Abia pursued Jeroboam, and seized from him such and such cities; and Jeroboam had no strength any more all the days of Abia, and the Lord struck him, and he died. A
(4) Another, Zambri, reigned in Israel for twelve years, who was appointed by the people besieging Gabaoth [the city] of the foreigners, being commander of the army. For the other Zambri, he who killed Ela the drunkard in Thersa, having sought to reign tyrannically, killed himself by setting fire to the royal house. B
(5) Here he first calls the places of the ten tribes Samaria. We must note, therefore, that the ten tribes were called Israel, and the place inhabited by them was called Samaria. Next, Achaab reigns over Israel for twenty-two years.
CHAP. XIX.
V. 6. And he turned and slept.
V. 7. And the angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat.
(6) And he says, *And he turned and slept. And the angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him.* Perhaps this was a symbol of the powers ministering to the prophet the food befitting him—to a man who was departing from human affairs, and who was worthy to be instructed by such beings, so that after these things he might be able to hear, "Arise and eat," and might find at his head ineffable mysteries, of which the wheaten cake was a type; of which he partakes a second time according to the command of the angel, saying: "Arise, eat, for the journey is too great for you." Now the ravens brought bread to Elias in the morning, conformable to the things spoken by the Lord our God; and flesh in the evening, similarly to that: C (8) "Toward evening you shall eat flesh."
ORIGEN'S ENARRATIONS ON JOB.
(From the Gallandian Library.)CHAP. I.
(9) V. 10. Do you not know that he has been fenced in? Whence do you know that he has been fortified? This adversary of ours, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking D
A to devour someone. He came, therefore, also to Job, wishing to do the same things. Later, having received authority, he did these things. And because everything was fenced in—and he understood this from the fact that he was forbidden—wishing to do what concerned Job, he said: "You have fenced in his inner parts and his outer parts." 10 Everything, therefore, as far as it is not given over to the devil, you have fenced in.
V. 18. While he was yet speaking, another messenger came, saying to Job: "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking beside their eldest brother; V. 19. Suddenly a great wind came from the desert and struck the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon your children, and they died. And I alone have escaped, and I have come to tell you." He caused the camels to be in the power of the horsemen, the donkeys and the yokes of oxen in the power of those capturing them; but he hated the sheep. Therefore, he brought down fire upon them. But he also plotted against the children; he sought an opportunity to destroy them. If he had found them reading, he would not have touched the house, nor would he have had a place to kill them. If he had found them devoted to prayer, he would have been able to do nothing against them. B But when he found an opportunity, he prevailed. What, then, was the time? It was drunkenness, it was a banquet. As for the wind striking the corners of the house, understand that in the street corners hypocrites stand and pray; and everyone who has not entered the straight path makes use of corners. And a wide corner is much and unrestrained wickedness.
CHAP. II.
V. 2. And the Lord said to the devil: "Whence do you come?" God watched so that Satan might be confounded and exhausted. But when, in questioning, He saw him acting senselessly, He then reproves him for doing evil, just as He reproved Cain. V. 9. But as time went on, his wife said to him. Observe the malice. When much time had passed, then he attacks. For then, most especially, is one's virtue weakened. There were two things that made him weaker: first, because by enduring he became more languid through the length of time, and second, because he despaired more in his soul. And a little later: Let us not, therefore, look at the fact that she was a wife, but at what she counsels. I advise this also to the men of our own age: not to look to the dignity of persons, but to the manner of the counsel. A wife exists to help, not to trip up. C
V. 9. His wife said to him: "How long will you endure?" The devil applies the strongest of all the preceding machines in the last place. If only you had accepted this too! If only you had been buried with your children! But some say that these words are not even of the wife, but of the
A one representing her having spoken these things; for Job’s wife could not have been of this sort. Unless someone says that, having been turned by calamity, she became such. And after a little: It is likely that this was not the first counsel, but that she had often heard many things more grievous than these from his wife. Observe the diabolical deception. He called Eve to mind. This, he says, first cast down man; this will be able to overcome him also. But, O miserable and foolish one! Having found that one subject to her belly, she poured in her own venom. But this one you see devoting himself to virtue, and overcoming nature itself. The loss of wealth did not bend him, nor the untimely death of children, nor torture of the body that allows no comfort, nor length of time so great. And do you expect to overcome, by words, him who was not conquered by the realities themselves? B By the same. Why do you weaken the athlete? Why do you drop your hands, when you ought to say with the Apostle: "Yet a little while, yet a little while" (Hebr. x, 37)? V. 9. "But speak some word into the Lord, and die." After she had diligently recounted the sorrowful event, then she brings forward her shameless counsel. And she did not even say to him openly: "Blaspheme." For those who counsel evil things do not dare to bring forth their counsel uncovered. What are you saying, O wife? When it were necessary rather to render Him appeased, when it were necessary to reconcile, do you rather urge provoking Him? For if God did these things, one ought to beseech Him, not to blaspheme. Whence, however, is it clear that when I have cursed I shall die? Mark, however, with what opinion this woman was C regarding blasphemy. She reckoned, indeed, that it could immediately bring death. V. 10. "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil things?" For this blessed man, being struck from every side, stood more securely, and receiving countless arrows, he did not yield. But although he emptied the devil’s quiver, he himself did not fall, nor was he tripped up. But like an excellent helmsman, neither was he submerged by the raging of the sea and the stirring up of the waves, nor, when there was a calm, did he become more negligent. But in either variation of the times, he maintained his art as equal. And neither did wealth puff him up, nor did poverty cast him down in spirit, nor, with his affairs flowing in a smooth channel, was he supine and sluggish. Nay, not even when his house was D almost entirely overturned, and when destruction was happening, was he disturbed, but he produced clear testimonies of his virtue. Let the rich hear, let the poor hear; for the narrative is useful to both, and the history is profitable to all men; both to those in prosperity, and to those in calamities. For employing both weapons, this champion of piety, this crowned athlete of the world, erected the trophy in both; and against every kind of war of the demon, against all things he descended into battle.
