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2:1 [Dixerunt enim cogitantes apud se non recte : Exiguum et cum taedio est tempus vitae nostrae, et non est refrigerium in fine hominis, et non est qui agnitus sit reversus ab inferis.
*H For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right: The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of a man there is no remedy, and no man hath been known to have returned from hell:


Ver. 1. Right. He shews how the wicked brought death into the world, and expresses the sentiments of the epicureans, as in Ecclesiastes. The six first chapters are a sort of paraphrase of the nine first of Proverbs, in which the attractions of virtue and of pleasure are contrasted, &c. C. — Remedy. Lit. "refreshment." Sept. "healing." — Hell, or the grave. H. — They reject as fabulous, the accounts of people being raised to life by miracle. C. — They suppose that the soul is mortal, and that there is neither reward nor punishment after death. W.

* Footnote * Job 7 : 1 The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.
* Footnote * Job 14 : 1 Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.
2:2 Quia ex nihilo nati sumus, et post hoc erimus tamquam non fuerimus. Quoniam fumus flatus est in naribus nostris, et sermo scintilla ad commovendum cor nostrum :
*H For we are born of nothing, and after this we shall be as if we had not been: for the breath in our nostrils is smoke: and speech a spark to move our heart,


Ver. 2. Nothing. Sept. "by chance." The epicureans imagined that the first man was produced by the conflux of atoms. Lucret. i. 5. C. — Smoke, or vanishes like it. — And speech. Budæus would substitute "a little spark." — Speech may be used for "thing." Our life is something like a spark. M. — Speech is an effect of the rational soul, as a spark comes from fire. C.

2:3 qua extincta, cinis erit corpus nostrum, et spiritus diffundetur tamquam mollis aer ; et transibit vita nostra tamquam vestigium nubis, et sicut nebula dissolvetur quae fugata est a radiis solis, et a calore illius aggravata.
Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, which is driven away by the beams of the sun, and overpowered with the heat thereof:
2:4 Et nomen nostrum oblivionem accipiet per tempus, et nemo memoriam habebit operum nostrorum.
And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall have any remembrance of our works.
2:5 Umbrae enim transitus est tempus nostrum, et non est reversio finis nostri : quoniam consignata est, et nemo revertitur.
*H For our time is as the passing of a shadow, and there is no going back of our end: for it is fast sealed, and no man returneth:


Ver. 5. Sealed, like one in the tomb. Matt. xxvii. 66. The epicureans were well convinced of the fragility of our nature: but they drew false inferences from it, pretending that we should enjoy ourselves now, as there will be no future life. This they ought to have proved. C.

* Footnote * 1_Paralipomenon 29 : 15 For we are sojourners before thee, and strangers, as were all our fathers. I Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay.
2:6 Venite ergo, et fruamur bonis quae sunt, et utamur creatura tamquam in juventute celeriter.
*H Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth.


Ver. 6. Come. From the disbelief of future rewards and punishments proceeds the epicure's life. W.

* Footnote * Isaias 22 : 13 And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
* Footnote * Isaias 56 : 12 Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness: and it shall be as to day, so also to morrow, and much more.
* Footnote * 1_Corinthians 15 : 32 If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not again? Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.
2:7 Vino pretioso et unguentis nos impleamus, et non praetereat nos flos temporis.
*H Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments: and let not the flower of the time pass by us.


Ver. 7. Time. Sept. Alex. "of spring." H. — Youth is the spring of life. The voluptuous conclude, from the transitory nature of things, that we should make use of them. Would it not be more rational to despise them? C.

2:8 Coronemus nos rosis antequam marcescant ; nullum pratum sit quod non pertranseat luxuria nostra :
Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered: let no meadow escape our riot.
2:9 nemo nostrum exsors sit luxuriae nostrae. Ubique relinquamus signa laetitiae, quoniam haec est pars nostra, et haec est sors.
Let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us every where leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this our lot.
2:10 Opprimamus pauperem justum, et non parcamus viduae, nec veterani revereamur canos multi temporis :
Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor honour the ancient grey hairs of the aged.
2:11 sit autem fortitudo nostra lex justitiae ; quod enim infirmum est, inutile invenitur.
*H But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth.


