Provérbios 31
Augustine of Hippo · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Provérbios 31:11
"The heart of her husband is confident about her." He certainly is confident, and he has taught us to be confident too. He commissioned the church, you see, to the ends of the earth, among all nations, from sea to sea. If she was not going to persevere to the end, her husband's heart would not be confident about her. So she despoils the world, spread throughout it everywhere; on all sides she plunders trophies from the devil. — SERMON 37:4-5
Provérbios 31:12
For she works good and not evil for her husband, at all times. Hence it is that this woman plunders nations, by working good and not evil for her husband. At all times she works good and not evil. Not for herself, but for her husband, so that he who lives, may no longer live for himself, but for him who died and rose again for all. Therefore, she works good for her husband, she works good before God. She serves him, she is devoted to him, she loves him, she always strives to please him. She does not adorn herself, neither for her own eyes, nor for the eyes of others. She is not one of those who please themselves, she is not one of those who seek their own: For she works for her husband. But those who work for themselves, all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. — SERMON 37:4-5
Provérbios 31:13
The sacred text describes this housewife as a weaver of woolens and linen. But what we want to find out is what wool represents and what linen does. I think wool means something of the flesh, linen something of the spirit. I hazard this conjecture from the order we wear our clothes in; our underclothes or inner garments are linen, our outer garments woolen. Now everything we do in flesh is public, whatever we do in the spirit is private. Now to act in the flesh and not to act in spirit may seem good but is in fact worthless, whereas to act in spirit and not act in the flesh is downright laziness. — SERMON 37:6
Provérbios 31:16
After saying, "Being farsighted she has bought a field," as though you were to say, "What did she buy it with?" it adds, "With the fruit of her hands she has planted a property." … The property it means, you see, lies in the future; that was suggested by the word farsighted. — SERMON 37:9
Provérbios 31:17
"Valiantly girding her loins, she has braced her arms." Valiant she is indeed. Now we see if she is not also a maidservant. With what devotion she serves, and how readily! To prevent the flapping folds of carnal desires from getting in the way of her work she girds her loins, and so avoids treading on overlong skirts as she hurries about her work. There lies the chastity of this lady, tightly bound by the girdle of the commandment and always ready for good work. — SERMON 37:10
Provérbios 31:19
"She has also braced her arms on the spindle." About this spindle let me say what the Lord permits me to. After all, this business of spinning wool is not completely foreign to men. Listen to what it means to say, "She has braced her arms on the spindle." It could have said "on the distaff." It said spindle, not without reason, perhaps. Though you could, of course, take it, and it wouldn't be at all absurd, that the spindle seems to signify spinning, and spinning signifies the good works of a chaste woman and a busy and careful housewife. All the same I, dearly beloved, will not keep from you what I understand by this spindle.…Look at these two instruments for spinning wool, the distaff and the spindle. The wool is wrapped round the distaff and has to be drawn and spun in a thread and so pass onto the spindle. What's wrapped on the distaff is the future; what's collected by the spindle is already past. So your good work is on the spindle, not on the distaff. On the distaff is what you are going to do; on the spindle is what you have done. So see if you have anything on the spindle, that's where your arms should be braced. — SERMON 37:13
Provérbios 31:26
There is mercy on [Jesus'] tongue, and so he teaches the Law mercifully, as was said about wisdom: "But she carries on her tongue the Law and mercy." Do not fear that you cannot fulfill the Law; flee to mercy. — TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7:10.2
Provérbios 31:26
"She has opened her mouth with care, and imposed order on her tongue," praising creatures as creatures, the creator as creator, angels as angels, heavenly things as heavenly, earthly things as earthly, men as men, animals as animals. Nothing mixed up, nothing out of order. Not taking the name of the Lord her God in vain, not attributing the nature of a creature to the creator, speaking about everything so methodically that she doesn't put lesser things above the more important or subordinate the more important to the lesser. — SERMON 37:23
Provérbios 31:29
"Many daughters have done mightily, but you have surpassed and outdone them all." You, he says, have surpassed them all, you have outdone them all. So who are these other daughters who have done mightily, whom this one has surpassed, and whom this one has outdone? And again, how have they done mightily, and in what way has this one surpassed them? There are, you see, bad daughters, namely, heresies. Why are they daughters? Because they too were born of this woman. But bad daughters, daughters not in the family likeness of their behavior but in the likeness of their sacraments. They too have our sacraments, they have our Scriptures, they have our Amen and Alleluia, most of them have our creed, many of them have our baptism. That's why they are daughters.But would you like to know what is said to this lady somewhere else, in the Song of Songs? "Like a lily in the midst of thorns, so is my darling in the midst of the daughters." — SERMON 37:27
Provérbios 31:31
And what occupation will she have from then on, her labors being ended? "And her husband will be praised in the gates." That will be the haven of our labors, to see God and praise God. There they will not say, "Get up, work, clothe the servants, clothe yourself too, put on your best purple, give food to the maids, see that the lamp does not go out, be thorough, get up at night, open your hand to the poor, draw the thread from the distaff to the spindle." There will not be any works of necessity, because there will not be any necessity. There will not be any works of mercy, because there will not be any misery. You will not break your bread to the poor, because no one will be begging. You will not take in the stranger, because everyone will be living in their own home country. You will not visit the sick, because everyone will be in good health for all eternity. You will not clothe the naked, because everyone will be clothed in eternal light. You will not bury the dead, because everyone will be living life without end.You will not, however, be doing nothing, just because you are not doing any of this. For you will see the One you have desired, and you will praise him without weariness or fatigue. That is the fruit you will receive. Then will come to pass that one thing you have asked for: "One thing I have asked from the Lord, this will I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." And what will you do there? "To contemplate the delight of the Lord." And her husband will be praised in the gates. "Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they will praise you forever and ever." — SERMON 37:30