A And just as a noble soldier, who knows how to fight by night, to fight from walls, to fight on foot, to fight at sea, and to shoot arrows, and to brandish a spear, and to use slings and javelins, and in every manner of warfare to get the better of the enemy and to prevail everywhere; so too did that noble man endure every temptation with great fortitude—the temptation, I mean, of poverty, of famine, of disease, of pain, of the loss of children, the temptation from friends, from adversaries, from his wife, and from his domestics. For there was no human calamity that was not poured out upon his body. Nevertheless, he overcame all the snares and was loftier than the darts of the devil. But that which is more stupendous than all the rest is that all these things befell him, and all with excess, and all at once. For do not attend only to the fact that he suffered so many things, but add that it was not gradually, not at intervals, but all at once and together. And this is no minor addition of temptations. For as for other men, no one will be found who has endured everything at once; but if one struggles with poverty, he nevertheless enjoys health; if he is vexed by both poverty and disease, he has often enjoyed a wife who consoles his calamities and who acts as a harbor for him. If he did not enjoy such a wife, at least she did not counsel him to such pernicious things; and he did not lose his children all at once; if all at once, then not by such a manner of death; if by such a manner of death, he nevertheless had friends as consolers, and they did not attack him so; and if they did attack, they did not also have domestics insulting him; and if they did insult him, they did not also spit in his face; and if they did spit in his face, he was not also consumed by such a disease, and he had a home and a roof, and was not sitting upon a dunghill; and if he did sit upon a dunghill, he at least had those reaching out a hand; and if they did not reach out a hand, they did not also rush upon him. But this man endured all these things. B
V. 11. *Advenerunt quisque ex propria regione ad illum, Eliphaz Thamanorum rex, Baldad Sauchaeorum tyrannus, Sophar Minaeorum rex.* C
*Amica praesentia tua, amica et admonitio.* Eliphaz is, *Deus me disseminavit*, or *Dei mei contumelia*. Thaman, *defectus eorum*. Sophar, *scopus*, or *contumelia*. Baldad, *inveteratio, et gloriosus*. Sauchaeorum, *garrulitas eorum*.
V. 11. *Audientes autem tres amici ejus mala omnia quae supervenerant ei, adfuerunt quisque ex propria regione ad illum.*
If anyone asks why the friends arrived after so much time, let him consider first of all that they inhabited different regions, and perhaps many heard of it only after a very long time. The misfortune seemed beyond belief and opinion, if Job was even sitting upon the dunghill D
A and without a helper. And they waited so that the report might be confirmed to the many, or even that they might send and see if indeed what was said was true. In the meantime, therefore, time was being worn away. Moreover, when they came to know the truth, being kings and about to travel abroad, they had the necessity first to order well their domestic affairs, and to appoint proxies over their subjects in their own stead. All these things occupied them and caused delay. And had they not been some very beloved and righteous persons, they would not have left their own lands and kingdoms, and come for the visitation, but would have fulfilled the task through others. Yet it is to be considered that the delay of their arrival was also a matter of a certain divine economy. For since along with the discussion of the friends the whole contest was resolved, God answering, and upholding and crowning the righteous man, it was a B certain divine providence that the friends should delay, so that the disease might be extended, and the righteous man, having struggled more greatly, might be proclaimed a victor by God with greater justice.
(26) V. 11. And they came to him concordantly, to console him and visit him.
Symmachus has set it forth thus: For they had agreed that, coming together, they might sympathize with him and console him. See also from this that another period of time passed, until, by sending messages to one another, they made their gathering and arrival at the same time.
(27) V. 12. And sprinkling earth upon their heads.
V. 13. They sat with him seven days, and seven nights.
The Scripture did not say that they sat seven days from morning until evening, nor seven nights from evening C until morning. It is clear, therefore, that while they sat for the greater part of the day, they would withdraw to fulfill necessary needs; and returning again, they would sit until late in the night, and departing again, they would arise early in the morning to him. This is indeed characteristic of the most genuine and sympathetic friends. But using common custom, the Scripture spoke thus absolutely: They sat with him seven days and seven nights. For even when it says that Jacob served fourteen years, and was scorched by the heat of the day and by the frost of the night, did he never go under a roof? Did he have no rest at all in all that time? To discuss these things in a subtle way would be trivial. For as I was saying, Scripture uses common custom. But since some, mocking Scripture, even on this basis disparage it as false—for how, they say, did they continue without food and sleepless for so many days?—we have been compelled to accommodate ourselves to their D ill-timed hair-splitting.
Chap. III
And in these matters, indeed, the second chapter is completed: but as we make a certain overview of the third, we say,
A that the righteous man feels pain—no one would deny it—for virtue is not a characteristic of the unfeeling, but of those who act like philosophers in the midst of their sufferings. B Yet he suffers pain, according to the outward appearance, when stung most sharply by the bodily plague; nor, according to the inner understanding, since he is a righteous man and a lover of God, seeing some scandalized by his sufferings, as if God’s glory were being dragged into the dirt through him, if the righteous man endures these things. For when he says, "Why hast thou set me as an adversary against thee?" he was not himself acting as an adversary against God—far be it! For whom could he have to oppose? But this is what he says: "Why, O Lord, is thy name blasphemed on account of me?" He is troubled, nevertheless, and seethes, fearing lest he had been abandoned by God altogether. For nothing so greatly torments a soul that loves God as the suspicion that it has been abandoned by God. Indeed, it would choose death a thousand times over rather than be numbered among the living while in such anguish and with such a suspicion. Therefore, we have heard what hymns of thanksgiving he uttered upon the loss of his livestock and the wholesale death of his children; and how he instructed his wife, who had entertained some unworthy thought regarding the Lord; and what he declared after the trial, the humiliation, and the bitter suffering, and how no human events disturbed him. But when his friends arrived, who were righteous and compassionate men, he judged it an opportune time—seeing their endurance and their love toward him—to recount and set forth the sorrows of his soul, and he thought it safe to relate them historically. For the one goal of the devil was to cause this righteous man to blaspheme God. But he is seen in no way to have done this, but rather to have praised Him more, and to have sent forth voices of thanksgiving. He curses, however, the day of his birth, and longs for death, for the reasons mentioned above. But according to the deeper meaning, he speaks of mysteries; and concerning things that have already come to pass, he philosophizes, and he makes certain those things that are to come. For such are always the utterances of the holy prophets. Approaching the very words, then, let us clarify their meaning, with Him guiding us toward the interpretation who also strengthened holy Job for his contests.
