This rather short text by Eckhart has been available in a critical edition
for decades, but has been rarely read and studied, regarded by its editor
as a mediocre piece of the young Eckhart. It is, indeed, a strangely
looking work, almost entirely a cut-and-paste piece from Thomas Aquinas' Golden
Chain. A close study of Eckhart's commentary, however, gives insights
into his reception of the Patristic tradition, his dealing with Thomas'
choice and provides a masterpiece of Eckhart's teaching on prayer. He
himself held his work in high regard and used it when writing trinitarian
homilies