Prefacio ad institucionem ordinis domus Theutonice.
Wisdom Builds Her House
The chapter opens with a christological reading of Proverbs 9:1, interpreting the seven pillars of Wisdom's house as the seven sacraments sustained by the Church under papal authority.
Wisdom has built herself a house; she has hewn out seven pillars.✦ Proverbs. ix. Although these words belong to Solomon, who calls the Son of God the Wisdom of the Father, in keeping with the Apostle's words: 'To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, we preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God'; and with the psalm: 'You have made all things in wisdom.'✦ 1. In the Son, who took on human nature, he built in his death a house for his own glory and honor — the house of the Church Militant — and he hewed out seven pillars.✦ 1. The seven sacraments by which it is sustained can also be understood as the words of Holy Mother Church, who calls Pope Celestinus Wisdom, because he bears the place of the Son of God on earth, according to the book of Ecclesiasticus: 'The wisdom of teaching is according to his name.'
The Pope Founds the Order as Wisdom Builds Her House
Pope Celestine is presented as the wise builder who, like the queen of Sheba drawn to Solomon, draws the universal Church to himself and establishes the Teutonic Order with its seven provincial columns and seven spiritual pillars of penitential discipline.
For the whole Church flows together to him, to hear and see his teaching, just as the queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.✦ Here Pope Celestine first built it. From it. He established and confirmed, for himself and for the holy Church, the house for its benefit — namely, the sacred religious order of the Hospital of Saint Mary of the Teutonic Brothers of Jerusalem — and he hewed out its seven columns first. From them. Seven brothers who are commendators or provincial preceptors — namely, of Livonia, Prussia, Teutonia, Austria, Apulia, Romania, and Armenia — by whom the brothers of the said order are sustained, as a material house built upon and leaning on its columns, so that the master general and the chapter are the foundation of this house, the provincial commendators or preceptors are the columns, and the other brothers are built upon them. And so the lord pope is likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock and can say: 'I have strengthened its columns.'✦✦ But because it is written, 'It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing,' seven other spiritual columns are therefore to be set in this house, of which three — namely, contrition, confession, satisfaction, and love, which covers a multitude of sins — are to discipline, with zeal for righteousness, every negligence of holy observance in those who have grown slack.✦✦
The Spiritual House Founded on Christ
The spiritual pillars of the Order are described as founded on Christ the firm rock, after which the narrative turns to the historical founding of the hospital at Acre in 1190 by devout men from Bremen and Lübeck who served the sick out of mercy, inspired by Christ's words in Matthew 25.
These are the spiritual pillars carved by the hand of wisdom in this house of sacred religious life, which the Lord Pope built, so that if the rain of greed should come down and the rivers of self-indulgence and the winds of pride should rush against it, it cannot fall; for it is founded on the firm rock — and the rock is Christ.✦✦ On the establishment of the Order of the House of the Teutonic Knights. In the name of the Lord, amen. In the year of the Incarnation 1190, at the time when the city of Acre was besieged by Christians and, with divine grace favoring, was recovered from the hands of the unbelievers, there were in the army certain devout men from the cities of Bremen and Lübeck, who, being as it were men of mercy, with eyes of compassion directed toward the unbearable suffering and distress of the infirm living in that army, founded a hospital in their tent made from the sail of a ship — called *kogge* in German — where, gathering the sick, they served them devotedly and humbly, and from the goods God had given them, they lovingly provided for them with mercy, caring for them tenderly, mindful that in the person of any sick person or poor person they were receiving Christ himself, who will say in the Gospel of Matthew:✦1 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me.' And when they ask, 'Lord, when did we see you suffering in this way?', he will answer, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'✦✦2 See how Christ calls the sick, the weak, and even the despised brothers — and rightly so, for he is our flesh and our brother.✦✦ But because the Apostle says: 'I planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the growth.'✦3 From these words it is plainly clear that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only the one who gives the growth — God. Yet human diligence ought to expend its careful effort on the plants, which as yet young bring forth abundant fruit and promise even more abundant fruit in their season.✦
Papal Confirmation and the Chosen Vineyard
The narrative recounts how the princes of the Holy Land and Germany petitioned the pope to confirm the hospital, which he did, granting it the rule, habit, and privileges of both the Hospitallers and Templars, and the order is celebrated as the Lord's chosen vineyard planted and spread by Christ himself.
