Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Proverbs 17
There are 15 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 256, footnote 2 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Chapter VIII.—On the Use of Ointments and Crowns. (HTML)
... beauty. Further, whoever touches them is cooled by the former, inflamed by the latter. In one word, the enjoyment of them except by sight is a crime, and not luxury. It becomes us who truly follow the Scripture to enjoy ourselves temperately, as in Paradise. We must regard the woman’s crown to be her husband, and the husband’s crown to be marriage; and the flowers of marriage the children of both, which the divine husbandman plucks from meadows of flesh. “Children’s children are the crown of old men.”[Proverbs 17:6] And the glory of children is their fathers, it is said; and our glory is the Father of all; and the crown of the whole church is Christ. As roots and plants, so also have flowers their individual properties, some beneficial, some injurious, some ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 346, footnote 9 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)
To Cornelius, Concerning Fortunatus and Felicissimus, or Against the Heretics. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2590 (In-Text, Margin)
... again: “A man that is an heretic, after one admonition, reject: knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” And the Holy Spirit speaks by Solomon, saying, “A perverse man carrieth perdition in his mouth; and in his lips he hideth a fire.” Also again, he warneth us, and says, “Hedge in thy ears with thorns, and hearken not to a wicked tongue.” And again: “A wicked doer giveth heed to the tongue of the unjust; but a righteous man does not listen to lying lips.”[Proverbs 17:4] And although I know that our brotherhood there, assuredly fortified by your foresight, and besides sufficiently cautious by their own vigilance, cannot be taken nor deceived by the poisons of heretics, and that the teachings and precepts of God ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 374, footnote 5 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)
To Florentius Pupianus, on Calumniators. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2799 (In-Text, Margin)
... was by your own sacrilegious disposition and will in easily hearkening to unchaste, to impious, to unspeakable things against your brother, against a priest, and in willingly believing them in defending other men’s falsehoods, as if they were your own and your private property; and in not remembering that it is written, “Hedge thine ears with thorns, and hearken not to a wicked tongue;” and again: “A wicked doer giveth heed to the tongue of the unjust; but a righteous man regards not lying lips.”[Proverbs 17:4] Wherefore have not the martyrs fallen into this scruple, full of the Holy Ghost, and already by their passion near to the presence of God and of His Christ; martyrs who, from their dungeon, directed letters to Cyprian the bishop, acknowledging the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 81, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He describes the twenty-ninth year of his age, in which, having discovered the fallacies of the Manichæans, he professed rhetoric at Rome and Milan. Having heard Ambrose, he begins to come to himself. (HTML)
That the Knowledge of Terrestrial and Celestial Things Does Not Give Happiness, But the Knowledge of God Only. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 383 (In-Text, Margin)
... the happier on account of them, but is happy on account of Thee only, if knowing Thee he glorify Thee as God, and gives thanks, and becomes not vain in his thoughts. But as he is happier who knows how to possess a tree, and for the use thereof renders thanks to Thee, although he may not know how many cubits high it is, or how wide it spreads, than he that measures it and counts all its branches, and neither owns it nor knows or loves its Creator; so a just man, whose is the entire world of wealth,[Proverbs 17:6] and who, as having nothing, yet possesseth all things by cleaving unto Thee, to whom all things are subservient, though he know not even the circles of the Great Bear, yet it is foolish to doubt but that he may verily be better than he who can ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 29, footnote 7 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
Of Faith. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 761 (In-Text, Margin)
... Here then it is further required, that each of you be found faithful in his conscience: for a faithful man it is hard to find: not that thou shouldest shew thy conscience to me, for thou art not to be judged of man’s judgment; but that thou shew the sincerity of thy faith to God, who trieth the reins and hearts, and knoweth the thoughts of men. A great thing is a faithful man, being richest of all rich men. For to the faithful man belongs the whole world of wealth[Proverbs 17:4], in that he disdains and tramples on it. For they who in appearance are rich, and have many possessions, are poor in soul: since the more they gather, the more they pine with longing for what is still lacking. But the faithful man, most strange ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 49, footnote 4 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
Almighty. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1044 (In-Text, Margin)
6. Riches, and gold, and silver are not, as some think, the devil’s: for the whole world of riches is for the faithful man, but for the faithless not even a penny[Proverbs 17:6]. Now nothing is more faithless than the devil; and God says plainly by the Prophet, The gold is Mine, and the silver is Mine, and to whomsoever I will I give it. Do thou but use it well, and there is no fault to be found with money: but whenever thou hast made a bad use of that which is good, then being unwilling to blame thine own management, thou impiously throwest back the blame upon the Creator. A ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 2, footnote 2 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
De Spiritu Sancto. (HTML)
Prefatory remarks on the need of exact investigation of the most minute portions of theology. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 706 (In-Text, Margin)
2. If “To the fool on his asking for wisdom, wisdom shall be reckoned,”[Proverbs 17:28] at how high a price shall we value “the wise hearer” who is quoted by the Prophet in the same verse with “the admirable counsellor”? It is right, I ween, to hold him worthy of all approbation, and to urge him on to further progress, sharing his enthusiasm, and in all things toiling at his side as he presses onwards to perfection. To count the terms used in theology as of primary importance, and to endeavour to trace out the hidden meaning in every phrase and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 222, footnote 5 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To the Senate of Samosata. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2600 (In-Text, Margin)
