“quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi ; et mens ejus non est tecum.”
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
“for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.”
“for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.”
“For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.”
Like. Protestants, “as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: eat,” &c. (Haydock) — He is still convinced that his guests will ruin him: or “like one guarding, or trembling for his soul.” Septuagint, “swallowing a hair, he saith,” &c. He is afraid of expense, and would allow himself as little as possible. — Diviner. Such endeavour to speak what may come to pass, but are full of anxiety; so the miser’s words are contrary to his real sentiments, (Calmet) as the diviner knows that he is imposing on mankind. (Haydock)
1. It is not substantial and satisfying: "Wilt thou be such a fool as to set thy eyes, to cause thy eyes to fly with eagerness and violence, upon that which is not?" Note, (1.) The things of this world are things that are not. They have a real existence in nature and are the real gifts of Providence, but in the kingdom of grace they are things that are not; they are not a happiness and portion for a soul, are not what they promise to be nor what we expect them to be; they are a show, a shadow, a sham upon the soul that trusts to them. They are not, for in a little while they will not be, they will not be ours; they perish in the using; the fashion of them passes away. (2.) It is therefore folly for us to set our eyes upon them, to admire them as the best things, to appropriate them to ourselves as our good things, and to aim at them as our mark at which all our actions are levelled, to fly upon them as the eagle upon her prey. "Wilt thou do a thing so absurd in itself? What thou, a reasonable creature, wilt thou dote upon shadows? The eyes are put for rational and intellectual powers; wilt thou throw those away upon such undeserving objects? To set the hands and feet upon the world is well enough, but not the eyes, the eyes of the mind; those were made to contemplate better things. Wilt thou, my son, that professest religion, put such an affront upon God (towards whom the eyes should ever be) and such an abuse upon thy soul?"