When the lord patriarch of Jerusalem, the illustrious King Henry of Jerusalem, the archbishops of Nazareth, Tyre, and Caesarea, the bishops of Bethlehem and Acre, the master of the hospital of Saint John and the master of the house of the Temple, and many brothers of both houses, and several barons of the holy land — namely, Lord Ralph of Tiberias and his brother Lord Hugh, and Lord Raynald of Sidon, and Lord Eymarus of Caesarea, and Lord John of Hibelino, and many others from the kingdom of Jerusalem and from Germany — Archbishop Conrad of Mainz, Bishop Conrad of Würzburg and chancellor of the Roman Empire, Bishop Wolgerius of Passau, Bishop Gardolphus of Halberstadt, and Bishop Cicensis, Duke Frederick of Swabia, Count Henry Palatine of Renif and Duke of Brunswick, Duke Frederick of Austria, Duke Henry of Brabant, who was then captain of the army, Count Hermann Palatine of Saxony and Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, and Henry of Calendins, marshal of the empire, Margrave Conrad of Landsberg, and Margrave Theodericus of Meissen — seeing with a favorable eye this new planting of a hospital, which was producing certain fruits of honor and integrity with a kind of timely fruitfulness, and hoping without doubt that, with the Lord granting growth, it would in the future produce an abundance of fruit with its branches spread wide — the counsel of all the princes mentioned above resolved on this: that Lord Frederick, Duke of Swabia, should send solemn envoys to his brother, the most serene Lord Henry VI, king of the Romans and future emperor, who would seek from the lord pope the institution and confirmation of the aforementioned hospital. …king of the Romans and future emperor, who would seek from the lord pope the institution and confirmation of the aforementioned hospital. The pope, therefore, having heard this embassy — moved by the pious prayers of those petitioning — established in the said hospital the order of the brothers of the hospital of Jerusalem, to care for the poor and the sick, and the brothers of the military order of the Temple, to care for clergy, knights, and other brothers, and confirmed them in the name of the Lord. He granted to the brothers of the said hospital that they might wear a black cross and a white cloak, and he allowed them freely to enjoy all the liberties, immunities, and indulgences that had been granted by the apostolic see to the venerable houses of the aforementioned hospital and Temple, just as those others did. For it was fitting that those who wished to become equals in the working of virtues through a devoted purpose should also be equals in receiving the apostolic blessing. And so that venerable military order of the brothers of the hospital of Saint Mary of the House of the Teutonic Knights of Jerusalem was established, confirmed, and endowed with many privileges. This is the chosen vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, which you, Jesus Christ, established, and you became the guide of the journey in his sight.✦✦✦ You planted its roots and filled the earth; afterward you transplanted it and drove out the peoples from the land of Prussia and Livonia, and planted it there, and so it spread its branches as far as the sea, and its shoots as far as the river.✦✦ This venerable military order is confirmed not only on earth by human authority, but also prefigured many times in the pattern of heaven and earth.
Abraham and Melchizedek Prefigure the Military Order
The order's legitimacy is grounded in the ancient type of Abraham's military campaign blessed by Melchizedek, establishing a biblical precedent for the Church's protection of those who bear the reproach of the cross and strive to recover the Holy Land.
