Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor.
Read Chapter 3
Bede
AD 735
When the left hand of Christ is interpreted as referring to something good, the present life of holy church is understood. Hence it is written, “Length of days is in her right hand, in her left riches and glory.” Length of days in her right hand [refers to] our Redeemer’s wisdom because in the fatherland of the dwelling on high unfailing light is granted to the elect of both angels and human beings. Riches and glory are in her left hand, because we are restored during [our time of] exile in our journey [on this earth] by both the riches of the virtues and the glory of our faith, until we come to our eternal [resting place]. Of his glory the apostle says, “And we glory in our hope of the glory of the children of God, and not only this, but we also glory in our tribulations”; and of these riches he says, “Because in everything you have become rich in him, with all speech and knowledge.”
As Proverbs has it, “Length of days and years of life are in his right hand,” and this means eternal blessedness, whereas “In his left hand are riches and glory,” denoting the good things of this world, though there is no doubt that these can be bestowed by him. Moreover, it is his right side to which the saints are allotted when separated from the rest to obtain their rewards, whereas the left side is that mentioned when sinners are to be condemned to eternal punishment; for the saints have longed for things heavenly, whereas sinners have sought worldly goods. We also read that sinners have given the left hand’s role to their right hand; our prophet is to say of them in Psalm : “Their mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.” But the true use of the right hand is where the bestowal of the Lord’s grace is demonstrated.
The church says by the voice of the elect, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.” She has put under her head, as it were, the left hand of God, that is, the prosperity of the present life, and presses it down in the rapture of supreme love; but the right hand of God embraces her, because in her complete devotion, she is enfolded with his eternal happiness. Wherefore, it is said again by Solomon, “Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand, riches and glory.” He showed, then, how riches and glory are to be regarded, inasmuch as he recorded them as placed in the left hand. Wherefore, the psalmist says, “Save me with your right hand.” He does not say, “with the hand” but “with the right hand,” to indicate by using the words “right hand,” he is seeking eternal salvation. For this reason it is written again, “Your right hand, O Lord, has destroyed the enemy.” For the enemies of God, though prosperous in his left hand, are destroyed by his right...
The careful reader will easily perceive how great a difference there is between the right and the left side of wisdom when he has taken note of what she is reported to hold in her right hand and in her left, for Scripture says, “Long life is in her right hand, in her left are riches and honor.” You see eternity and everlasting life in wisdom’s right hand. But the perishable and fleeting things of time, creatures that are gone the very instant we think we have them in our grasp—riches and honor—are in her left. This is consistent with the fact that on the day of judgment, some will stand on the right and others on the left: sheep, naturally, and saints on his right, but goats and sinners on his left. Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series (Psalm ).
