Commentary on Wisdom
Pelagius
Their just God, teacher of mercy and compassion—who would later bestow the Law (by which he would give his people the precepts that would enable them to act with mercy and compassion and to do good works)—wanted them to first suffer every kind of affliction, tribulation and anguish in a foreign land. This was so they would more easily pity those who suffer these same things and so respect his commandments. Imagine a wise farmer who, before sowing the seed, takes time to soften the land with plow and rake, so that the seed that he entrusts to it will not be lost. Likewise God soaks and softens his people for a long time before bestowing on them the salutary seeds of the commandments. Finally, so that it would be even more evident that this was why he inflicted these things on his people, we see that the Lord says in his commandments, "Do not molest or oppress the alien, because you were aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt." We also read, "The great God, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes, who renders justice to the alien, the orphan and the widow. Delight in giving them bread and clothing, because you were like them in the land of Egypt." And elsewhere it says, "When…
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