We read in the ancient histories — Genesis — chapter — that the great patriarch Abraham, with his own household servants — three hundred✦ eighteen — fought for years for the liberation of his brother's son, a man who feared God, and after the captivity of the innocent had been reversed, when he returned from the slaughter of kings, gifts of offerings — bread and wine — were presented to that same patriarch with the blessing of God Most High, by whose protection the enemies had been delivered into their own hands, offered by Melchizedek, king and priest.✦ From that time, the campaigns of the faithful against the crowds of the nations began to be waged — the Holy Spirit revealing from then on with what favor those who hold the highest place in the Church ought to embrace such new recruits, receiving the same men with special benevolence for the blessing of ecclesiastical protection, and confirming with their own indulgences and privileges the gifts of the patrimonies of the Crucified offered to those soldiers. This military service, prefigured by the type of heaven and earth, alone seems to be the chief one — the one that grieves over the reproach of the cross in Christ's stead and strives to recover the Holy Land, owed to Christians, from the oppression of the nations. 3.
Heavenly and Earthly Types of Sacred Warfare
The prefiguration of the military order is further demonstrated through the vision of the Church Militant in Revelation 21, the divine ordering of peoples according to angelic offices in Deuteronomy 32:8, the wars of Moses and Joshua, and David's royal guard of Cherethites and Pelethites.
He devoted himself to it. For John saw the church militant under the figure of the new Jerusalem descending from the heavens, and in her the powers serve God alongside the other hosts of heavenly virtues, waging war against every opposing power.✦ This vision truly admonishes us that there ought to be certain soldiers within the church militant, whose vow it is to drive back the hostile tyranny of unbelievers against the church — the Most High having established the boundaries of the faithful peoples according to the number and office of the angels of God.✦ To this the testimony of the land also agrees. For under Moses and Joshua and the other judges of Israel, soldiers of God waged new wars — wars that the Lord chose — attacking the race of the Anakim and the other wicked inhabitants of the holy land, co-heirs of the malice of lions, and utterly destroying them, excepting only those whom divine providence preserved for the instruction of the people of God, under the burden of servitude. But as time went on, the prefigurations of this religious life grew alongside its expansion. For David, exalted to the kingdom of the faithful according to the heart of God, as a prophet foreknowing things to come, more clearly presaged the signs of this warfare, designating the legions of the Cherethites and Pelethites as certain members of his household. Their duty would be this: that according to the meaning of their name, they would continually be regarded as guardians of his head — so that, namely, by destroying the ambushers of David's head, they would defend his subjects with wonderful deliverance.✦ 'Cherethites' means 'those destroying,' but 'Pelethites' means 'those saving wonderfully.'
The Order Imitates the Maccabees and Serves with Dual Zeal
The order is shown to imitate David's prophetic vision of Christ's guards and the Maccabees' zeal for the law, embodying both the military vocation of crushing enemies and the hospitaller vocation of charity to strangers and the sick, with clergy serving both in worship and on the battlefield, all confirmed by successive popes.
Because David was a prophet who gazed on the truth, he taught—through the distinction within his own company—that in the last times Christ, the head of the Church, would have guards who, holding their own souls dearer than themselves, would gird themselves with their holy sword upon their thigh, so that, like the mighty men of Israel surrounding Solomon's bed, they would drive the terrors of dark treachery from the borders of the Christian lands.✦ There also comes to mind that praiseworthy and God-worthy war of the Maccabees, who, fed in the desert on hay and food of the field so as not to become partners in defilement, filled with zeal for the law and the faith, crushed Antiochus Epiphanes and the root of iniquity—he who was striving to draw the people of God over to the rites of the Gentiles and the brothel of young men—sustained by the help of God, so that they might cleanse the holy things duly, recover the fortress of Zion, and restore peace to the land. Zealously imitating the wars of these men, this sacred order of knighthood—namely, the house of the hospital of Saint Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem—has been worthy of being adorned with distinguished members, admirably arranged for various offices, each suited to its God-given purpose. They are soldiers and chosen warriors, burning with zeal for the law of their homeland, crushing enemies with a strong hand. And they are rich in the gifts of charity, receiving strangers, pilgrims, and the poor. Furthermore, there are those who, with the tender mercies of compassion, have served the sick and the bedridden in hospitals with fervent spirit, not shrinking from their wretched squalor. Among these members the clergy hold a worthy and most useful place, so that like sparks running through their midst in time of peace they may offer exhortations on regular observance to the lay brothers, celebrate the divine offices, and minister the sacraments; but when the call to arms sounds, showing themselves ready to live and to die, holding up the memory of the crucified Lord, they sharpen their resolve for battle, and so, from the company of strong warriors to the company of the weak and bedridden—whose consciences they guard and whose final passage they fortify—girding themselves bravely in the gentleness of the Spirit, they carry out their ministries. Therefore, various supreme pontiffs, observing with a joyful eye this spiritual order spreading ever more widely for the benefit of the holy Church, confirmed it with numerous privileges, immunities, freedoms, and liberties.
