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*H But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good dinner was prepared in Tobias's house,
Ver. 1. House. The law authorized such feasts. Deut. xii. 12. and xiv. 28. Tobias complied with it, by inviting also the poor servants of God. Gr. "I lay down to eat." This custom prevailed in the East. C.
*H He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God, to feast with us.
Ver. 2. Tribe. Gr. "brethren indigent, and who remembers God." H. — All had not given way to idolatry. W.
*H And when he had gone, returning he told him, that one of the children of Israel lay slain in the street. And he forthwith leaped up from his place at the table, and left his dinner, and came fasting to the body.
Ver. 3. Street. Asarhaddon did not protect the Israelites, which renders the elevation of Akikar to the highest dignities suspicious. C. — But the king and his minister might not be able to prevent all murders. H. — Fasting. The ancients seldom eat anything before noon. Gr. "Before I had tasted, I leaped up and took him to a house, till the sun should be set," (H.) to prevent any danger from the Assyrians. M. — lf he did not employ another, he must have eaten alone, being rendered unclean. This seems to have been the case; and hence he did not enter his own house, but lay down by the wall. C. — Gr. and Heb. mention, that he washed himself before he eat. H.
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Amos
8:10
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and I will bring up sackcloth upon every back of yours, and baldness upon every head: and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the latter end thereof as a bitter day.
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1_Machabees
1:41
Her sanctuary was desolate like a wilderness, her festival days were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honours were brought to nothing.
*H But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them.
Ver. 9. But. This version is not in Greek or Heb. C. — True zeal is not repressed by fear, as charity expels it. 1 Jo. iv. W.
*H Now it happened one day that being wearied with burying, he came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept,
Ver. 10. Now. Gr. "And that very night I was." — He came. Gr. "I lay myself down, being defiled, beside the wall of the court, and my face was uncovered." H. — The touching the dead rendered a person unclean. Num. xix. 11.
* Footnotes
- A.M. 3295.
*H And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow's nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind.
Ver. 11. Swallow's. Gr. denotes "sparrows," or any other small birds: στρουθια. Serarius. — Eyes. Gr. observes that they were "opened." Heb. "by chance." Yet "hares, and many men, sleep with their eyes open," (Pliny xi. 37.) as was here the case. S. Athan. Synops. — lf not, the dung might insinuate itself by rubbing. It is extremely caustic. Vales. 42. Aldrov.17. &c. — The blindness of Tobias was only a suspension of sight. C. — Blind. Gr. "white specks or skins came upon my eyes, and I went to the physicians, but they afforded me no relief. But Achiachar fed me (H.) till I (or he) went to Elymais;" Heb. of Fagius, "into Germany." C. — Almniim. H.
*H Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job.
Ver. 12. Now. This is omitted in Greek and Heb. as far as v. 19. S. Ambrose says beautifully, that Tobias "was more grieved that he could yield no assistance to others, than for the loss of his sight."
* Summa
*S Part 2, Ques 66, Article 2
[I-II, Q. 66, Art. 2]
Whether All the Virtues That Are Together in One Man, Are Equal?
Objection 1: It would seem that the virtues in one same man are not all equally intense. For the Apostle says (1 Cor. 7:7): "Everyone hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that." Now one gift would not be more proper than another to a man, if God infused all the virtues equally into each man. Therefore it seems that the virtues are not all equal in one and the same man.
Obj. 2: Further, if all the virtues were equally intense in one and the same man, it would follow that whoever surpasses another in one virtue, would surpass him in all the others. But this is clearly not the case: since various saints are specially praised for different virtues; e.g. Abraham for faith (Rom. 4), Moses for his meekness (Num. 7:3), Job for his patience (Tob. 2:12). This is why of each Confessor the Church sings: "There was not found his like in keeping the law of the most High," [*See _Lesson_ in the Mass _Statuit_ (Dominican Missal)], since each one was remarkable for some virtue or other. Therefore the virtues are not all equal in one and the same man.
Obj. 3: Further, the more intense a habit is, the greater one's pleasure and readiness in making use of it. Now experience shows that a man is more pleased and ready to make use of one virtue than of another. Therefore the virtues are not all equal in one and the same man.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Trin. vi, 4) that "those who are equal in fortitude are equal in prudence and temperance," and so on. Now it would not be so, unless all the virtues in one man were equal. Therefore all virtues are equal in one man.