V. 1. After this Job opened his mouth.
D Because a righteous man opens his mouth, we ought not to attend to what is said heedlessly, but to seek out the benefit that proceeds from the words. For the utterances of such holy men are always full of benefit; and when a righteous man opens his mouth, he brings forth hidden treasures. Therefore, the vessel of election, Paul, writing, says: "Our mouth is opened unto you, O Corinthians." And it is written of the Lord that "Opening his mouth, he taught." And He is simply testified of as opening His mouth, having first been taught the measures of silence. Thus, Job also opens his mouthA after those passions, not speaking without scrutiny while in pain throughout his entire body; for the tongue anticipates the laws of prudence, yet he shows himself sober even in his very words. The testimony that he "opened his mouth" also indicates the tranquility of his soul and the decorum of his utterances.
CAP. XIX.
V. 1. *How long will you make my soul burdensome?* As heavy bodies placed upon the bodies of animals weary those who bear them, so there are some heavy words which, when one hears them, he grows weary. As if oppressed by a weight, and under the power of words—words not spoken well or gently, but expressed as reproaches by the others who had come with Bildad—Job, as though feeling the weight B of a heavy burden, says, being weary in soul by what they had said: "How long will you make my soul burdensome?" And a little after: You see how the tyrant of the Shuhites has been characterized. Tyrannical are his words, which when Job hears, he says: "How long will you make my soul burdensome?" Nothing else so affects the soul of a man as a harsh word. Often he who has endured the torments applied to his body has not endured words. Yet the perfect athlete, even if weary, nevertheless endures painful words. For to endure insult is the mark of a great man. Therefore, in his own virtues, the Apostle recounts: C "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now." And a little later he says, concerning that: "How long will you make my soul burdensome?" Do you see? It is Job, whose book contains nothing else in particular but his courage and his patience. Nevertheless, he feels the labors with which he had grown weary from the harsh speech of those who had come to visit him.V. 5. *Acknowledge only that the Lord has done this to me.* What you see concerning me, do not think came from elsewhere than from God. Fear, therefore. For He who inflicts these things upon me can also inflict them upon you.
V. 3. *You speak against me; not having reverence for me, you set upon me.* Often someone speaks against another while doing wrong. When, however, he does not blush, he says it to his face—not rebuking, nor speaking the truth, but railing and insulting. For one ought not to trample upon those who are being chastised by God, but rather to lament and be afraid.
V. 4. *For indeed I have in truth gone astray, but error lodges with me: to speak a word that I ought not.* Then he says by hypothesis: I grant you that
I suffer this on account of A my sins. Does it therefore behoove you to reproach me in this way? In me, however, error lodges. Even if by way of hypothesis I had done such things as ought not to have been done; even if I had been such a man, did it not behoove you, seeing the scourges, the decay, the worms, the loss of possessions, to show reverence? Yet you have attacked me, neither pitying me nor sympathizing with my calamity.
V. 5. *But be it that you magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.* You do not reproach me in a moderate way, but, taking over from one another, you insult me: you reproach me as if rushing upon and trampling me.
V. 6. *He has exalted his fortification over me.* I am a fortification as if under a wall of calamity, which I cannot escape until God judges to pull it down.
V. 7. *Behold, I laugh at reproach, and will not speak.* This is that: *Overcome evil with good.* B Idem: Behold, in your reproach I think to laugh, not to speak.
CAP. XX.
V. 6. *If his gifts ascend into heaven, and his sacrifice touch the clouds.* If the gifts of the impious ascend into heaven, if they are elevated to a great degree, if his sacrifice touches the clouds. Whenever a heretic prays, whenever his sacrifice ascends out of pride, whenever he seems to have been confirmed, then he perishes utterly. For his prayer is reckoned to him as sin, and this his very prayer is sin.
V. 7. *For whenever he seems to have been confirmed, then he perishes in the end.*
Likewise: *But the enemies of the Lord, as soon as they are glorified and exalted, failing, they have failed like smoke.*
V. 7. *But they that saw him shall say, Where is he?* Who are they that saw him? We, the ecclesiastics, who, seeing their errors, shall say: Where are they?
V. 8. *As an explained dream, he shall by no means be found.* Such dreamers, and those who fashion phantasms for themselves, do not at all support their mind with the truth when they are deceived, and they become like an explained dream, which cannot be found. C
V. 10. *Let the younger ones lose his sons.* [That is,] his sons and the disciples of him who taught these things.
V. 10. *But his hands shall kindle pains.* His hands, he says, that is, his works, shall kindle punishment for him. D
*But his hands.* Of this impious and seduced man, whose prayer is reckoned as sin; whose sacrifice, if it ascends into heaven and touches the clouds, then at the end.
A it perishes: the pains of this man’s hands shall kindle; that is, they shall dwell even in extreme sorrows. He speaks indeed of the sons of the impious man.