Read the original Latin
Sapiencia sibi edificavit domum, excidit columpnas septem. Proverb. ix. Licet hec verba fuerints Salomonis, qui filium dei appellat sapienciam patris, juxta illud apostoli: ipsis autem vocatis Judeis atque Grecis predicamus Cristum dei virtutem et dei sapienciam; et in psalmo: omnia in sapiencia fecisti i. e. in filio, qui assumpta humana natura edificavit in morte sua sibi ad gloriam et ho norem domum militantis ecclesie, et excidit columpnas septem i. e. septem sacramenta, quibus sustentatur; possunt tarnen esse verba sancte matris ecclesie, que dominum papam Celestinum in vocat sapienciam, quia in terris dei filii viEcd cem gerit secundum illud ecclesiastici: sapiencia doctrine secundum nomen ejus.
Ad ipsum enim confluit ecclesia universalis audire etvidere sue doctrine, utregina Saba sapienciam Salomonis. Hic dominus papa Celestinus in edificavit i. e. instituit et confirmavit sibi et sancte ecclesie adutilitatem domum, videlicetk sacre religionis hospitalis sancte Marie Theutonicorum Jerosolimitani et excidit colump nas septem i. e. septem fratres commendatores seu preceptores provinciales scilicet Lyvonie, Prussie, Tfieutonie, Austrie, Apulie,a Romanie et Armenie, quibus fratres dicti ordinis tanquam materialis domus innixa columpnis edificata sustentatur,b ut sic magister generalis et capitulum sint fundamentum hujus domus, provinciales commendatores seu preceptores columpne, alii fratres superedificati. Et sic dominus papa assimilatur viro sapienti, qui edificavit domum suam supra petram et potest dicere: ego confirmavi columpnas ejus. Sed quia scriptum est: Spiritus est, qui vivificat, caro autem non prodest quidquam, ideo ponende snnt septem columpne alie spirituales in hac domo, quarum tres scili alie videlicet contricio, confessio, satisfactio et caritas, que operit multitudinem peccatorum, omnem sancte observancie negligenciam in torpentibus zelo rectitudinis disciplinent.
