He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men’s, his ways are of another fashion.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 2:15 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 2
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"Since the wicked went away from me, I did not know him." What, then, does "I did not know him" mean? Does it refer to the fact that when a scoundrel meets a righteous person on a narrow street, the words from the Wisdom of Solomon run through his mind, "It annoys us just to see him," and he crosses the street, so as to not see that undesired person? But how many rascals there are, and how difficult it is for us to see them! They see us, and not only do they not depart from us, but also they run after us, hoping (at least sometimes) to carry out their wicked plans with our collaboration! This happens all the time. In what sense, then, do they go away? The person who is not like you departs from you. What does "he departs from you" mean? He does not follow you. And what does "He does not follow you" mean? He does not imitate your conduct. Or, "Since the wicked was far from me," that is, since he was not like me, neither did he want to imitate my conduct (he did not want to live according to the model that my life offered for his imitation), and thus, "I did not know him." What, then, does "I did not know him" mean? That I did not approve of him, and not that I did not actually know him.
