Want And Wealth

Duos finitimos vetus historia describit regem Achab et pauperem Nabuthen; quem horum pauperiorem, quem ditiorem credimus? Alter regali fulcro divitiarum praeditus, inexplebilis insatiabilisque opibus suis, exiguam pauperis vineam desideravit: alter despiciens animo βασιλέων τας πολυ χρύσους τύχας, imperialsque gazas, suo erat contentus palmite. Nonne videtur hic magis dives, hic magis rex, qui sibi abundabat, suas regebat cupiditates; ut nihil alienum concupisceret? Ille autem egentissimus, cui aurum suum vile, alienus palmes pretiosissimus aestimabatur? Sed qua ratione egentissimus, cognosce: quia divitiae injuste congregatae evomuntur; radix autem justorum manet, et ut palma floret. An non egentior paupere us, qui tamquam umbra praeterit? Hodie impius exaltatur, cras non erit, nec invenietur aliquis locus ejus. Quid est itaque divitem esse, nisi abundare? Quis autem abundat, qui sit animo contractior? Qui autem animo contractior, utique angustior: quae igitur in angustiis abundantia? non ergo dives, qui non abundat. Unde pulchre David: Divites, iniquit, eguerunt, et esurierunt; quoniam cum haberent Scripturarum thesauros coelestium, eguerunt qui non intellexerunt, et esurierunt qui nullum spiritalis gratiae gustarunt cibum. Nihil igitur affectu sapientis ditius, nihil insipientis egentius. Nam cum regnum Dei pauperum sit, qui esse locupletius potest? Et ideo praeclare Apostolus: O altitudo, inquit, divitiarum sapinetiae et scientiae Dei. Praeclare etiam David, qui in via testimoniorum coelestium, quasi in omnibus divitiis, delectabatur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXXVIII, Simpliciano Source: Migne PL 16.1097c-1098b

Ancient history tells of two neighbours, king Ahab and the poor Naboth. Which of these do we think to be richer, which poorer? The one endowed with the royal support of riches, insatiable and unsatisfied with his wealth, desired the little vineyard of the poor man; the other, despising in his soul the great golden fortunes of kings, and imperial treasuries, was content with his own vines. 1 Does he not seem richer and more regal, who abounded in himself, and ruled over his own desires, wanting nothing that belonged to another? And does he not appear most needy in whose eyes his own gold was reckoned vile and another man's vine precious? But know for what reason he was most needy: because riches unjustly gathered are vomited up, 2 but the root of the righteous remains, 3 and flourishes like a palm tree. 4 Is he not more needy than the poor man, who shall pass away like a shadow? 5 Today the impious is exalted, tomorrow he shall not be, and his place is no more to be found. 6 But what is it to be rich, unless to abound? But who abounds whose soul is contracted? And he who is more contracted in soul, so he is more needy, and what abundance is there in want? Therefore he is not a rich man who does not abound. Whence David rightly says: 'The rich hunger and lack,' 7 for when they possessed the treasures of the Divine Scriptures, they still lacked who did not understand, and they hungered because they did not taste the food of spiritual grace. Nothing therefore can be richer than the disposition of the wise man, nothing poorer than that of the fool. For since the kingdom of God is of the poor, what can be richer? 8 And therefore well the Apostle says: 'O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!' 9 And that eminent David, who delighted in the way of the heavenly testimonies as in all riches. 10 Saint Ambrose, from Letter 38, to Simplicianus 1 3 Kings 21.1-4 2 Job 20.15 3 Prov 12.12 4 Ps 91.13 5 Ps 143.4 6 Ps 36.35-36 7 Ps 33.10 8 Mt 5.3 9 Rom 11.33 10 Ps 118.14

Repentance And Perisistance

Achab, rex impiissimus, vineam Nabuthae cruore possedit: et eum Jezabel non tam conjugio sibi, quam crudelitate conjuncta, Eliae increpatione corripitur: 'Haec dicit Dominus: Occidisti et possedisti. Et iterum: In loco in quo linxerunt canes sanguinem Nabuthae, ibi longent sanguinem tuum: et Jezabel canes comedent ante muros Jezrael. Quod cum audisset Achab, scidit vestimenta sua, et posuit saccum super carnem suam, jejunavitque et dormivit in cilicio. Factusque est sermo Domini ad Eliam, dicens: Quoniam reveritus est Achab faciem meam, non inducam malum in diebus ejus. Unum scelus Achab et Jezabel, tamen converso ad poenitentiam Achab, poena differtur in posteros; et Jezabel in scelere perserverans, praesenti judicio condemnatur. Sanctus Hieronymus, ex Epistula CXXII Ad Rusticum Migne PL 22 1043

Ahab, a most impious king, who by blood took possession of the vineyard of Naboth, 1 and Jezebel, who was not so much his yoke-fellow as bound by cruelty, were severely rebuked by Elijah, 'Thus says the Lord, you have killed and you have possessed.' And again: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick up your blood.' 1 And: 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.' 2 Which Ahab hearing, rent his garments, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and slept in a hair-shirt. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying, 'Because Ahab has turned back to my face, I will not bring on evil in his days.' 3 The sin of Ahab and Jezebel was the same, yet because Ahab turned to penance, his punishment was postponed until his sons, while Jezebel, persevering in her wickedness, received the judgement of condemnation in her days. St Jerome, from Letter 122, To Rusticus 1 3 Kings 21.19 2 3 Kings 21.23 3 3 Kings 21.27-29

The Death Of A King

Ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν θάνατον τῳ βασιλεῖ Ἀχαὰμ συμβεβηκότων ἔστι θαυμάσαι, πῶς τὸ χρεὼν οὐδὲ προμηνυόμενον διαφυγεῖν οἶόν τε. Ὑπέρχεται γὰρ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς ἐλπίσι θωπεῦον χρησταῖς, καὶ περιάγει αὐτὰς ἐκεῖσε, ὅθεν αὐτῶν βεβαίως κρατήσει καὶ περιέσται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΟΖ' Εὐλογιῳ Αναγηωστῃ Source: Migne PG 78.520

From those things which touch on the death of king Ahab, one may wonder, how he was not able to escape what he was warned about beforehand. For the souls of men cleverly he comes up upon, beguiling them with happy hopes, and he encircles them, so that he will securely seize and conquer them. 1 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 2, Letter 77, To Eulogius the Lector 1. 3 Kings 22, esp 20-23