V. 13. *The bile of the asp is in his belly.* For he has teachings which are not sweet, but are the bile of an asp, that is, malicious, which comes from the wine of their doctrine. *For their vine is of the vine of Sodom*, and so forth. And after a few words: But the bile of the asp is in the belly of the heretic, and of him who professes impious dogmas, contrary to the truth.
V. 15. *Wealth unjustly gathered shall be spewed out.* For what other wealth is gathered unjustly, if not that which is in their words? For it is gathered unjustly. But the kind God will not allow those who are cast headlong to have always within themselves the wealth gathered unjustly; for He will cause them to spew it out.
B V. 15. *An angel shall drag him from his house.* For an angel, by the operation and beneficence of God, shall drag him out from that which was badly built, which is the church of those who do evil. For this is his house. But the angel shall drag him from his house.
V. 17. *Let him not see the milking of the herds.* The heterodox man does not see the milking of the pasturing herds. Pasturing herds are certain souls which feed under the good Shepherd, who said: *I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture.*
V. 18. *As a striphnus that is not chewed nor swallowed.* The words and dogmas are hard and thick; those things that are done against God have nothing sweet in them. A striphnus is an herb that is rough to the tongue of one chewing it. As therefore, he says, that herb, even if anyone strives greatly to soften it with his teeth, he cannot swallow; so also he who wishes to enjoy the property of others shall carry away no profit from his labors.
C V. 20. *Therefore his goods shall not flourish.* What he thinks are good actions shall not flourish: when they seem to have already reached their full measure, they shall be crushed.
V. 20. *There is no safety for his possessions.* His possessions cannot provide him with safety.
*Otherwise.*
V. 22. *But all necessity shall come upon him, and He shall send into him the spirit of wrath.*
V. 22. *But all necessity shall come upon him.* These things exhort us that we should abstain from the property of others.
A V. 22. *It shall rain upon him sorrows.* Instead of snow, sorrows come upon such a man. V. 24. *And he shall not be saved from the hand of iron.* He does not speak of this sensible iron, but of a most cutting word. V. 25. *But let the dart pass through his body.* Darts of this kind, being fiery, wound him. V. 25. *Fire that does not consume shall devour him.* We learn a certain mystery concerning the punishment that is reserved, that we may be on our guard against suffering it. He speaks of a fire that does not consume as being about to devour the ungodly. This fire of ours, which is material, is not an unconsuming fire, for we see it. But that other fire is invisible—the fire that comes upon sinners, which burns them inwardly. It is intellectual and punishing. If you wish to take an image of that fire, imagine for me a man suffering from a savage fever, and burned by that fire. You will not find the fire in him by looking, yet it is present and burns his entrails. In no other way is someone who burns with sins consumed. V. 25. *But let a stranger afflict his house.* He who waged war against that people was a stranger, and not a proselyte; he who afflicted his house, overturning what was held to be a sanctuary, and the city which they called holy. V. 27. *But let heaven reveal his iniquities.* Instead of "and from God and from heaven he shall endure evils." He said these things because Job, having stated that he had been wounded by God, had also made mention that he had been wronged by men. He strives, therefore, to prove that all things had been brought upon him on account of sins. V. 27. *But let the earth rise up against him.* The very earth rises up against that people. V. 29. *And the possession of his faculties [shall be] from the inspector.* D Do you understand who is named the inspector here? God is called inspector, and bishops, if they are good and upright, strive in every way to bear His image. And just as one who imitates a royal image is honored because he has imitated it well, and also because he has adorned it, so the blessed bishop, who considers the true Bishop and emulates Him, and becomes as it were a god among men; or who has as his bishop Him who truly made him a bishop in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CHAP. XXI.
V. 5. *Looking at me, have admiration.* You say that you are wise, and that you know why I suffer these things, as if God were not sleeping over the sins of men. And you have dared to call me a sinner, and to say that I have righteously come to these things. V. 7. *They have grown old, moreover, in riches.* They have not recently become rich, but for many yearsA have been growing rich, and always increasing their wealth.
V. 8. *Their seed is according to the soul.* The seed of the just man is according to the spirit. For he sows in the spirit, and from the spirit he reaps eternal life. But for such people, since the animal man does not receive the things of the spirit—for it is folly to him—the seed is not according to the spirit, but according to the soul, which is an inferior thing.
V. 8. *And their children in their eyes.* Everything they do, they do to be seen by men. For the children are the works of every man. The children of the heterodox are not in the heart, in good thoughts, but in the eyes, to be seen by men. Whenever you enter into the synagogue of heretics, and see there a multitude of people gathered, see that their houses are prospering.
V. 9. *And fear is nowhere.* They are fearless. They do not fear God; they despise the Divinity. Saying such things about God, they do not fear that they are talking about God.
V. 9. *And scourging from the Lord is not upon them.* Of the same. If you see a man speaking such things against God, healthy in body, seeing, retaining his senses, and appearing at times even to fare well in worldly matters; consider that in him, although he is impious, the text is fulfilled: *And scourging from the Lord is not upon them.*
V. 10. *Their cow has not proved barren.* B Of the same. The cow is an animal for cultivation, and one that works together toward agriculture. And they too cultivate. But they cultivate Sodom and Gomorrah; they cultivate Egypt. Their cow has not acted immaturely, but it too conceived and bore a child, so that their evil land might be cultivated.
V. 10. *But she was saved in them having in the womb, and she did not miscarry.* Whatever they conceive, this they also bear, not conceiving from the fear of God, but from wickedness. *Behold, he has travailed with injustice, he has conceived labor, and brought forth iniquity.*
V. 11. *But they remain as eternal sheep.* What is the meaning of: *They will remain as eternal sheep?* Regarding whom Christ says: *My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life,* and so on; these are the eternal sheep. Since, therefore, the heterodox are mimes and wish to imitate the flock of Christ, ordaining for themselves bishops, presbyters, deacons, teachers, laity, and catechumens—imitating the eternal sheep—they fulfill the text: *But they remain as C eternal sheep.* They are not actually eternal sheep, but they remain as eternal sheep.
