But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Ver. 9. But they that will be rich] That are resolved to have it, howsoever- rem, rem, quocunque modo rem. a "He that hasteth to be rich shall not be innocent," Proverbs 28:20 .
And a snare] As the panther, which so loveth man's dung, that if it be hanged a height from it, it will leap, and never leave it till it have burst itseff in pieces to get it.
Drown men in destruction and perdition] Ita demergunt ut in aquae summitate rursus non ebulliant, So as they never show themselves above water any more. b We read of the inhabitants of Oenoe, a dry island beside Athens, that they bestowed much labour to draw into it a river to water it, and make it more fruitful. But when all the passages were opened, and the receptacles prepared, the water came in so plentifully, that it overflowed all; and at the first tide drowned the island and all the people. So fareth it with many covetous caitiffs, (wretches) who seem to be of Nevessan the lawyer's mind, "He that will not venture his body shall never be valiant; he that will not venture his soul shall never be rich." Hubertus, an English cormorant, made this will: I yield my goods to the king, my body to the grave, my soul to the devil. How much better Aristippus and Crates the Theban, with their Hinc abite malae divitiae: satius enim eat a me vos demergi, &c.: they threw their riches into the sea, saying, Hence, hence, base trash! better we drown you in the sea than that you should drown us in perdition and destruction. Plutarch reports of one Philoxenus, that finding his heart too fast affected to his wealth, he made away with it; and said, nay, swore, that he would part with it rather than be undone for ever by it. c Christians have a better way to dispose of their riches than to throw them away, Psalms 16:3; Luke 16:9. But many rich wretches do as Heliogabalus did, who provided silken halters to hang himself withal, ponds of sweet water to drown himself with, gilded poisons to poison himself with, rather than to fall into the hands of his enemies. So do these strangle, drown, poison their precious souls with profits, pleasures, and preferments, &c., and many times meet with perdition and destruction, that is, with a double destruction, temporal and eternal, as some expound it.
a Divis qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri. Juv.
b βυθιζουσι, such a drowning as is desperate.
c μα ατους θεους εμε, ταυτα, τα αγαθα ουκ απολει, αλλ ' εγω τυτα. Plut.