. Now the sin of lust obtains a greater deformity from the sin of injustice, because the concupiscence would seem to be more inordinate, seeing that it refrains not from the pleasurable object so that it may avoid an injustice. In fact a twofold injustice attaches to it. One is on the part of the virgin, who, though not violated by force, is nevertheless seduced, and thus the seducer is bound to compensation. Hence it is written (Ex. 22:16, 17): "If a man seduce a virgin not yet espoused, and lie with her, he shall endow her and have her to wife. If the maid's father will not give her to him, he shall give money according to the dowry, which virgins are wont to receive." The other injury is done to the maid's father: wherefore the seducer is bound by the Law to a penalty in his regard. For it is written (Deut. 22:28, 29): "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not espoused, and taking her, lie with her, and the matter come to judgment: he that lay with her shall give to the father of the maid fifty sicles of silver, and shall have her to wife, and because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all the days of his life": and this, lest he should prove to have married her in mockery, as Augustine observes. [*QQ. in Deut., qu. xxxiv.] _______________________
SEVENTH
*H Behold not everybody's beauty: and tarry not among women.
Ver. 12. Body's. Lit. "man's." But females are included in this term. H. — It was also necessary to guard the Greeks, and pagans in general, against a criminal affection for boys.
*H For from garments cometh a moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man.
Ver. 13. Man. Gr. "woman." Malice is natural to her. Beauty becomes her ruin, as well as that of others. C. — The Fathers compare women to a loadstone. S. Bas. — Men who come near them, are greatly exposed. C.
*H For better is the iniquity of a man, than a woman doing a good turn, and a woman bringing shame and reproach.
Ver. 14. Better, &c. That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men, than from the flattering favours and familiarity of women. Ch. — Josephus (c. Ap. ii.) attributes this sentence to Moses, and prefers the worst man to the best woman, as Euripides does in Clem. Strom. iv. C. — But this is ridiculous. — Reproach. This explains what sort of good the woman aforesaid has done; she had fostered the passions of men, and brought them to shame, which all the malevolence of an enemy could not have done. H. — The company of women is therefore more dangerous. C. ix. W.
*H I will now remember the works of the Lord, and I will declare the things I have seen. By the words of the Lord are his works.
Ver. 15. Remember, or publish. He praises God and the great men of his nation, to the end of the book, (C.) or to C. l. 29. H. — By. Lit. "in." H. — I have only abridged what the sacred Scriptures relate.
*H The sun giving light hath looked upon all things, and full of the glory of the Lord is his work.
Ver. 16. Work. The world displays God's glory and power. Ps. xviii. 6.
*H Hath not the Lord made the saints to declare all his wonderful works, which the Lord Almighty hath firmly settled to be established for his glory?
Ver. 17. Saints, in heaven, or rather the Israelites. Ps. cxlvii. 20. C.
*H For the Lord knoweth all knowledge, and hath beheld the signs of the world, he declareth the things that are past, and the things that are to come, and revealeth the traces of hidden things.
Ver. 19. Signs. Lit. "sign," the order of the stars, &c. H. — Yet God does not study these things, to discover what will happen. He is the author of nature. C. — From his works we are to form some idea of his greatness. Job xxxviii. &c. W.
*H All things are double, one against another, and he hath made nothing defective.
Ver. 25. Another. By this opposition the world subsists, according to Linus, Epimenides, &c. Hanc Deus et melior litem natura diremit. Met. i. See C. xxxiii. 16.
*H He hath established the good things of every one. And who shall be filled with beholding his glory?
Ver. 26. He. Gr. "one thing establishes the good of another," (H.) serving as a counterpoise. C. — Black colours cause the white to shine forth. Youth is guided by the experience of old age. M.