[84]. wat, until: comp. 217/102: often with al, 215/26; ‘al hwat hie hine fordemden,’ VV 51/12 and frequently: wat is relative conj. substituted for þat, with same meaning; see 72/179, 108/245: so þen exchanges with hwanne, þer with hwær. þe, when, so þa 93.
[85]. arerdon, set up, established: comp. ‘þæt is þonne ǽrest þæt ic wylle þæt man rihte laga upp arǽre,’ Schmid, Gesetze, 270.
[87]. hlafordes . . . helendes . . . cristes: this appositional construction is OE.; comp. ‘on drihtnes naman ures hælendes cristes,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 366/46: it is fairly common in early ME.; comp. 8/106, 9/121, 9/137, 12/6, 7.
[89]. stef creft: OE. stæf cræft, the art of letters, and hence, book learning.
[90]. Eft bine fece ⁊: with this superfluous and connecting a phrase to the main sentence, comp. ‘Him þa gyt sprecendum ⁊ soþlice þa beorhtwolcn hig oferscean,’ S. Matt. xvii. 5. (= ‘Adhuc eo loquente, ecce nubes lucida obumbravit eos.’) acolede, cooled, lost its vigour: comp. ‘⁊ forþam þe unryhtwisnys rixað manegra lufu acolaþ,’ S. Matt. xxiv. 12 (= ‘refrigescet charitas multorum’). See 159/161.
[91]. hur ⁊ hur, especially: a doubling for emphasis of OE. hūru, at least: comp. 149/11.
[92]. awente &c.: ‘Qui commutaverunt veritatem Dei in mendacium: et coluerunt et servierunt creaturae potius quam Creatori,’ Romans i. 25.
[95]. begripe, seized, in the grip of: comp. ‘seo sawul bið micele atelicor, gif heo mid mislicum leahtrum begripen bið,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 122/23. diefles muðe: comp. 17/150. Mediaeval art gave a very literal rendering of ‘infernus . . . aperuit os suum absque ullo termino: et descendent fortes eius, et populus eius, et sublimes, gloriosique eius ad eum,’ Isaiah v. 14; see Wright, History of Caricature, 69-71.
[97]. sette, ordained, established: comp. ‘þis synd þa . . . laga þe drihten gesette betwyx him and Israhela folc,’ Levit. xxvi. 46.
[99]-104. Comp. ‘Triplici morbo laborat genus humanum: principio, medio et fine, id est nativitate, vita et morte. Nativitas immunda, vita perversa, mors periculosa. Venit Christus, et contra triplicem hunc morbum attulit triplex remedium. Natus est enim, vixit, mortuus est: atque eius nativitas purgavit nostram, mors illius destruxit nostram, et vita eius instruxit nostram,’ S. Bernardi Op. ii. 776. The Liber Sententiarum, from which this passage comes, is placed by Mabillon among the doubtful works. There can be little doubt that it is the source of the English passage.