Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Ecclesiastes 5
There are 14 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 672, footnote 9 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Baptism. (HTML)
The Angel the Forerunner of the Holy Spirit. Meaning Contained in the Baptismal Formula. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8586 (In-Text, Margin)
Not that in the waters we obtain the Holy Spirit; but in the water, under (the witness of) the angel, we are cleansed, and prepared for the Holy Spirit. In this case also a type has preceded; for thus was John beforehand the Lord’s forerunner, “preparing His ways.” Thus, too, does the angel, the witness[Ecclesiastes 5:6] of baptism, “make the paths straight” for the Holy Spirit, who is about to come upon us, by the washing away of sins, which faith, sealed in (the name of) the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, obtains. For if “in the mouth of three witnesses every word shall stand:” —while, through the benediction, we have the same (three) ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 543, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
In Solomon: “According as thou hast vowed a vow to God, delay not to pay it.”[Ecclesiastes 5:4] Concerning this same thing in Deuteronomy: “But if thou hast vowed a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God inquiring shall seek it of thee; and it shall be for a sin. Thou shalt observe those things that shall go forth out of thy lips, and shalt perform the gift which thou hast spoken with thy mouth.” Of this same matter in the forty-ninth Psalm: “Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 550, footnote 9 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.”[Ecclesiastes 5:10] Also in Proverbs: “He who holdeth back the corn is cursed among the people; but blessing is on the head of him that communicateth it.” Also in Isaiah: “Woe unto them who join house to house, and lay field to field, that they may take away something from their neighbour. Will ye dwell alone upon the earth?” Also in Zephaniah: “They shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them; and they shall appoint vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 630, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Novatian. (HTML)
A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity. (HTML)
That God Also Appeared to Jacob as an Angel; Namely, the Son of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5166 (In-Text, Margin)
... that reasonably there must be a distinction between Him who is called God only, and Him who is declared to be not God simply, but Angel also. Whence if so great an authority cannot here be regarded as belonging to any other angel, that He should also avow Himself to be God, and should bear witness that a vow was made to Him, except to Christ alone, to whom not as angel only, but as to God, a vow can be vowed; it is manifest that it is not to be received as the Father, but as the Son, God and Angel.[Ecclesiastes 5:6] Moreover, if this is Christ, as it is, he is in terrible risk who says that Christ is either man or angel alone, withholding from Him the power of the divine name,—an authority which He has constantly received on the faith of the heavenly ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 426, footnote 4 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Sec. I.—Concerning Widows (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2872 (In-Text, Margin)
... her widowhood in her youth, and marries, she will procure indecent reflections on the glory of the order of the widows, and shall give an account to God; not because she married a second time, but because she has “waxed wanton against Christ,” and not kept her promise, because she did not come and keep her promise with faith and the fear of God. Wherefore such a promise ought not to be rashly made, but with great caution: “for it is better for her not to vow, than to vow and not to pay.”[Ecclesiastes 5:5] But if any younger woman, who has lived but a while with her husband, and has lost him by death or some other occasion, and remains by herself, having the gift of widowhood, she will be found to be blessed, and to be like the widow of Sarepta, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 436, footnote 12 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Sec. II.—On Domestic and Social Life (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2969 (In-Text, Margin)
XIV. Concerning virginity we have received no commandment; but we leave it to the power of those that are willing, as a vow: exhorting them so far in this matter that they do not promise anything rashly; since Solomon says, “It is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay.”[Ecclesiastes 5:5] Let such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body and soul, as the temple of God, as the house of Christ, as the habitation of the Holy Spirit. For she that vows ought to do such works as are suitable to her vow; and to show that her vow is real, and made on account of leisure for piety, not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her not be a gadder ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 153, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Having manifested what he was and what he is, he shows the great fruit of his confession; and being about to examine by what method God and the happy life may be found, he enlarges on the nature and power of memory. Then he examines his own acts, thoughts and affections, viewed under the threefold division of temptation; and commemorates the Lord, the one mediator of God and men. (HTML)
Of the Perverse Images of Dreams, Which He Wishes to Have Taken Away. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 881 (In-Text, Margin)
... and as to marriage itself, Thou hast advised something better than Thou hast allowed. And because Thou didst give it, it was done; and that before I became a dispenser of Thy sacrament. But there still exist in my memory—of which I have spoken much—the images of such things as my habits had fixed there; and these rush into my thoughts, though strengthless, when I am awake; but in sleep they do so not only so as to give pleasure, but even to obtain consent, and what very nearly resembles reality.[Ecclesiastes 5:3] Yea, to such an extent prevails the illusion of the image, both in my soul and in my flesh, that the false persuade me, when sleeping, unto that which the true are not able when waking. Am I not myself at that time, O Lord my God? And there is yet ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 358, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The history of the city of God from Noah to the time of the kings of Israel. (HTML)