A
V. 11. *Their children make sport.* V. 12. *Taking up the psaltery and harp.* Our people take up the psaltery and harp, praising God and glorifying him. Their children, however—who are foolish in themselves—make sport, taking up the psaltery and harp. Whenever they take up the words of the Old Testament, they make sport, and they laugh at the oracles of the Law and the Prophets. Taking up the harmonious instruments—the psaltery as the Law, the harp as the prophetic gift—they make sport of them.
V. 12. *And they rejoice at the sound of the psaltery.* They themselves also speak the psalms of Valentinus and recite the odes of Basilides, and utter certain things of this kind, rejoicing at the sound of the psaltery.
V. 13. *But in the rest of hell they have slept.* They have fallen asleep in the rest, not of heaven, but of hell. We, however, pray not to fall asleep in the rest of hell, but in the rest of God in the holy heavens, with Christ our King; to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CHAPTER XXII
V. 2. *Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?*
Things administered by the Holy Spirit are worthy of being recorded. Therefore they are recorded, so that the reader might be helped by the things that are read. If, therefore, the discourses of the three who came to Job were not useful, so that the reader could receive something from the things said by them to Job, divine providence would certainly not have caused the discourses of these three to be written in the book of Job. It is possible, therefore, for anyone to derive benefit from their discourses by attending to the doctrines; but one must observe that the flaw in their discourses lies only in one point: whenever they accuse Job, thinking that he suffers because of the things in which he has sinned, not seeing that there are many other causes for which such things happen to men. Such are those things which are ordained to happen, whether good or troublesome, or by whatever name one might wish to call them. And after a few words: *Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?* The doctrine is sound: for a true teacher of virtue cannot be a man. For he who teaches man knowledge, as it is also written in the Psalms, is none other than God. And, *Teach me*, says the Prophet, *your statutes*, knowing that God is the true and perfect teacher. C But God teaches by shining upon the soul of the one learning from Him and by illuminating the mind with light, that is, with His true Word. Therefore, righteous men also teach us, having received the grace of teaching.
V. 4. *And he will enter into judgment with you.*
God, having regard for him who is ordained by His providence, reproves him. *And he will enter into judgment with you.* We have often said, whenever this dogma occurs... D
A in other words, that God is so compassionate that, even while judging us, He allows us to speak to Him, as if He were pleading His case with us concerning those things that we wish. I therefore used the passage from Isaiah: *Come, and let us reason together, says the Lord.* For *let us reason together* means this: If you have anything with which to rebuke me and my providence, as if I had neglected you, as if I had not done what was necessary, say it; and I too shall say whatever I have; I shall persuade you, bringing the verdict against you, that you are worthy to be condemned.
V. 5. *Is not your wickedness great?* Rightly I do not simply say there was injustice, because he suffers such things as no one of those who have fallen into such a state as you have suffered. Rightly, on account of your innumerable lapses, have these things come upon you.
B Of the same. He did not first name sin, then vice; but seeing that vice is an evil habit, and afterwards those things which are sins arising from the evil habit, which he said are innumerable sins.
V. 5. *But your sins are innumerable.* Eliphaz supposes this about Job. He knew that he was rich, and says: *You were taking pledges from your brethren,* as though they were debtors, although they owed nothing. For that expression, *You were taking pledges in vain*, means just as much.
V. 6. *You were taking pledges from your brethren in vain.* Of the same. He still further objects another sin of his. Is it ever permitted to take garments? It is permitted to take them not from a naked man, but from a rich man who has many garments stored away. C Three... namely, of the many there I took a garment; but not of the naked, or of the rich. If, however, anyone has a single tunic, and I, on the pretext of demanding what is mine, strip him of this tunic, not having pity for his nakedness, I have taken away the garment of a naked man. Many such things are done by us when we lend, when we go toward debtors. Often it happens that our debtor labors in extreme poverty, not being able to pay; and we, shutting up our bowels, become merciless and cruel, not attending to the fact that he supports a wife and children, and is barely sustained by the few obols that remain to him. We demand bitterly [repayment] sometimes, even though we have superfluities among ourselves. These things, therefore, reproaching Job, he says that he took away the garment of the naked.
V. 7. *Nor did you give water to the thirsty; and you deprived the hungry of a mouthful.* On the same. Therefore, not only to do injury, but also not to confer a benefit is a fault. D These are all accusations, and are truly to be censured. But they are not true regarding Job, nor were they well said of him. Of the same. Such things happen in bitter exactions.
Sometimes a person might have but a single morsel; even if he does not have a whole loaf of bread, we take it away from him, saying: "But you are a debtor." A
V. 9. And you have sent widows away empty. Let us take heed: if a widow enters our house, may we never send her away empty. According to his ability, let each one fill the bosom of the widow from that which he has.
V. 9. But you have vexed the orphans. Of the same. One must vex no one, but it is especially necessary to spare orphans. For God has ordained that one should fight for souls destitute of help. More so than other men, the poor, widows, and orphans are in need of assistance.
V. 10. Therefore snares have encircled you. He calls "snares" the things which have befallen him, into which he has fallen, and in which his soul is also snared by the things that have befallen him. B
V. 11. Your light has turned into darkness. You were in the light, when you had property, when your children were alive, when your body was healthy. Now, however, you have descended as if into darkness, into these sorts of calamities.
On the same. That is: being placed in solitude and under the open sky, wandering, an exile, and without a home.
V. 11. But water has covered you as you were sleeping. This, "water has covered you as you were sleeping," signifies: the opposing power has covered you. Because you were not vigilant, because you were already sleeping. C But Scripture knows of a certain sleep of sin. Therefore it has commanded us, saying: "Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, that you may live like a gazelle from the snares, and like a bird from the trap" (Prov. vi, 4, 5).
