{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-4101","native_reference":{"book_number":250,"chapter_from":2,"chapter_to":2,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":10,"verse_to":10},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Bede</b>: They nourish their hearts in self-indulgence who, according to the word of Ecclesiastes, do not prevent their heart from enjoying every wish and from delighting itself in the things which they have prepared. And they count it their due if they themselves make use of their own labors, having no care for the support and solace of the poor.<br/><i>— Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, James 5:5</i></p><p><b>Didymus the Blind</b>: In the literal sense the following is meant: If I desired something among the things in the visible world, I did not keep my eyes from them. I got everything that I longed for. John says in his letter: \"The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches comes not from the Father but from the world.\" Even if they do \"not come from the Father\" as the gifts of grace and of the Spirit, they are nevertheless from God. Desire for visible things, however, should not be consuming but should instead be appropriate to that which is desired.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 43:23</i></p><p><b>Didymus the Blind</b>: \"Heart\" does not here signify the organ but reason. In a different passage [we read]: \"Blessed are the pure in heart.\" This means with regard to reason. And: \"Listen to me, you stubborn of heart.\" The heart thus understood does not need to be \"kept from pleasure.\" It derives pleasure from appropriate views and meditations based on knowledge. By knowledge I mean knowledge that is in accordance with God.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 44:17</i></p><p><b>Didymus the Blind</b>: As is well known, the person who toils for something in his heart suffers if he does not succeed with it. Ecclesiastes thus wants to say: I did not fail in any of the things I hoped for in my toil. Further: The person who strives for knowledge and pursues virtue \"toils.\" … The person who toils for the things that are useful for the soul and that adorn the inner person says about himself: \"I found pleasure in all my toil.\"<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 44:23</i></p><p><b>Jerome</b>: \"Whatever<br/>my eyes desired I did not deny them; I did not deprive myself of any joy. Indeed my heart drew joy from all my<br/>activities, and this was my reward for all my endeavours. \"The eyes of the heart and the sight of the mind desire<br/>to gaze on spiritual matters, which the sinner does not see, so forbids his<br/>heart from true happiness. Therefore<br/>Ecclesiastes gave himself completely over to this cause and balanced eternal<br/>glory lightly in an world of discord. <br/>This is our lot, and our continual reward if we work for our virtues.<br/><i>— Commentary on Ecclesiastes</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"1ab61c98d49022b9087d1cdb610f78a3a5900889982de380d6e6ae9c9c7377cd","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":4101,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"83676b2cc48eec553f69709099ac5102e54d8ca3f873c28248bb3a8b7fc4766f","translator":null,"work":null}