Of David’s Reign and Merit; And of His Son Solomon, and that Prophecy Relating to Christ Which is Found Either in Those Books Which are Joined to Those Written by Him, or in Those Which are Indubitably His. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1122 (In-Text, Margin)
... called the simple and the void of sense, because, as saith the apostle, “He hath chosen the weak things of this world that He might confound the things which are mighty.” Yet to these weak ones she saith what follows, “Forsake simplicity, that ye may live; and seek prudence, that ye may have life.” 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,”[Ecclesiastes 5:18] 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 after the order of Melchizedek, furnishes with His own body and blood? For that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 352, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch. (HTML)
Homily II (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1115 (In-Text, Margin)
... quietness that exists throughout the house, nor anything else of this kind, are so generally wont to make sleep sweet and pleasant, as labour and fatigue, and the need of sleep, and drowsiness when one lies down. And to this particular the experience of facts, nay, before actual experience, the assertion of the Scriptures bears witness. For Solomon, who had passed his life in luxury, when he wished to make this matter evident, said, “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much?”[Ecclesiastes 5:12] Why does he add, “whether he eat little or much?” Both these things usually bring sleeplessness, viz. indigence, and excess of food; the one drying up the body, stiffening the eyelids and not suffering them to be closed; the other straitening and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 13, page 273, footnote 2 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. (HTML)
Homilies on Colossians. (HTML)
Colossians 1:15-18 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 754 (In-Text, Margin)
... were according to the number of the nations; but now, not to the number of the nations, but that of the believers. Whence is this evident? Hear Christ saying, “See that ye despise not one of these little ones, for their Angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. xviii. 10.) For each believer hath an Angel; since even from the beginning, every one of those that were approved had his Angel, as Jacob says, “The Angel that feedeth me, and delivereth me from my youth.”[Ecclesiastes 5:6] (Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, nearly.) If then we have Angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also. Therefore we pray, asking for the Angel of peace, and everywhere we ask for peace (for there is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 263, footnote 1 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
The Saints fled for our sakes. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1492 (In-Text, Margin)
... cried aloud, ‘Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’ And so also the Preacher, who knew the conspiracies against the righteous, and said, ‘If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they: moreover there is the profit of the earth[Ecclesiastes 5:8-9].’ He had his own father David for an example, who had himself experienced the sufferings of persecution, and who supports them that suffer by the words, ‘Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that put your trust in the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 275, footnote 10 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
On the Great Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3341 (In-Text, Margin)
... was abolished, by setting up a palisade and battering down the Consubstantial: opening the door to impiety by means of what is written, using as their pretext, their reverence for Scripture and for the use of approved terms, but really introducing unscriptural Arianism. For the phrase “like, according to the Scriptures,” was a bait to the simple, concealing the hook of impiety, a figure seeming to look in the direction of all who passed by, a boot fitting either foot, a winnowing with every wind,[Ecclesiastes 5:9] gaining authority from the newly written villany and device against the truth. For they were wise to do evil, but to do good they had no knowledge.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 253, footnote 2 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book VII. Of the Spirit of Covetousness. (HTML)
Chapter XV. Of the difference between one who renounces the world badly and one who does not renounce it at all. (HTML)
... man is unstable in all his ways.” And thinking, according to that Parable in the Gospel, that he who goes forth with ten thousand men against a king who comes with twenty thousand, cannot possibly fight, they should, while he is yet a great way off, ask for peace; that is, it is better for them not even to take the first step towards renunciation, rather than afterwards following it up coldly, to involve themselves in still greater dangers. For “it is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay.”[Ecclesiastes 5:4] But finely is the one described as coming with ten thousand and the other with twenty. For the number of sins which attack us is far larger than that of the virtues which fight for us. But “no man can serve God and Mammon.” And “no man putting his ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 391, footnote 3 (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 IX. The First Conference of Abbot Isaac. On Prayer. (HTML)
Chapter XII. Of Prayer. (HTML)
... ἰὰς ἐυκάς μου τῶ κυρίῶ ἀποδώσω, in Latin we read: “I will pay my vows unto the Lord;” where according to the exact force of the words it may be thus represented: “I will pay my prayers unto the Lord.” And this which we find in Ecclesiastes: “If thou vowest a vow unto the Lord do not delay to pay it,” is written in Greek likewise: ἐάν ἐύξῃ ἐυχὴν τῶ κυρίῶ, i.e., “If thou prayest a prayer unto the Lord, do not delay to pay it,”[Ecclesiastes 5:3] which will be fulfilled in this way by each one of us. We pray, when we renounce this world and promise that being dead to all worldly actions and the life of this world we will serve the Lord with full purpose of heart. We pray when we promise that ...