Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
Ver. 15. Avoid it, pass not by it.] As ye would not come near a carrion carcass; as the seaman shuns sands and shelves (the apostle's simile, 2Th 3:6); as ye would be loath to come near those that have the plague sore running upon them. Evil men endanger good men, as weeds the grain, as bad humours the blood, or as an infected house the neighbourhood. Nemo errat sibi ipsi, sed dementiara spargit in proximos, a Entireness with wicked consorts is one of the strongest chains of hell, and binds us to a participation both of sin and punishment. Hence so many words about it here: Abundans cautela, &c. This heap of words is not without great use and emphasis; there is earnestness, and not looseness in this repetition.
a Seneca.