Heec sunt columpne spirituales excise manu sapiencie in domo hac sacre religionis, quam edificavit dominus papa, ita quod si pluvia avaricie descendat et flumina luxurie et venti superbie flent et irruant inillam, non possit cadere; fundata est enim supra firmam petram, petra autem est Cristus. De institucione ordinis domus Theutonicorum. iG t In nomine domini amen. Anno incarnacionis ejusdem mcxc tempore illo, quando civitas Achonensis esset a Cristianis obsessa et divina favente gracia de manibus infidelium recuperata, fuerunt in exercitu cristianorum quidam devoti homines de Bremensi et Lubicensi civitatibus, qui tanquam viri misericordie oculis compassionum intendentes in diversos et intolerabiles defectus et incommoda infirmorum degencium in dicto exercitu, fundaverunt hospitale in tentorio suo facto dea velo cujusdam navis, dicte cocka theutonice, ubi dictos infirmos coliigentes, ipsis devote et humiliter serviebant et de bonis sibi a deo collatis caritative procurantes misericorditer pertractabant, attendentes, quod in persona cujuslibet infirmi vel pauperis susciperent ipsum Cristum, qui dicet Matth. 25, hiis, qui a dextris erunt in judicio: esurivi et dedistis mihi manducare, sitivi et ' dedistis mihi bibere, hospes eram et collegistis me, nudus eram et cooperuistis me, infirmus eram et visitastis me etc; et cum dicent: ubi te vidimus talia pacientem, respondebit: amen dico vobis, quamdiu fecistis uni ex hiis fratribus meis minimis, mihi fecistis. Ecce quomodo Cristus infirmos et debiles et despectos quosque fratres vocat; et bene, caro enim et frater noster est. Sed quia dicit apostolus: ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit, dominus autem incrementum de-1. dit; ex quibus verbis liquide licet appareat, quod neque is qui plantat, neque is qui rigat, aliquid sit, sed qui incrementum dat, deus; tarnen humana diligencia impensionis eure sollicitudinem debet impendere circa plantas, que adhuc novelle fructus uberes afferunt et uberiores suo tempore repromittunt.
Unde cum dominus patriarcha Jerosolimitanus, Henricus rex Jerosolimitanus illustris, Nazarenus et Tyrensis et Cesariensis archiepiscopi et Bethlemitanus et Achonensis episcopi, magister hospitalis sancti Johannis et magister domus templi et multi fratres ambarum domorum pluresque barones terre sancte scilicet Radulphus dominus Tiberiadis et dominus Hugo frater suus, et Raynaldus' domi nus Sidonis, et dominus Eymarusb de Cesarea, et dominus Johannes de Hibelino et multi alii de regno Jerusalem, et de Alemania" Conradus Maguntinensis archiepiscopus, Conradus Herbipolensis episcopus et cancellarius imperii Romani, Wolgeriusd Pataviensis episcopus, Gardolphus Halberstatensis episcopus, et Cicensise episcopus, Fridericus dux Swevie, Henricus palatinus comes Renif et dux de Brunswich, Fridericus dux Austrie, Henricus dux Brabancie, qui capitaneus tune erat exercitus, Hermannus palatinus comes Saxonie et lantgravius Thuringie, Albertus marchio Brandenburgensis et Henricus de Calendins marscalcus imperii, Conradus marchio de Landsbergk, Theodericus marchio Misnensis, coraites vero et magnates et quam plures nobilesk dicti exercitus, oculo propiciacionis videntes, hanc novellam hospitalis plantacionem aliquales fructus honoris et honestatis tempestiva quadam fecunditate producere, et sperantes indubitanter, quod domino incrementum dante, expansis ramis suis, uberrimam fructuum copiam faceret in futurum, omnium principum supradictorum consilium in hoc resedit, ut dominus Fridericus dux Swevie nuncios solempnes fratri suo serenissimo domino Henrico vi. regi Romanorum, futuro imperatori, mitteret, qui apud dominum papam institucionem et confirmacionem hospitalis prehabiti impetraret. Papa itaque audita hac legacione piis petencium precibus inclinatus in dicto hospitali ordinem fratrum hospitalis Jerosolimitani circa pauperes et infirmos, fratrum vero milicie templi circa clericos et milites et alios fratres instituit et in nomine domini confirmavit, concedens fratribus dicti hospitalis, ut nigra cruce et albo pallio uterentur, omnesque libertates, immunitates et indulgencias, venerandis domibus predictorum hospitalis et templi ab apostolica sede concessas, indulsit, ut eis uterentur libere sicut illi. Dignum enim erat, ut qui, in operacione virtutum pio vellent proposito fieri pares, in assecucione apostolici beneficii essent coequales. Sicque institutus et confirniatus et multis privilegiis dotatus est venerandus ille militaris ordo fratrum hospitalis sancteMarie domus Theutonicorum Jerosolimitani. Hec est vinea domini Sabaoth electa, quam tu, Jesu Criste, instituisti, fuistique dux itineris in conspectu ejus. Plantasti radices ejus et implevit terram, transtulisti eam postea et ejecisti gentes de terra Prussie et Lyvonie et plantasti eam ibi, et sic extendit palmites suos usque ad mare et usque ad flurnen propagines ejus. Hec reverenda milicia non solum in terra est ab hominibus confirmata, verum eciam typo celi et terre multipharie prefigurata.
