The Prophet recites five kinds of caution as
continually present in the mind of the happy man: the first, not
to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, the second, not to stand in the
way of sinners, the third, not to sit in the seat of pestilence, next,
to set his will in the Law of the Lord, and lastly, to meditate therein
by day and by night. There must, therefore, be a distinction
between the ungodly and the sinner, between the sinner and the
pestilent; chiefly because here the ungodly has a counsel, the sinner a
way, the pestilent a seat, and again, because the question is of
walking, not standing, in the counsel of the ungodly; of standing, not
walking, in the way of the sinner. Now if we would understand the
reason of these facts, we must note the precise difference between the
sinner and the undutiful
Impius, which is elsewhere in the Homily translated
ungodly, is here rendered undutiful, in order to preserve
to some extent the sense of undutiful towards parents in which
Hilary, with true Roman appreciation of the patria potestas,
uses it in this passage., that so it may
become clear why to the sinner is assigned a way, and to the undutiful
a counsel; next, why the question is of standing in the way, and of
walking in the counsel, whereas men are accustomed to connect standing
with a counsel, and walking with a way.