David therefore reigned in the earthly Jerusalem, a son of the heavenly Jerusalem, much praised by the divine testimony; for even his faults are overcome by great piety, through the most wholesome humility of his repentance, so that he is altogether one of those of whom he himself says, “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” After him Solomon his son reigned over the same whole people, who, as was said before, began to reign while his father was still alive. This man, after good beginnings, made a bad end. For indeed “prosperity, which wears out the minds of the wise,” hurt him more than that wisdom benefited him, which is renowned even now and will be hereafter, and was then praised far and wide. He also is found to have prophesied in his books, of which three are received as of canonical authority, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. But it has been customary to ascribe to Solomon two others, of which one is called Wisdom, the other Ecclesiasticus, on account of some resemblance of style — but the more learned have no doubt that they are not his; yet from early times the Church, especially the Western, received them into authority⁠a — in the one of which, called the Wisdom of Solomon, the passion of Christ is most openly prophesied. For indeed His impious murderers are quoted as saying, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous, for he is unpleasant to us, and contrary to our works; and he upbraids us with our transgressions of the law, and charges us to our disgrace with the transgressions of our upbringing.⁠b He professes to have the knowledge of God, and he calls himself the Son of God. He was made to reprove our thoughts. He is grievous for us even to look at; for his life is unlike other men's and his ways are different. We are regarded by him as counterfeits; and he abstains from our ways as from filthiness. He extols the final end of the righteous; and glories that he has God for his Father. Let us see, therefore, if his words are true; and let us test what will happen to him, and we shall know what his end will be. For if the righteous man is the Son of God, He will take up his cause, and deliver him from the hand of those who are against him. Let us examine him with insult and torture, so that we may know his reverence, and test his patience. Let us condemn him to the most shameful death; for by His own sayings He shall be respected. These things they devised, and were mistaken; for their own malice has quite blinded them.” But in Ecclesiasticus the future faith of the nations is predicted in this manner: “Have mercy on us, God, Ruler of all, and send Your fear on all the nations: lift up Your hand over the strange nations, and let them see Your power. As You were sanctified in us before them, so be sanctified in them before us, and let them acknowledge You, as we also have acknowledged You; for there is no God besides You, Lord.”⁠c We see this prophecy in the form of a wish and prayer fulfilled through Jesus Christ. But the things which are not written in the canon of the Jews cannot be quoted against their contradictions with such great force. But as regards those three books which it is evident are Solomon's and held canonical by the Jews, to show what of this kind may be found in them relating to Christ and the Church demands a laborious discussion, which, if now entered on, would lengthen this work unduly. Yet what we read in the Proverbs of impious men saying, “Let us unrighteously hide in the earth the righteous man; indeed, let us swallow him up alive as hell, and let us take away his memory from the earth: let us seize his precious possession,” Proverbs 1:11-13 is not so obscure that it may not be understood, without laborious explanation, of Christ and His possession the Church. Indeed, the gospel parable about the wicked tenants shows that our Lord Jesus Himself said something like it: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.” Matthew 21:38 In the same way that passage also in this same book, on which we have already touched when we were speaking of the barren woman who has borne seven, must soon after it was uttered have come to be understood of only Christ and the Church by those who knew that Christ was the Wisdom of God. “Wisdom has built herself a house, and has set up seven pillars; she has sacrificed her victims, she has mingled her wine in the bowl; she has also furnished her table. She has sent her servants summoning to the bowl with excellent proclamation, saying, Whoever is simple, let him turn aside to me. And to those lacking sense she has said, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you.” Here certainly we perceive that the Wisdom of God, that is, the Word coeternal with the Father, has built Himself a house, namely a human body in the virgin's womb, and has joined the Church to it as members to a head, has sacrificed the martyrs as victims, has furnished a table with wine and bread, where appears also the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, and has called the simple and those lacking sense, because, as the apostle says, “He has chosen the weak things of this world to shame the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 1:27 Yet to these weak ones she says what follows, “Forsake simplicity, so that you may live; and seek prudence, so that you may have life.” Proverbs 9:6 But to be made partakers of this table is itself to begin to have life. For when he says in another book, which is called Ecclesiastes, “There is no good for a man, except that he should eat and drink,” what can he be more credibly understood to say, than what belongs to the participation of this table which the Mediator of the New Testament Himself, the Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, furnishes with His own body and blood? For that sacrifice has succeeded all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were slain as a shadow of that which was to come; therefore also we recognize the voice in the 40th Psalm as that of the same Mediator speaking through prophecy, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; but a body You have perfected for me.” Because, instead of all these sacrifices and offerings, His body is offered, and is served up to the partakers of it. For that this Ecclesiastes, in this sentence about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not have in mind the delicacies of carnal pleasure, is made plain enough when he says, “It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting.” Ecclesiastes 7:2 And a little after He says, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting.” Ecclesiastes 7:4 But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both cities, the one of the devil, the other of Christ, and to their kings, the devil and Christ: “Woe to you, land,” he says, “when your king is a youth, and your princes eat in the morning! Blessed are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in season, in fortitude, and not in confusion!” Ecclesiastes 10:16-17 He has called the devil a youth, because of the folly and pride, and rashness and unruliness, and other vices which usually abound at that age; but Christ is the Son of nobles, that is, of the holy patriarchs, of those belonging to the free city, from whom He was born in the flesh. The princes of that and other cities are eaters in the morning, that is, before the suitable hour, because they do not expect the happiness that comes in due season, which is the true one, in the world to come, desiring to be made happy quickly with the renown of this world; but the princes of the city of Christ patiently wait for the time of a blessedness that is not deceptive. This is expressed by the words, “in fortitude, and not in confusion,” because hope does not deceive them; of which the apostle says, “But hope does not put to shame.” Romans 5:5 A psalm also says, “For those who hope in You shall not be put to shame.” But now the Song of Songs is a certain spiritual pleasure of holy minds, in the marriage of that King and Queen-city, that is, Christ and the Church. But this pleasure is wrapped up in allegorical veils, so that the Bridegroom may be more ardently desired, and more joyfully unveiled, and may appear; to whom it is said in this same song, Equity has delighted You; Song of Songs 1:4 and the bride who there hears, “Love is in your delights.” Song of Songs 7:6 We pass over many things in silence, in our desire to finish this work.