Legimus enim in veteribus historiis, Gen. n. magnum patriarcham Abraham cum suis vernaculis ccc. xvin. annos pro liberacione fratris deum timentis decertasse et captivitate innocenciuma conversa, postquam a cede regum reverteretur, eidem patriarche enceniab munerum® panis et vini cum benedictione dei excelsi, quo protegente hostes in manibus suis erant, a Melchisedech rege et sacerdote fuisse oblata. Ex quo tempore tyrocinia fidelium contra nacionum turbas ceperunt exerceri, revelante extunc spiritu sancto, quanto favore iisd, qui summum in ecclesia obtinet locum, tales amplecti debeate tyrones, ad protectionis ecclesiastice benedictionemf eosdem speciali benevolencia suscipiens et suis indulgenciis et privilegiis encenia patrimoniorum crucifixi militibus illis h oblata confirmans. Hec milicia celi et terre typo prefi gurata sola et precipua esse videtur, que vicem Cristi in obprobrio sue crucis doleat et terram sanctam Cristianis debitam recuperare ab oppressione gentiApoc. 3.
lium se devovit. Vidit namque Joannes ecclesiam militantem sub typo nove Je rusalem de celis a triumphante descendere, in qua cum ceteris celestium virtutum agminibus potestates deo militant, quamlibet potestatem contrariam debellando. Que profecto visio nos ammonet, quosdam in ecclesia militante debere contineri milites, quorum Votum sit, inimicam ecclesie tyrannidem infidelium propulsare, statuente in omnibus altissimo terminos fidelium populorum juxta numerum et officium angelorum dei. Huie etk terre consonat testimonium. Nam subMoyse et Josue et aliis judicibus Israel milites dei nova bella, que elegit do minus, eligentes, stirpem Enachim et ceteros iniquos terre sancte inhabitatores gygantee malicie coheredes leonum more invadentes funditus exterminaverunt, illis duntaxat exceptis, quos ad erudicionem populi dei servavit dispensacio sub onere servitutis. Secundum vero incrementa temporis religionis hujus simul creverunt prefiguraciones. David enim secundum cor dei in regnum fidelium exaltatus, ut propheta futurorum prescius, expressiora milicie hujus presagia presignans, legiones Cerethi etPheleti membra quedam sue voluit esse familiea, quorum hoc esset officii, quatinus secundum proprii nominis significacionem ca-2-R('g-iyis' pitis sui custodes jugiter haberentur, ut videlicet insidiatores capitis David exterminantes mirabili salute subjectos defensarent. Cerethib exterminantes, Pheleti vero salvantes mirabiliter interpretantur.
