The Rich Fool and the Nature of His Loss
in grief and anger
All his days are in darkness and in mourning and in much anger and sickness and gall (Ecclesiastes 5:17). These things can be said about the son, or about both. Again: “And he begot a son, and there is nothing in his hand. Just as he came out naked from his mother’s womb, he will return to go as he came” (Eccl 5:13-14).
Many who possessed the things of “falsely-named knowledge” (1 Tim 6:20) or of Greek philosophy did not have sons who were lovers of these things; rather their sons depart together with them, having acquired nothing in the same way. Many unlearned men, at any rate, have become sons of wise men. This son, then, departs as he came: he came without such instruction and departs without it. But this too is possible: that one begets him who is reputed wise in this way — begets someone in wickedness, in licentiousness, the other kinds of evil — and he comes out naked of what the father was zealous for. The father was zealous, though, not at all about the kinds of evil, but about glory and “falsely-named knowledge.”
He seems somehow, even if […] however these things may remain here. Again: of the father? Not called blameworthily, but at least instead of the praiseworthy he says […]. I say that wisdom is the mother of the wise man: “for wisdom was justified by her children” (Matt 11:19); and the children of wisdom are the wise. “And your mother will guide you” — wisdom. And again, habits — the worse and the better — are called mothers of the things done according to them. So too one is called “son of perdition” (John 17:12), “son of vipers” (Matt 3:7), “of death,” “son of light” (Luke 16:8), and another “son of peace” (Luke 10:6). Here we take the blameworthy mother, since the person under discussion is not an excellent one. According to the anagogy he has a blameworthy mother: just as his mother — wickedness — brought him forth, so he enters here having acquired nothing, in opposition to what his father — who gathered toilsome wealth — provided, and his mother, the habit that bore him.
Here, having acquired nothing, in opposition to what his father had — the one who gathered toilsome wealth — and his mother, the habit that bore him. He will turn back to go as he has come, and he will take nothing of his toil. The fact of the history is clear: he takes nothing of what he labored for. He lets them go and did not know at the time, even if they come upon his enemies. 'He stores up,' he says, 'and does not know for whom he gathers them' (Psalm 39:6). And the matter of the upward leading has been said already, that he does not take away anything of what his father and his mother, according to wickedness, make wealthy. Therefore, a praiseworthy mother may also be taken; here she has come to godliness, so that she may possess... [The text is damaged here.]...to enjoy... and indeed this is an evil sickness; for just as it came to be, so it will depart. — Thus it is necessary to take meaning: if the entering into a place signifies a local entrance, so also the exiting. For I do not say that the one who entered into this city went out from wickedness, but rather he entered here from another land or city. And what is his abundance, for which he toils toward the wind? His toil becomes wind, that is, his wealth is being overturned by nature; it is not becoming his own, not being held, so as even to be sent to a son. And indeed all his days are in darkness and in mourning. Darkness here means ignorance and the lack of clarity of things. And he mourns, missing those things which he hoped for, from which he thinks he has a pleasant life. And something stands before him. For mourning is raised up over death. In a certain way, therefore, he has died while living, 'and all his days are in darkness and he mourns' (Ecclesiastes 5:17). 'And the one who squanders,' he says, 'has died while living' (1 Tim 5:6). If he has died, he is not worthy of being mourned; it is not necessary to raise up mourning over her. For indeed the empty lives living, but he has died, having cast away the life of salvation, the blessed life, as if he had not squandered it living according to the human way.
Greek
πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ἐν σκότει καὶ ἐν πέν θει καὶ θυμῷ πολλῷ καὶ ἀρρωστίᾳ καὶ χόλῳ. δύναται περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ ταῦτα λέγεσθαι ἢ καὶ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων. ἐπερ· "καὶ ἐγέννησεν τὸν υἱόν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδέν. καθ̣ὼς ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ γαστρο`̣ς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ γυμνός, ἐπιστρέψει τοῦ πορευθῆναι ὡς ἥκει". πολλοὶ κεκτημένοι τὰ τῆς "ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως" ἢ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς φιλοσο φίας οὐκ ἔσχον τοὺς υἱοὺς τούτων ἐραστάς, ἀλλὰ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν συναπέρχονται αὐτοῖς, οὕτω μηδὲν κεκτημένοι. πολλοὶ γοῦν ἰδιῶται σοφῶν γεγόνασιν υἱοί. οὗτος οὖν ὁ υἱὸς ὡς ἦλθεν οὕτω ἀπέρχεται. ἄνευ παιδεύσεως τοιαύτης ἦλθεν, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτῆς ἀπέρχεται. δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι γεννᾷ τις αὐτὸν οὕ τω νομιζόμενος σοφός, γεννᾷ τινα κατὰ κακίαν, κατὰ ἀκολασίαν, τὰ ἄλλα ε̣ἴ δη τῆς κακίας, καὶ ἐξέρχεται γυμνὸς ἀφ' ὧν ὁ πατὴρ ἐσπούδασεν. ἐσπου´̣ δα̣σεν δὲ ὁ πατὴρ οὐ πάντως πε̣ρ̣ι`̣ τ̣ὰ ε̣ἰ´̣δη τῆς κακίας, ἀλλὰ περὶ τὴν δ̣ο´̣ξαν καὶ "ψευδώνυμον γνῶσιν". δοκεῖ δὲ ἐκεῖνός πως, κἂν αιρει τῇ ··ει··λ̣ε̣····· ··τα ὅπως ποτὲ ἐνταῦθα μ̣ε´̣ν̣ῃ ταῦτα. ἐπερ· τοῦ πατρός; οὐ ψεκτῶς κεκλημένον, α᾿̣λ̣λ̣α`̣ γ̣ο̣ῦν ἀντὶ τ̣οῦ ἐπαινετοῦ λ̣έγ̣ε̣ι̣ ····· ················· ·σπουδ̣α´̣σ̣ει·ε̣······· ····· ····· ····· ····· ···· 159 λέγω δέ, ὅτι ἡ σοφία μήτηρ ἐστὶν τοῦ σοφοῦ. "ἐδικαιώθη γὰρ ἡ σοφία̣ ἀπὸ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς". τέκνα δὲ σοφίας οἱ σοφοί. "καὶ ὁδηγήσει σε ἡ μήτηρ σου", ἡ σοφία. καὶ πάλιν αἱ ἕξεις καὶ αἱ χειρίσται καὶ αἱ κρείττους λέ γοντα̣ι μητέρες τῶν πεποιωμένων κατ' αὐτάς. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ "υἱὸς ἀπωλεί ας" τις λέγεται καὶ "υἱὸς ἐχιδνῶν" καὶ "θανάτου", καὶ "υἱὸς φωτὸς" καὶ ἄλλος "υἱὸς εἰρήνης". ἐνταῦθα μητέρα τὴν ψεκτὴν λαμβάνομεν, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πρόσωπον σπουδαῖον τὸ περὶ οὗ ὁ λόγος. κατὰ τὴν ἀναγωγὴν ψεκτὴν ἔχει μητέρα· καθ̣ὼς ἀπετέλεσεν οὖν ἡ μήτηρ αὐ τοῦ, ἡ κακία, οὕτως εἰσέρχεται οὐδὲν ὧδε̣ κε κεκτημένος ἐναντία οἷς πάρ εσχεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ὁ συναγαγῶν πλοῦτον μοχθηρὸν καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ, ἡ τε κοῦσα αὐτὸν ἕξις. ἐπιστρέψει τοῦ πορευθῆναι ὡς ἥκει, καὶ οὐδὲν λήμψεται ἐν μοχθῷ αὐτοῦ. τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας φανερόν· οὐδὲν λαμβάνει ὧν ἐμόχθησεν. ἀφίησιν αὐτὰ καὶ οὐκ οἶδεν ἐνίοτε, εἰ καὶ ἐπ̣' ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ ἔρχεται. "θησαυρίζει", φησίν, "καὶ οὐ γιγνώσκει, τίνι συνάγει αὐτά". τὸ δ̣ὲ τῆς ἀναγωγῆς ἐλέχθη ἤδη, ὅτι οὐδὲν ὧν πλουτεῖ ὁ κατὰ κακίαν πα τὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ ἀποφέρει. λοιπὸν δύναται καὶ ἐπαινετὴ μήτηρ λ̣η̣μφ̣θῆναι· ὧδε προσελήλυθεν τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ, ἱ´̣ν̣α κτήσηται ········· ····· ·π̣··κ̣·· μ̣η`̣ σ̣·····ς ἀπολα̣υ´̣ε̣ι̣ν̣ τ̣ο̣ ····· ·ον καὶ ·· 160ν καί γε τοῦτο πονηρὰ ἀρρωστία· ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεγένε το, οὕτω καὶ ἀπελεύσεται. –– οὕτω δεῖ λαμβάνειν· ἐὰν τὸ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τόπον τοπικὴν εἴσοδον σημαίνει, καὶ τὸ ἐξελθεῖν. οὐ γὰρ λέγω, ὅτι ὁ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ταύτην ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ κακίας, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ ἄλλης χώρας ἢ πόλεως εἰσ̣ῆλθεν ὧδε. καὶ τίς ἡ περισσεία αὐτοῦ, ᾗ μοχθεῖ εἰς ἄνεμον. ὁ μόχθος αὐτοῦ εἰς ἄνεμον γίνεται, τουτέστιν διὰ φύσημον ἀνατρεπόμενός ἐστιν ὁ πλοῦτος αὐτοῦ· οὐ γινόμενος αὐτοῦ ἐνκρατής, οὐ κατέχων, ὥστε καὶ εἰς υἱὸν παραπέμψαι. καί γε πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ἐν σκότει καὶ ἐν πέν θει. σκότος ὧδε τὴν ἄγνοιαν λέγει καὶ τὴν ἀσάφειαν τῶν πραγμάτων. πενθεῖ δὲ ἀποτυγχάνων ὧν ποθεῖ, ἐξ ὧν νομίζει καὶ ἱλαρὰν ζωὴν ἔχειν. καὶ υ῾̣φίσταταί τινα. πένθος γὰρ ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἐγείρεται. τρόπον τινὰ οὖν καὶ ζ̣ῶν̣ 5 τέθνηκεν, "καὶ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ πᾶσαι ἐν σκότει καὶ πένθει" εἰσίν. "ἡ δὲ σπαταλῶ σα", φησίν, "ζῶσα τέθνηκεν". εἰ τέθνηκεν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀξία τοῦ πενθεῖσθαι, οὐ πένθος ἐπ' αὐτὴν ε᾿̣γ̣είρειν δεῖ. ζῇ μὲν γὰρ τὸ κενὸν ζῆν, τέθνηκεν δὲ ἀπο βαλοῦσα τὸ σωτήριον ζῆν, τὴν μακαρίαν̣ ζ̣ωήν, ὡσεὶ μὴ ἐσπατάλα ζῶσα κατ̣ὰ τ̣ὴν ἀνθρωπίνην