Wisdom of Solomon · Clementine Vulgate
Wisdom of Solomon 18 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Sanctis autem tuis maxima erat lux, et horum quidem vocem audiebant, sed figuram non videbant. Et quia non et ipsi eadem passi erant, magnificabant te;
1 But for your holy ones there was great light. Their enemies, hearing their voice but not seeing their form, counted it a happy thing that they had not suffered,
2 et qui ante læsi erant, quia non lædebantur, gratias agebant, et ut esset differentia, donum petebant.
2 yet for that they do not hurt them, though wronged by them before, they are thankful; and because they had been at variance with them, they begged for pardon.
3 Propter quod ignis ardentem columnam ducem habuerunt ignotæ viæ, et solem sine læsura boni hospitii præstitisti.
3 Therefore you provided a burning pillar of fire, to be a guide for your people’s unknown journey, and a harmless sun for their glorious exile.
4 Digni quidem illi carere luce, et pati carcerem tenebrarum, qui inclusos custodiebant filios tuos, per quos incipiebat incorruptum legis lumen sæculo dari.]
4 For the Egyptians well deserved to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness, they who had imprisoned your children, through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be given to the race of men.
5 [Cum cogitarent justorum occidere infantes, et uno exposito filio et liberato, in traductionem illorum, multitudinem filiorum abstulisti, et pariter illos perdidisti in aqua valida.
5 After they had taken counsel to kill the babes of the holy ones, and when a single child had been abandoned and saved to convict them of their sin, you took away from them their multitude of children, and destroyed all their army together in a mighty flood.
6 Illa enim nox ante cognita est a patribus nostris, ut vere scientes quibus juramentis crediderunt, animæquiores essent.
6 Our fathers were made aware of that night beforehand, that, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted.
7 Suscepta est autem a populo tuo sanitas quidem justorum, injustorum autem exterminatio.
7 Salvation of the righteous and destruction of the enemies was expected by your people.
8 Sicut enim læsisti adversarios, sic et nos provocans magnificasti.
8 For as you took vengeance on the adversaries, by the same means, calling us to yourself, you glorified us.
9 Absconse enim sacrificabant justi pueri bonorum, et justitiæ legem in concordia disposuerunt; similiter et bona et mala recepturos justos, patrum jam decantantes laudes.
9 For holy children of good men offered sacrifice in secret, and with one consent they agreed to the covenant of the divine law, that they would partake alike in the same good things and the same perils, the fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise.
10 Resonabat autem inconveniens inimicorum vox, et flebilis audiebatur planctus ploratorum infantium.
10 But the discordant cry of the enemies echoed back, and a pitiful voice of lamentation for children was spread abroad.
11 Simili autem pœna servus cum domino afflictus est, et popularis homo regi similia passus.
11 Both servant and master were punished with the same just doom, and the commoner suffering the same as king;
12 Similiter ergo omnes, uno nomine mortis, mortuos habebant innumerabiles: nec enim ad sepeliendum vivi sufficiebant, quoniam uno momento quæ erat præclarior natio illorum exterminata est.
12 Yes, they all together, under one form of death, had corpses without number. For the living were not sufficient even to bury them, Since at a single stroke, their most cherished offspring was consumed.
13 De omnibus enim non credentes, propter veneficia; tunc vero primum cum fuit exterminium primogenitorum, spoponderunt populum Dei esse.
13 For while they were disbelieving all things by reason of the enchantments, upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the people to be God’s children.
14 Cum enim quietum silentium contineret omnia, et nox in suo cursu medium iter haberet,
14 For while peaceful silence wrapped all things, and night in her own swiftness was half spent,
15 omnipotens sermo tuus de cælo, a regalibus sedibus, durus debellator in mediam exterminii terram prosilivit,
15 your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, a stern warrior, into the midst of the doomed land,
16 gladius acutus insimulatum imperium tuum portans: et stans, replevit omnia morte, et usque ad cælum attingebat stans in terra.
16 bearing as a sharp sword your authentic commandment, and standing, it filled all things with death, and while it touched the sky it stood upon the earth.
17 Tunc continuo visus somniorum malorum turbaverunt illos, et timores supervenerunt insperati.
17 Then immediately apparitions in dreams terribly troubled them, and unexpected fears came upon them.
18 Et alius alibi projectus semivivus, propter quam moriebatur causam demonstrabat mortis.
18 And each, one thrown here half dead, another there, made known why he was dying;
19 Visiones enim quæ illos turbaverunt hæc præmonebant, ne inscii quare mala patiebantur perirent.
19 for the dreams, disturbing them, forewarned them of this, that they might not perish without knowing why they were afflicted.
20 Tetigit autem tunc et justos tentatio mortis, et commotio in eremo facta est multitudinis: sed non diu permansit ira tua.
20 The experience of death also touched the righteous, and a multitude were destroyed in the wilderness, but the wrath didn’t last long.
21 Prosperans enim homo sine querela deprecari pro populis, proferens servitutis suæ scutum, orationem et per incensum deprecationem allegans, restitit iræ, et finem imposuit necessitati, ostendens quoniam tuus est famulus.
21 For a blameless man hurried to be their champion, bringing the weapon of his own ministry, prayer, and the atoning sacrifice of incense. He withstood the indignation and set an end to the calamity, showing that he was your servant.
22 Vicit autem turbas non in virtute corporis, nec armaturæ potentia: sed verbo illum qui se vexabat subjecit, juramenta parentum et testamentum commemorans.
22 And he overcame the anger, not by strength of body, not by force of weapons, but by his word, he subdued the avenger by bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made with the fathers.
23 Cum enim jam acervatim cecidissent super alterutrum mortui, interstitit, et amputavit impetum, et divisit illam quæ ad vivos ducebat viam.
23 For when the dead had already fallen in heaps one upon another, he intervened and stopped the wrath, and cut off its way to the living.
24 In veste enim poderis quam habebat, totus erat orbis terrarum; et parentum magnalia in quatuor ordinibus lapidum erant sculpta, et magnificentia tua in diademate capitis illius sculpta erat.
24 For the whole world was pictured on his long robe, and the glories of the fathers were upon the engraving of the four rows of precious stones, and your majesty was upon the diadem on his head.
25 His autem cessit qui exterminabat, et hæc extimuit: erat enim sola tentatio iræ sufficiens.]
25 The destroyer yielded to these, and they feared; for it was enough only to test the wrath.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For consider what a thing it is to hear, how on the one side God from Heaven, arising "out of the royal thrones, leaped down " unto the earth, and even unto hell itself, and stood in the battle array; and how the devil on the other hand set himself in array against Him; or rather not against God unveiled, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)