V. 12. Does not He who dwells in the heights keep watch? But you think that God, who dwells in the heights, does not at all see what is happening. As He watches over all things, He casts down those who are lifted up in mind by an arrogant habit.
V. 12. But He has humbled those who are carried along by contumely. If anyone is carried along by contumely, and is, as it were, swept away by the habit and act of reviling, this person is humbled by God. It is therefore just, since you both treated widows and orphans with contumely, and vainly exacted pledges from your brothers, that you should therefore suffer these things, and have been humbled. D
V. 13. And you have said, "What does the Mighty One know?" It is just; for you said to yourself, "What does the Mighty One know?" as if to say, "Can God know all things?"
V. 13. Or will He judge in the thick darkness? Of the same. But God is able to judge even while existing in a storm.
V. 14. And He walks the circuit of heaven. The providence of God encompasses and circles around. And a multitude of waters will cover you.
A V. 15. Will you keep to the eternal path? Are you able, you, to observe the eternal path, along which the providence of God proceeds?
Of the same. The righteous men have trodden the eternal path. For they walk along an eternal path. Since it is set before them to do everything, so as to obtain the coming age. Even if they appear to walk like the common people, yet their soul enters upon eternal paths.
(86) V. 16. Those who were taken immaturely. Righteous men often passed away before their time. For the righteous, having been perfected in a short time, fulfilled long periods; for their soul is virtue in the Lord.
V. 16. A river flowing into their foundations. B Of the same. These are the foundations of the righteous, in a manner of speaking: they always progress, they always grow in good things.
V. 18. But He filled their houses with good things.
Of the same. He filled the houses of the righteous with good things. I do not mean these houses, but their houses; these He filled with good things according to the ruling faculty of the mind. With what good things? Temperance, justice, fortitude, prudence—those things derived from their works. That is what it means to have houses filled with good things.
V. 19. But the blameless one mocked them.
Whom? Or, the counsel of the impious? As if to say: they want to teach someone things contrary to the truth, in saying what they say, having wicked doctrines. These the blameless one, seeing, mocks. C
V. 20. And fire will consume their remnant.
Of the same. This which is left over according to the impious, once the former ones have died, the fire will consume.
V. 22. But he took an accusation from his mouth.
I was searching within myself for what the "accusation" means here. And I found in another edition, in its place, "confession." Therefore, he says rather: Confess your sins; take from the mouth of God a referral with confession; and take up His words from your heart. Eliphaz said these things, admonishing, as he thought, Job.
V. 23. But if you turn, and humble yourself before the Lord. D
He admonishes him to turn, supposing that he has suffered these things because he has sinned.
V. 24. And like a rock of a mountain torrent of Ophir.
From the place where gold is made, it will come upon you; as if to say, your word will be varied and beautiful.
(89) V. 25. The Almighty will therefore be for you a helper against your enemies.
If you subject yourself, if you confess.
V. 25. A *And he shall return you as purified silver.* Sound dogma... purified, God.
V. 26. *Then you shall enjoy freedom before the Lord.* By the same: If you humble yourself, if you endure what has befallen you, you shall have freedom before the Lord, you shall have boldness, as one who has put away sins.
V. 28. *There shall be light on your ways.* By the same: If you keep my admonitions, and turn back and confess. These things were indeed said to Job; but they were not said justly, for he had not sinned. But if they are said to us, they are said justly.
V. 28. *And he shall restore to you the establishment of justice.* And, to speak simply, he says that he will effect for you the entire perseverance that befits a just man, so that you may have bright and glorious actions.
CHAPTER XXIII.
V. 2. *His hand has become heavy upon my groaning.* If it were allowed, he says, to bring the reckoning to the punishments themselves; if it were possible to find him! If it were allowed to state my case, he says, and to approach him and understand what he would have to say to me regarding these things, which I was about to say! Do you see how he obtained what he prayed for? For this has become the final thing in the book. I wished to learn what he was about to say to me, and whether he was about to punish me in the same way. But I have said these things, not as condemning him for injustice.Chapter XXIV.
V. 6. *Their bread was sweet to the younger ones.* It is sweet, he says, for the impious to nourish adolescents, so that they may be able to commit outrages through them.CHAPTER XXVII.
V. 2. *The Lord lives, who judged me so.* B The devil received power over Job, and he shook him by night and by day, first through external things, then through his very body, and after that even through his friends. For when he tested him through his wife, and Job was not overcome, the devil brought in three friends—not adversaries, not men holding insidious dogmas, but men having truthful words, yet not uttered well or at the right time. Furthermore, the devil was striving through these friends to make Job say something against Providence, to commit some impious act on account of his troubles, and to act wrongly on account of his pains. But see what this holy athlete, who is truly robust and $\llbracket$C$\rrbracket$ courageous, says after the words of the three. When Eliphaz has completed three disputations, and Sophar two disputations (and Baldad three disputations): when these, I say, have been completed, and those men have fallen silent, see what he replies after the prologue uttered by him, thus:by the Scripture named. What does he answer? Let us attend to the speech.
A V. 1. Adhuc autem adjiciens Job dixit proœmio [And Job, further adding, said at the introduction]: V. 2. Vivit Dominus, qui sic me judicavit: et Omnipotens, qui exacerbavit animam meam, etc. [“As the Lord lives, who has thus judged me, and the Almighty, who has exasperated my soul,” and what follows.] I know from where you have been moved to provoke me. I swear to you, and I swear by the living Lord himself, who judged me to suffer these things, by Him himself who delivered me to these calamities, who gave power to the devil to test and torment me with such trials. I swear by the Lord, and I say, because the Lord lives, who has thus judged me, and the Almighty, who has exasperated my soul. V. 5. Non mihi fuerit justos vos appellare, usque dum moriar. [“May it not be for me to call you righteous, until I die.”] If indeed I were to agree with what you say, that you have perceived why I have suffered these things, I would have declared you righteous until I die. V. 5. Non enim dimittam innocentiam meam. [“For I will not let go of my innocence.”] I will not cease to attend to justice; I will remember always to hold fast to it. V. 6. Non enim mihi conscius sum turpia fecisse. [“For I am not conscious of having done anything disgraceful.”] Great is his liberty of speech, both regarding his previous life and those things which happened to him during the time of his calamity, such that he says: “I am not conscious of having done anything disgraceful.”
