Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Cover

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Title Page, Copyright

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Contents

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pp. 5-

Introduction

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pp. 7-64

The Commentary on Ecclesiastes by St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) was written between 1253-1257, when Bonaventure was teaching at Paris, and quickly became the dominant commentary on Ecclesiastes...

Introduction to the Commentary on Ecclesiastes

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pp. 65-88

1. Blessed is the man,¹ whose trust is in the name of the Lord and has no regard for vanities and lying follies.² For, as Blessed Dionysius says: Good is above all else desirable. ³ Now good is twofold, namely, temporal and eternal...

Chapter I

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pp. 89-126

1. The words of Ecclesiastes, etc. This whole work is divided into three parts: a heading or prologue and a treatise which begins in Ecclesiastes 1:2: Vanity of vanities, etc. The third part is...

Chapter 2

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pp. 127-154

1. (Verse 1). I said in my heart, etc. Here the author touches on his third point. So after the tedium of study there is a turning to pleasure. Since there were labor and vexation in study, he thought to leave that behind and turn...

Chapter 3

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pp. 155-187

1. All things have their season, etc. Ecclesiastes has already dealt with the vanity of things by showing there is in them a changeableness because of movement. Now in a second part he wants to show their vanity...

Chapter 4

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pp. 189-208

1. I turned myself to other things, etc. He has dealt with the vanity of malice in prelates. Now he treats of it in subjects. Vanity of malice is considered here under three headings. First, the heading of...

Chapter 5

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pp. 209-236

1. Do not speak anything rashly. He now gives a remedy against foolish or disordered speech. Now speech is disordered by being thoughtless, either because it is false. And he forbids this here...

Chapter 6

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pp. 237-249

1. There is also another evil, etc. He has shown above that riches are to be despised both because they do not benefit their owner and are often not handed on to the heirs. Here in a third point he shows they are to be contemned...

Chapter 7

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pp. 251-291

1. (Verse 1). Why do people need? Third, he calls his readers away from inquiring and searching out the sublime when they have enough to do to know their own or common evils. So he says...

Chapter 8

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pp. 293-317

1. Who is as the wise person? He has just described the vanity of concupiscence. Now he wants to give the remedy of wisdom against this vanity, for people are not freed from concupiscence unless they walk with wisdom...

Chapter 9

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pp. 319-349

1. ( Verse 1) There are just and wise people, etc. Second, he treats of the uncertainty of discernment. Individuals do not know whether they are good or evil, even though they are good. So he says...

Chapter 10

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pp. 351-381

1. (Verse 1a). So he adds: Dying flies, that is, thoughts coming to sinners and inciting them to mortal sin,¹ spoil the sweetness of the ointment, that is, the thoughts lose their anointing and with it many good...

Chapter 11

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pp. 383-398

1. Cast your bread, etc. Earlier he has given a remedy against an apparent lack of direction by providence during a disorder in government. Here in a second point he gives a remedy against what is seen as lack of...

Chapter 12

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pp. 399-430

1. Remember your Creator, etc. Earlier he treated two aspects of the vanity of being subject to punishment, namely, punishment and the occasion of sin. Here he considers that aspect which is...

Indices

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pp. 431-461