Nevertheless, when I perceived that I could not otherwise obtain her, except God gave her me; and that was a point of wisdom also to know whose gift she was; I prayed unto the Lord, and besought him, and with my whole heart I said,
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 8:21 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 8
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"And this also was wisdom: to know whose gift it was." Therefore, if you have something from God and do not know from whom you have it, you will not receive a reward, since you will be ungrateful for it. If you do not know who gave it to you, you will not give thanks. And if you do not give thanks, you will also lose what you have. Indeed, "to him who has, more will be given." What is it to possess fully? To know from whom it comes. "But the one who does not have," that is, who does not know from whom it comes, "will lose even what he has." Finally, as it also says, "And precisely this was wisdom: to know from whom the gift came." The apostle Paul says this also when he exhorts us to give thanks to God in the Holy Spirit. And almost as if to respond to the question, How will we know the difference? he adds, "that we may know all that has been given to us by God."
