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Chapter 3BenjaminMinor.1.3

CAPUT III. De gemino totius boni fonte, ratione videlicet et affectione

The Twofold Power of Reason and Affection

Richard explains that every rational spirit has a twofold power—reason and affection—which are like the two wives of Jacob and the two sisters Oholah and Oholibah, from which spiritual senses and ordered affections arise.

But I still want to look more carefully into these two wives of Jacob, and to set out more clearly whatever the mind suggests from that inquiry. To every rational spirit a certain twofold power has been given by that Father of lights, from whom comes every best gift and every perfect gift. One is reason, the other is affection: reason, by which we discern; affection, by which we love; reason toward truth, affection toward virtue.1 These are those two sisters betrothed by the Lord: Oholah and Oholibah, Jerusalem and Samaria.2 These are the twin wives of the rational spirit; from them arises a noble offspring, heirs of the heavenly kingdom. From reason arise right counsels; from affection, holy desires. From the former come spiritual senses; from the latter, ordered affections.3 From the latter, finally, comes every virtue; from the former, all truth.

Leah's Labor and Rachel's Vision

Affection becomes Leah when it labors to conform to justice, while reason becomes Rachel when it is illumined by highest wisdom, and Rachel's name signifies 'seeing the beginning' and 'sheep'.

So you should know that affection truly begins to be Leah when it works hard to shape itself to the rule of justice. And reason is without doubt said to be Rachel when it is illumined by the light of that highest and true wisdom. But who does not know how laborious the first is, and how delightful the second?4 Indeed, affection is not held back from what is forbidden and kept to what is allowed without great labor of the soul; and such a wife is rightly called Leah — that is, the laborious one.5 But what could be sweeter, or more delightful, than to lift the mind's eye toward the contemplation of the highest wisdom? So when reason is expanded to contemplate this, it is deservedly honored with Rachel's name. Rachel is interpreted as "seeing the beginning," or as "a sheep."6 So to be worthy of such a name, let her fulfill what she finds written: "Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart."

Seeing the Beginning in Simplicity

Whoever thinks of the Lord in goodness already sees the beginning, and seeking in simplicity makes one a sheep, so that Rachel represents highest wisdom sought with simplicity, which even the world's philosophers love in its lesser form.

Indeed, whoever thinks of the Lord in goodness already sees with the eye of faith the One who is the beginning of all things. But he is also truly a sheep if he seeks in simplicity.7 Do you see how it is not just any wisdom, but the highest wisdom sought in simplicity, that makes someone Rachel? By now, I think, you do not wonder that Rachel is so greatly loved, since even her handmaid—I mean the wisdom of the world, which next to her mistress is counted as foolishness—is sought, as we can see, with such love by the world's philosophers.8

Read the original Latin

Sed libet adhuc de his duabus uxoribus Jacob diligentius inquirere, et quidquid inde animus suggerit manifestius aperire. Omni spiritui rationali gemina quaedam vis data est ab illo Patre luminum, a quo est omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum. Una est ratio, altera est affectio: ratio, qua discernamus, affectio, qua diligamus; ratio, ad veritatem, affectio, ad virtutem. Hae sunt sorores illae duae a Domino desponsatae: Oolla et Ooliba, Hierusalem et Samaria. Hae sunt spiritus rationalis geminae uxores, ex quibus oritur generosa proles, et regni coelestis haeredes. Ex ratione oriuntur consilia recta; ex affectione, desideria sancta. Ex illa, spirituales sensus; ex ista, ordinati affectus. Ex ista denique, omnis virtus; ex illa vero, veritas omnis.

Sciendum itaque est quod affectio tunc veraciter incipit Lia esse, quando satagit seipsam ad normam justitiae componere. Et ratio Rachel esse indubitanter asseritur, quando illius summae et verae sapientiae luce illustratur. Sed quis ignorat quam sit illud laboriosum, quam sit istud jucundum? Utique non sine labore magno animi affectio ab illicitis ad licita restringitur; et recte talis uxor Lia (hoc est laboriosa ) vocatur. Quid vero dulcius, quidve jucundius potest esse quam oculum mentis ad summae sapientiae contemplationem erigere? Ad hanc itaque contemplandam cum ratio dilatatur, merito Rachelis nomine honoratur. Rachel videns principium vel ovis interpretatur. Ut ergo tali nomine digna sit, impleat quod scriptum invenit: Sentite de Domino in bonitate, et in simplicitate cordis quaerite illum.

Utique qui de Domino sentit in bonitate, jam illum, qui est principium omnium, fidei oculo cernit. Sed et ovis veraciter est, si in simplicitate quaerit. Videsne quemadmodum non quaelibet, sed summa sapientia simpliciter quaesita facit esse Rachel. Jam, ut arbitror, non miraris quod Rachel tantum diligitur, cum ejus etiam pedissequa (sapientia mundi loquor, quae in dominae suae comparatione, stultitia reputatur), tanto, ut cernimus, amore a mundi philosophis requiratur.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩affectio is kept as affection in this technical pairing with ratio (reason), matching the chapter theme; not reduced to mere feeling.
  2. 2 ↩Latin Oolla/Ooliba rendered with standard English biblical forms Oholah/Oholibah (Ezekiel 23).
  3. 3 ↩illa tracks reason (former), ista tracks affection (latter), continuing the pair from the previous sentence.
  4. 4 ↩illud / istud point back to the Leah-work of affection (laborious) and the Rachel-illumination of reason (delightful).
  5. 5 ↩Lia ... laboriosa: traditional onomastic gloss of Leah as 'laborious,' not a separate clause of argument.
  6. 6 ↩Traditional dual etymology of Rachel: videns principium (seeing the beginning/principle) or ovis (ewe/sheep).
  7. 7 ↩Ovis takes up the etymology of Rachel as 'sheep' from the previous section; the seeker becomes 'sheep' by seeking simply, completing the Rachel name-logic.
  8. 8 ↩Pedissequa is Rachel's attendant/handmaid; the parenthetical identifies her as sapientia mundi, worldly wisdom, inferior to true (divine) wisdom that is Rachel.

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