Wisdom 6:7
For to him that is little, mercy is granted: but the mighty shall be mightily tormented.
Open Wisdom 6:7 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Exiguo enim conceditur misericordia ; potentes autem potenter tormenta patientur.
- Septuagint (Swete) shown from Wisdom 6:6
- ὁ γὰρ ἐλάχιστος συγγνωστός ἐστιν ἐλέους, δυνατοὶ δὲ δυνατῶς ἐτασθήσονται·
Haydock's commentary
Little, and ignorant. Those in power ought to know, and to perform their duty.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, Testimony CXII
In Solomon: “The hardest judgment shall be made on those who govern. For to a mean man mercy is granted; but the powerful shall suffer torments mightily.” Also in the second Psalm: “And now, ye kings, understand; be amended, ye who judge the earth.”
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Matthew VIII. 5
What is it then which I add? The man’s virtue; which makes the fault also greater. For all things are not judged alike in all men. “For mighty” men (it is said) “shall be mightily tormented:”and “He that knew his Lord’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” So that more knowledge is a ground of more punishment. For this same reason the priest, if he commit the same sin as those under government, shall not have the same to endure, but things far more grievous.
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Heliodorus, Monk
9. Not all bishops are bishops indeed. You consider Peter; mark Judas as well. You notice Stephen; look also on Nicolas, sentenced in the Apocalypse by the Lord’s own lips, whose shameful imaginations gave rise to the heresy of the Nicolaitans. “Let a man examine himself and so let him come.” For it is not ecclesiastical rank that makes a man a Christian. The centurion Cornelius was still a heathen when he was cleansed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Daniel was but a child when he judged the elders. Amos was stripping mulberry bushes when, in a moment, he was made a prophet. David was only a shepherd when he was chosen to be king. And the least of His disciples was the one whom Jesus loved the most. My brother, sit down in the lower room, that when one less honorable comes you may be bidden to go up higher. …