CHAPTER XXVIII
V. 12. Qualis autem locus est scientiæ? [“What then is the place of knowledge?”] Knowledge is the comprehension of those things which exist in contemplation in a similar manner; but understanding is the discernment. C V. 15. Et non stabit argentum commutatio illius. [“And silver shall not stand as an exchange for it.”] There is nothing that can worthily be exchanged for wisdom. If you understand silver and gold more simply, Job will immediately say that nothing is worthy of wisdom. V. 16. In onyche pretioso, et sapphiro [“In the precious onyx and the sapphire”]. Neither to the precious onyx shall wisdom be compared; but neither shall it be equaled by the sapphire. V. 18. Meteora et gabes non memorabuntur [“Meteora and gabes shall not be mentioned”]. Not even meteora are worthy of wisdom, nor gabes. D It seems that it was substituted for strong things, such as short swords. Some say that gabis is called the upper part of the lip of a meal-measure, which is called a heap. V. 18. Et trahe sapientiam super intima [“And draw wisdom over the innermost parts”]. “Innermost parts” has the significance of the Indies, or of further regions, where precious stones are. But that land brings these things to men, which are considered by the rich to be wonderful. Therefore, beyond those innermost things, draw wisdom to yourself. Or, “over the innermost parts”: they are altogether ineffable, the holy internal mysteries.V. 21. *It was hidden from every man.* It was hidden from every man, whether he be prophet or apostle.
CHAPTER XXIX.
V. 6. *When my ways were poured out with butter.* We have already spoken concerning the ways of Job, which he walked, saying that they were virtues. His ways, therefore, were poured out with butter. Prudence walked, and in a certain manner prudence was poured out, until many, even of the little ones, were nourished by this very prudence of Job, by the justice of Job, and by his fortitude. For this is what it means: *When my ways were poured out with butter.*
V. 6. *But my mountains were poured out with milk.* Whatever thoughts were sublime and grand, these were the mountains of Job, to which he ascended.
V. 7. *When I walked upright in the city.* He was occupied with teaching and utility, speaking, not as one who loves himself, but as one having charity, which seeks the common good.
V. 9. *Laying their finger upon their mouth.* This seems indeed to be an indication of silence, the laying of a finger upon their mouth. But it easily declares—since the hand is taken for works, as we have often shown—that they had laid their "work" upon their mouth, perceiving in their own small work that they were not worthy to speak in the presence of Job, who had performed greater works.
V. 10. *But those hearing me, called me blessed.* Of the same. So great was he when he was not yet being troubled, that those who heard him declared him blessed; and they wondered in what manner he understood and comprehended such things, and was able to profit his hearers.
V. 10. *For their tongue has stuck to their throat.* Of those hearing me and calling me blessed on account of the things I was saying, their tongue was stuck to their throat.
V. 11. *For the ear heard, and blessed me.* Of the same. Just as it is written concerning Moses, that he was afraid to look towards God, on account of the excess of His brightness, so I would wish you to think that there was an excess of Job’s progress in wisdom; so that those who listened to him could not direct their gaze into the brightness of his thoughts. And when they could not, they therefore turned down their eyes, not being able to follow the depth of his thought. For this reason he says:
V. 11. *But the eye that saw me, turned away.* Aquila and Symmachus have set forth, *He testified concerning me.* But others, *But the eye that saw me, turned away:* which is to say, I am not able to contradict.
A (19) Ver. 12. *To deliver the poor from the hand of the powerful.* Let us look at his achievements and unfold them. This text can be taken rationally according to the letter, and much more so according to the anagogical sense. According to the letter, we are bound, as far as we are able, to bring aid to the poor who are oppressed by the powerful.
Ver. 15. *And a foot to the lame.* He was generous in providing foundations even to those who were hobbling, the feet of the soul; and by his word he became their own foot. He teaches us how we ought to judge, if ever we are called to the arbitration of brethren, that we may settle their affairs.
CHAP. XXXII
Ver. 1. *And Job ceased from his words.* But his three friends also ceased from answering Job further. *For Job was righteous before them.* He did not cease absolutely. For since he had a heart contemplating divine things, he did not cease. For there is already a *time for every matter under heaven, a time to be silent and a time to speak.* Therefore, when the time for answering the three of them came, he spoke; when the time was right, after he had made them silent, he was silent. And I think that "Job ceased" is said in his praise.
Ver. 7. *Therefore I have stayed, fearing to declare my knowledge to you.* He has knowledge of how men suffer; why men live in this life alone in certain tribulations; how many, even though they are unjust, act happily and fortunately. I saw those who act against justice and the law, and my own feet had almost slipped. If I look only at this life, my steps had almost poured away.
Ver. 10. *Not those who are long-lived are wise.* For it is not necessary, he says, that only old men are wise; but it is possible even from youth to hear something noble. For if time makes men wise, God does so much more.
Ver. 18. *For/the spirit of my belly has destroyed me.* B As a woman becomes pregnant, and when the fetus in her is formed, she comes to labor pains, until she brings forth what she had previously conceived, think that something of this kind has happened to me, and in the soul of the one who seeks to learn. For it conceives the word, which when pronounced it shapes and sets in order. And when, after molding and forming it, he brings it forth, because he hands it on not as an unprepared and imperfect abortion, but as one perfected and completed, I would say.