_I answer that,_ As explained above (A. 1), the comparative greatness of virtues can be understood in two ways. First, as referring to their specific nature: and in this way there is no doubt that in a man one virtue is greater than another, for example, charity, than faith and hope. Secondly, it may be taken as referring to the degree of participation by the subject, according as a virtue becomes intense or remiss in its subject. In this sense all the virtues in one man are equal with an equality of proportion, in so far as their growth in man is equal: thus the fingers are unequal in size, but equal in proportion, since they grow in proportion to one another.
Now the nature of this equality is to be explained in the same way as the connection of virtues; for equality among virtues is their connection as to greatness. Now it has been stated above (Q. 65, A. 1) that a twofold connection of virtues may be assigned. The first is according to the opinion of those who understood these four virtues to be four general properties of virtues, each of which is found together with the other in any matter. In this way virtues cannot be said to be equal in any matter unless they have all these properties equal. Augustine alludes to this kind of equality (De Trin. vi, 4) when he says: "If you say these men are equal in fortitude, but that one is more prudent than the other; it follows that the fortitude of the latter is less prudent. Consequently they are not really equal in fortitude, since the former's fortitude is more prudent. You will find that this applies to the other virtues if you run over them all in the same way."
The other kind of connection among virtues followed the opinion of those who hold these virtues to have their own proper respective matters (Q. 65, AA. 1, 2). In this way the connection among moral virtues results from prudence, and, as to the infused virtues, from charity, and not from the inclination, which is on the part of the subject, as stated above (Q. 65, A. 1). Accordingly the nature of the equality among virtues can also be considered on the part of prudence, in regard to that which is formal in all the moral virtues: for in one and the same man, so long as his reason has the same degree of perfection, the mean will be proportionately defined according to right reason in each matter of virtue.
But in regard to that which is material in the moral virtues, viz. the inclination to the virtuous act, one may be readier to perform the act of one virtue, than the act of another virtue, and this either from nature, or from habituation, or again by the grace of God.
Reply Obj. 1: This saying of the Apostle may be taken to refer to the gifts of gratuitous grace, which are not common to all, nor are all of them equal in the one same subject. We might also say that it refers to the measure of sanctifying grace, by reason of which one man has all the virtues in greater abundance than another man, on account of his greater abundance of prudence, or also of charity, in which all the infused virtues are connected.
Reply Obj. 2: One saint is praised chiefly for one virtue, another saint for another virtue, on account of his more admirable readiness for the act of one virtue than for the act of another virtue.
This suffices for the Reply to the Third Objection. ________________________
THIRD
*H For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying:
Ver. 15. Kings. So Job's three friends are here called, because they were princes in their respective territories, (Ch.) like the petty kings of Palestine, in the days of Abraham and of Josue. They are styled kings in the Greek version of Job. C. — Relations, (parentes.) His father and mother were dead. W.
*H For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from him.
Ver. 18. Saints; Abraham, &c. Thus Mathathias encouraged his children; (1 Mac. ii. 50.) and no argument can be more forcible.
*H Now Anna his wife went daily to weaving work, and she brought home what she could get for their living by the labour of her hands.
Ver. 19. Work. This was usually the employment of women. The great charities of Tobias, physicians, &c. had reduced him to poverty.
*H Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and brought it home:
Ver. 20. Kid, which had not left off sucking. Greek adds, that this was given besides the usual wages. M.
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Deuteronomy
22:1
Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother's ox, or his sheep go astray: but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.
*H And when her husband heard it bleating, he said: Take heed, lest perhaps it be stolen: restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat or to touch any thing that cometh by theft.
Ver. 21. Theft. He was the master of the family, and knew that there was no money in the house, so that he was not guilty of rash judgment, (M.) though his wife might naturally be offended.
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Job
22:9
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
*H At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident the hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.
Ver. 22. At. Gr. "but she said: It was given to me in addition to my wages. Yet I did not give credit to her, and I ordered her to restore it to its owners; and I blushed for her. But she replied: Where are thy alms-deeds and thy just works? Behold, all things are known with thee. Then, through grief, I wept," &c. H. — Hope in God, who nevertheless leaves us in distress. M. — She indirectly finds fault with Providence, which increases the grief of Tobias; or, at least, she insinuates that he must have been a hypocrite, as the friends of Job unjustly argued, from his being afflicted. H.