For had not this affliction come to pass, your proof under trial would never have been known. To all that earnestly strive for any good, the affliction they endure for the sake of their hope in God is like a furnace to gold.[Proverbs 17:3]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 223, footnote 7 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2613 (In-Text, Margin)
“ a fool,” it is said, “when he asks questions,” is counted wise.[Proverbs 17:28] But when a wise man asks questions, he makes even a fool wise. And this, thank God, is my case, as often as I receive a letter from your industrious self. For we become more learned and wiser than we were before, merely by asking questions, because we are taught many things which we did not know; and our anxiety to answer them acts as a teacher to us. Assuredly at the present time, though I have never before paid attention to the points you raise, I have been ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 22, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter XXVII. The first source of duty is prudence, from whence spring three other virtues; and they cannot be separated or torn asunder, since they are mutually connected one with the other. (HTML)
... class="sc">The first source of duty, then, is prudence. For what is more of a duty than to give to the Creator all one’s devotion and reverence? This source, however, is drawn off into other virtues. For justice cannot exist without prudence, since it demands no small amount of prudence to see whether a thing is just or unjust. A mistake on either side is very serious. “For he that says a just man is unjust, or an unjust man is just, is accursed with God. Wherefore does justice abound unto the wicked?”[Proverbs 17:15] says Solomon. Nor, on the other hand, can prudence exist without justice, for piety towards God is the beginning of understanding. On which we notice that this is a borrowed rather than an original idea among the worldly wise, for piety is the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 60, footnote 9 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
Chapter XXI. To defend the weak, or to help strangers, or to perform similar duties, greatly adds to one's worth, especially in the case of tried men. Whilst one gets great blame for love of money; wastefulness, also, in the case of priests is very much condemned. (HTML)
... money stands in the place of honour, and the minds of men are filled with admiration for wealth. Thus love of money sinks in and as it were dries up every kindly duty; so that men consider everything a loss which is spent beyond the usual amount. But even here the holy Scriptures have been on the watch against love of money, that it might prove no cause of hindrance, saying: “Better is hospitality, even though it consisteth only of herbs.” And again: “Better is bread in pleasantness with peace.”[Proverbs 17:1] For the Scriptures teach us not to be wasteful, but liberal.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 63, footnote 12 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
Letter II. A Letter of Sulpitius Severus to His Sister Claudia Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
Chapter XI. (HTML)
... remains that we should learn what it is to be pure also in spirit; i.e. that what it is unlawful for one to do in act, it is also unlawful for one even to imagine in thought. For she is holy, alike in body and in spirit, who sins neither in mind nor heart, knowing that God is one who examines also the heart; and, therefore, she takes every pains to possess a mind as well as a body free from sin. Such a person is aware that it is written, “Keep thy heart with all diligence”; and again, “God loveth[Proverbs 17:3] holy hearts, and all the undefiled are acceptable to him”; and elsewhere, “Blessed are those of a pure heart; for they shall see God.” I think that this last statement is made regarding those whom conscience accuses of the guilt of no sin; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 333, footnote 1 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)
Conference IV. Conference of Abbot Daniel. On the Lust of the Flesh and of the Spirit. (HTML)
Chapter IX. The answer on the understanding of one who asks rightly. (HTML)
Daniel: It belongs to the understanding to discern the distinctions and the drift of questions; and it is a main part of knowledge to understand how ignorant you are. Wherefore it is said that “if a fool asks questions, it will be accounted wisdom,”[Proverbs 17:28] because, although one who asks questions is ignorant of the answer to the question raised, yet as he wisely asks, and learns what he does not know, this very fact will be counted as wisdom in him, because he wisely discovers what he was ignorant of. According then to this division of yours, it seems that in this passage the Apostle mentions three things, the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 443, footnote 11 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII. (HTML)
Conference XIV. The First Conference of Abbot Nesteros. On Spiritual Knowledge. (HTML)
Chapter XVI. The answer to the effect that bad men cannot possess true knowledge. (HTML)
... sinner praise is not comely;” as to him it is said by the prophet: “Wherefore dost thou declare My righteous acts, and takest My covenant in thy lips?” of souls like this, who never possess in any lasting fashion the fear of the Lord of which it is said: “the fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom,” and yet try to get at the meaning of Scripture by continual meditation on them, it is appropriately asked in Proverbs: “What use are riches to a fool? For a senseless man cannot possess wisdom.”[Proverbs 17:16] But so far is this true and spiritual knowledge removed from that worldly erudition, which is defiled by the stains of carnal sins, that we know that it has sometimes flourished most grandly in some who were without eloquence and almost illiterate. ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 544, footnote 2 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)
Conference XXIV. Conference of Abbot Abraham. On Mortification. (HTML)
Chapter XXVI. How the promise of an hundredfold in this life is made to those whose renunciation is perfect. (HTML)
... which belong to the eternal Father, and asserts in heart and soul after the fashion of that true Son: “All things that the Father hath are mine;” and if no longer tried by that criminal anxiety in distractions and cares, but free from care and glad at heart he succeeds everywhere to his own, hearing daily the announcement made to him by the Apostle: “For all things are yours, whether the world, or things present, or things to come;” and by Solomon: “The faithful man has a whole world of riches.”[Proverbs 17:6] You have then that recompense of an hundredfold brought out by the greatness of the value, and the difference of the character that cannot be estimated. For if for a fixed weight of brass or iron or some still commoner metal, one had given in ...