Propheta quippe cum esset David veritatis intuens, distinctione sue cohortis edocuit, quod in novissimis temporibus caput ecclesie Cristus custodes foret habiturus, qui nond preciosiores animas suas se ipsis facientes accingerentur gladio suo sanctoe super femur suum, ut fortissimi Israel viri Salomonis lectulum ambientes timores nocturnos tenebrose perfidie a finibus expellerent Cristianis. Subit eciam animum illud laudabile et deo dignum bellum Machabeorum, qui in deserto feni cibof pasti, ne participes fierent coinquinacionis, zelo legis et fidei repleti' Antiochum Epiphanem et radicem iniquitatis, qui populum dei ad ritus gentiles et lupanar epheborums pertrahere nitebatur, dei suffulti juvamine contriverunt, ut sancta ite— rato mundarent, arcem Sion reciperent, et redderent pacem terre. Quorum bella sacer hic ordo milicie videlicet domus hospitalis sancte Marie Theutonicorum in Jerusalem strenue imitans, membris honorabilibus meruit decorari,'diversis ad diversa digna deo officia laudabiliter ordinatis. Sunt namque milites et bellatores electik zelo legis patrie manu valida hostes conterentes. Sunt et caritatis beneficiis affluentes, hospitum, peregrinorum et pauperum receptores. Sunt in super, qui pietatis visceribus in hospitalibus languidis et decumbentibus non abhominatis squaloribus fervido spiritu subministraverint. Inter que membra dignum ac perutilem clerici locum habent, ut tanqum scintille in medio discurren tes pacis tempore ad laycos fratres exhortaciones de observancia regulari faciant, et divina celebrent, ac m sacramenta ministrent, sed ad arraa convolantibus sanguinem vivere et mori'1 memoriam scilicet crucifixi domini ostendentes, ad virtutem acuant preliandi, et sic a fine robustorum militum usque ad finem infirmorum decumbencium, quorum custodiunt consciencias, et muniunt exitus, fortiter accingentes in suavitate spiritus sua ministeria exequuntur. Hunc ergo spiritualem ordinem ad utilitatem sancte ecclesie se generalius diffundentem congratulacionis oculo diversi summi pontifices intuentes, confirmatum plurimis privilegiis et immunitatibus et libeftatibus illustrarunt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Prov.9.1 — Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
- ↩1Cor.1.24 — but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
- ↩Prov.9.1 — Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
- ↩1Kgs.10.1-1Kgs.10.13;Matt.12.42 — When the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. 1Kgs.10.2 — And she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones; and she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was in her heart. 1Kgs.10.3 — And Solomon told her all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he did not tell her. 1Kgs.10.4 — When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he had built, 1Kgs.10.5 — the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offering that he offered at the house of the LORD — and she was left breathless. 1Kgs.10.6 — She said to the king, "The report I heard in my land about your words and your wisdom was true. 1Kgs.10.7 — I did not believe the reports until I came and my eyes had seen it — and behold, the half was not told me. You have added wisdom and goodness to the report that I heard. 1Kgs.10.8 — Happy are your men, happy are your servants—these who stand before you continually, who listen to your wisdom. 1Kgs.10.9 — Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness. 1Kgs.10.10 — And she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stone. There never again came such spice in such abundance as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 1Kgs.10.11 — And Hiram's ships, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood and precious stones. 1Kgs.10.12 — And the king made the almug-wood into supports for the house of the LORD and for the king's house, and lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug-wood has never been brought in or seen to this day. 1Kgs.10.13 — And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked, besides what he gave her from the bounty of King Solomon. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. Matt.12.42 — The queen of the south will rise at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
- ↩Ps.143.12;Prov.9.1 — And in your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all who afflict my soul, for I am your servant. Prov.9.1 — Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
- ↩Matt.7.24-Matt.7.25 — Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matt.7.25 — And the rain came down, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
- ↩John.6.64 — But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.
- ↩1Pet.4.8 — Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins.
- ↩Matt.7.24-Matt.7.25 — Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matt.7.25 — And the rain came down, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
- ↩1Cor.3.11 — For no one can lay another foundation besides the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- ↩Matt.25.31-Matt.25.46 — When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Matt.25.32 — And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Matt.25.33 — And he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at his left. Matt.25.34 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Matt.25.35 — For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in; Matt.25.36 — I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. Matt.25.37 — Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?' Matt.25.38 — And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? Matt.25.39 — Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and did not come to you? Matt.25.40 — And the King will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Matt.25.41 — Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' Matt.25.42 — For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, Matt.25.43 — I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Matt.25.44 — Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you?' Matt.25.45 — Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly I tell you, as much as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.' Matt.25.46 — And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
- ↩Matt.25.34-Matt.25.40 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Matt.25.35 — For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in; Matt.25.36 — I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. Matt.25.37 — Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?' Matt.25.38 — And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? Matt.25.39 — Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and did not come to you? Matt.25.40 — And the King will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
- ↩Matt.25.42 — For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
- ↩Matt.8.17 — And This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "He took our illnesses and carried our diseases."
