The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 43:20 Komentář

We have been commanded to be fervent in spirit, and this shows that the Word of God is a blazing fire. And Jeremiah hears from the one who gave him oracles, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth, a fire.” Therefore, since God is fire, the angels are flames of fire, and the saints should be fervent in the spirit of God. They have without a doubt cooled in their love for him and have become cold. Indeed, the Lord says that “increasing iniquity, the love of many will grow cold.” And all those beings that symbolize the contrary power in sacred Scripture are always cold. The devil, in fact, is called a serpent and a dragon: what is colder than these? It is said that the dragon rules in the waters, and this is also said of one of the evil spirits that the prophet says dwells in the sea. And elsewhere the prophet says, “He will strike with the holy sword the serpent dragon that flees—the dragon, the perverse serpent—and he will kill him.” And in another passage, “Even if they depart from before my eyes and flee into the depths of the sea, I will command the dragon, and he will bite them.” And in Job this creature is called king of all the beings that are in the water. The prophet announces that evils come from the north, and especially those that inhabit the earth. And the north wind is indicated as cold in the Scriptures, as is written in Wisdom, “icy north wind.” Without question, we must refer this to the devil.