Ver. 11. Worth. Strange maxims! which few will dare to proclaim, though they act according to them. C.

2:12 Circumveniamus ergo justum, quoniam inutilis est nobis, et contrarius est operibus nostris, et improperat nobis peccata legis, et diffamat in nos peccata disciplinae nostrae.
*H Let us, therefore, lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way of life.


Ver. 12. Just. Infidels are not content to live in riot: they also persecute the just. W. — This passage points out the conduct of the Jews towards our Saviour, in so striking a manner, that Grotius would assert it has been altered by some Christian. But the Fathers adduce it as a clear prediction (C.) of the Jewish malice. Matt. xxvii. 41. Mar. xiv. 53. W.

2:13 Promittit se scientiam Dei habere, et filium Dei se nominat.
*H He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God.


Ver. 13. Knowledge. The prophets spoke to sinners in the name of God, and many of them lost their lives in the cause. Christ appeared as a new star, to promote their welfare; yet this only serves to irritate them. C. Jo. viii. 16.

* Footnote * Matthew 27 : 42 He saved others: himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross: and we will believe him.
2:14 Factus est nobis in traductionem cogitationum nostrarum.
He is become a censurer of our thoughts.
* Footnote * Psalms 21 : 9 He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.
2:15 Gravis est nobis etiam ad videndum, quoniam dissimilis est aliis vita illius, et immutatae sunt viae ejus.
He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, and his ways are very different.
2:16 Tamquam nugaces aestimati sumus ab illo, et abstinet se a viis nostris tamquam ab immunditiis, et praefert novissima justorum, et gloriatur patrem se habere Deum.
We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and he preferreth the latter end of the just, and glorieth that he hath God for his father.
2:17 Videamus ergo si sermones illius veri sint, et tentemus quae ventura sunt illi, et sciemus quae erunt novissima illius.
Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be.
2:18 Si enim est verus filius Dei, suscipiet illum, et liberabit eum de manibus contrariorum.
For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies.
* Footnote * Jeremias 11 : 19 And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more.
2:19 Contumelia et tormento interrogemus eum, ut sciamus reverentiam ejus, et probemus patientiam illius.
Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness, and try his patience.
2:20 Morte turpissima condemnemus eum ; erit enim ei respectus ex sermonibus illius.
*H Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: for there shall be respect had unto him by his words.


Ver. 20. Words. Or he shall be punished for what he has said. Syr. Vat. &c. Matt. xxvi. 61. C. — We shall hence form a judgment of his real merits, (M.) unless this be spoken ironically; as if the just had foolishly flattered himself with the divine protection. Matt. xxvii. 43. H.

* Footnote * Jeremias 11 : 19 And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more.
2:21 Haec cogitaverunt, et erraverunt : excaecavit enim illos malitia eorum.
These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them.
2:22 Et nescierunt sacramenta Dei : neque mercedem speraverunt justitiae, nec judicaverunt honorem animarum sanctarum.
*H And they knew not the secrets of God, nor hoped for the wages of justice, nor esteemed the honour of holy souls.


Ver. 22. Secrets. The disbelief of mysteries leads to a dissolute life, and to the persecution of the just. W. — The pagans knew not the advantages of suffering, and even the apostles were ignorant of the mystery of the cross, till after the resurrection. C.

2:23 Quoniam Deus creavit hominem inexterminabilem, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit illum.
For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.
* Footnote * Genesis 1 : 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
* Footnote * Genesis 2 : 7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
* Footnote * Genesis 5 : 1 This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God.
2:24 Invidia autem diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum :
*H But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world:


Ver. 24. Envy. Lucifer thought that the honour of the hypostatic union (C.) belonged to the angelical, rather than to the human nature; and this he was guilty of envy, (H.) and strove to become like the most High. Is. xiv. 14. S. Bern. ser. xvii. in Cant. Corn. A. Lap. &c.

* Footnote * Genesis 3 : 1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?
2:25 imitantur autem illum qui sunt ex parte illius.]
And they follow him that are of his side.
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