- ↩Heb.2.11 — For both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all from one; for this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers.
- ↩1Cor.3.6-1Cor.3.7 — I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 1Cor.3.7 — So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God, who makes it grow.
- ↩1Cor.3.7 — So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God, who makes it grow.
- ↩Isa.5.1-Isa.5.7 — Let me sing for my beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. Isa.5.2 — He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines. He built a watchtower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes. Isa.5.3 — And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray, between me and my vineyard. Isa.5.4 — What more was there to do for my vineyard, and I did not do it in it? Why did I expect it to produce grapes, and it produced wild grapes? Isa.5.5 — And now I will make known to you what I am doing to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be for burning; I will break down its wall, and it will be for trampling. Isa.5.6 — I will make it a wasteland; it will not be pruned or hoed, and thorns and briers will grow up. And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isa.5.7 — For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is his delightful planting. He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
- ↩Ps.80.8-Ps.80.16 — God of hosts, restore us; make your face shine, and we shall be saved. Ps.80.9 — You uprooted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. Ps.80.10 — You cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. Ps.80.11 — The mountains were covered with its shadow, and its boughs with the cedars of God. Ps.80.12 — Why have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? Ps.80.13 — Why have you broken down its wall, so that all who pass along the way pluck it? Ps.80.14 — A boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed on it. Ps.80.15 — God of hosts, turn again; look from heaven and see, and visit this vine. Ps.80.16 — And the stock that your right hand planted, and the son you made strong for yourself—
- ↩John.15.1 — I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
- ↩Ps.80.9-Ps.80.11 — You uprooted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. Ps.80.10 — You cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. Ps.80.11 — The mountains were covered with its shadow, and its boughs with the cedars of God.
- ↩Isa.5.2 — He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines. He built a watchtower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes.
- ↩Gen.14.14 — When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he mustered his trained men, born in his house—three hundred and eighteen—and pursued as far as Dan.
- ↩Gen.14.14-Gen.14.20 — When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he mustered his trained men, born in his house—three hundred and eighteen—and pursued as far as Dan. Gen.14.15 — He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. Gen.14.16 — He recovered all the goods, and also brought back Lot his brother and his possessions, and also the women and the people. Gen.14.17 — And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he returned from striking down Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, to the Valley of Shaveh—that is, the King's Valley. Gen.14.18 — And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was priest of God Most High. Gen.14.19 — And he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.' Gen.14.20 — And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tenth of everything.
- ↩Rev.21.2 — And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- ↩Deut.32.8 — When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
- ↩2Sam.8.18;2Sam.20.23;1Kgs.1.38 — Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were priests. 2Sam.20.23 — And Joab was over all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites. 1Kgs.1.38 — So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's own mule, and they brought him to Gihon.
- ↩Song.3.7-Song.3.8 — Behold, the bed that is Solomon's—sixty mighty men surround it, mighty men of Israel. Song.3.8 — All of them are sword-trained, skilled in battle; each man has his sword upon his thigh, against the terror of the night.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin *de velo cujusdam navis, dicte cocka theutonice* is rendered with the German term *kogge* for clarity; the tent was made from a ship's sail.
- 2 ↩The Latin text is a loose paraphrase of Matthew 25:34-40, 42, 45. The source text is corrupt in places (e.g. '25, hiis' for the opening, 'et cum dicent' for 'et cum dicent'). The translation renders the intended sense of the passage.
- 3 ↩The Latin ends with 'de-1', a truncation of 'det' (gives). The translation supplies the intended completion from 1 Corinthians 3:7.
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