(26) Ver. 19. *My belly is like a skin of must, fermenting/bound tight.* It seems to me that the saying in the Gospel originates from this:
No one puts new wine into old wineskins.* A Ver. 20. *I will speak, that I may find rest, having opened my lips.* He who happens to have an intelligent listener, when he is full of words, by speaking finds rest, and says: *I will speak, that I may find rest.* Ver. 22. *For I do not know how to show partiality to a person.* For I do not know how to show partiality; I do not possess this knowledge, that I should admire a person; but I despise men, and the shame of mortals among them, and the embarrassment among them. Ver. 22. *But if not, even the moths shall eat me.* As though moths were consuming those who accept the persons of men.
CHAPTER XXXV
Ver. 6. *If you have sinned, what will you do?* If you look up to heaven and consider the clouds, you will understand what you have sinned. What must you do? You must approach the high priest and entreat him, so that the high priest may offer a sacrifice on your behalf. For if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins. B Ver. 6. *And if you have done many unlawful deeds, what can you do?* This is what you will accomplish: you will dissolve your many transgressions. Therefore, on account of the incurable things, from which we cannot heal ourselves, Jesus Christ came from the heavens, so that he might heal the incurable, and that word might be fulfilled: *Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.* Ver. 7. *Since therefore you are righteous, what will you give him?* But if you are righteous in comparison to God, what do you have to give according to your justice? But if, as you say, you are righteous, what will you add to him? Ver. 10. *Who appoints the night watches.* He brings forward the encomia of God, and praises, and his commendations. He who appoints the night watches is God himself. I wish to know how God appoints the night watches. This whole world is night, it is darkness. The light is reserved for you. The light which you see now, you see through a mirror: *And in your light we shall see light.* We are destined to see that someday. C Therefore, the whole age is night; because it is night, there are many enemies, and many wild beasts prowling about. Ver. 11. *Who distinguishes me from the four-footed beasts of the earth.* If you are a sinner, you have not been distinguished from the four-footed beasts of the earth: *For man, when he was in honor, did not understand. He was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like to them.* If you are a sinner, you have not been distinguished from the four-footed beasts of the earth, but it is said to you: *Do not be as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding.* D
intelligence. And after a few words: If you are a sinner, if you are a fornicator, if you are headlong, you will not be distinguished from the four-footed beasts. “Horses have been born lusting after females.” For this reason he says with boldness, because he has been separated: “Who distinguishes me from the four-footed beasts of the earth.” A
CAP. XL.
V. 3. *Nay, but gird your loins like a man.* I give you leave to speak. I will examine you; do you answer me. B Indeed, God gives him a contest. He examines the man because He recognizes him, because He grants the power of response. If he had not been victorious, he would not have received this; if he had not endured patiently, he would not have heard: *Gird your loins like a man. I will examine you, and you answer me.*
Of the same. Let no one answer God before he has become a man and girded his loins like a man. For as long as his loins are not girded, but are loose, and not bound around, nor constricted, he cannot reasonably answer the Lord.
V. 3. *And I will examine you; and you answer me.* The perfect rewards of struggles are reserved for those who have fought well after this life. Nevertheless, the grace of God even now provides an earnest to the athletes. For this reason, when Job endured the greatest struggles; when, losing his possessions, he praised the Giver; when, having laid aside his children, he gave thanks to Him who had taken them; when, noticing as though worms growing from his C body, he was not overcome by his labors; God gave him certain firstfruits and an earnest of the combatants, having spoken to him through a whirlwind and clouds.
Having heard, therefore, the former words, when it was necessary to answer God, he remains silent, as one not having the liberty to speak with Him. For he did not yet know what was later written by Moses, that Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice. As one not knowing this, therefore, he does not wish to answer God. But God grants him the liberty to speak.
And after other things: Such is the kindness of God, that He takes on the role not of a judge, but of one pleading a case with a man; and many Scriptures have taught this. *Come, and let us dispute,* says the Lord. And, *My people,* or rather God will dispute with the people: *My people, what have I done to you, or what have I troubled you with? Answer me,* and the rest.
V. 3. *Do not reject my judgment.* Let us remember this saying as useful. But whenever God judges that we suffer something—to lose a child, to have a leader perish, to be sick in the body, or to endure any other thing of this kind—it is not possible that we suffer any of these things unless God judges it so. For not even a sparrow falls into a snare without the will of the Father who is in heaven. Since, therefore, none of these things occurs without the judgment of God, it is said to the one suffering D
A *Do not spurn my judgment, and do not deny* that I have judged concerning you.
V. 3. *Do you think, indeed, that I have answered you otherwise than that you might appear just?* I make a defense for you. You were just, but you were not manifest. You endured patiently; it was necessary to provide a handle such that your patience might shine forth. You had fortitude, but it was hidden within you; the labors that befell you demonstrated your fortitude. And after a few words: Let us remember these things in times of tribulation, and we shall seem to hear God present and saying to us: Do you think, indeed, that I have answered you otherwise than that you might appear just? Let us not appear unjust, nor impious.
V. 5. *Assume indeed loftiness and power.* Gird yourself with a crown, put on glory, put on honor. B V. 6. *But send angels in wrath; and humble every contumelious person.* V. 7. *And extinguish the proud one.* The contumelious one waged war against you. The contumelious one said to me at one time: *Stretch out your hand*; he said to me: *Touch all that he has*; he said to me concerning you, that you would surely bless me to my face. But you have conquered. Therefore I say to you: Be of good cheer; but humble every contumelious person, and humble his angels. That one was proud against you; but do you extinguish the proud one. That one was impious against you; but do you strike down the impious ones instantly.
V. 8. *Fill their faces with ignominy.* Convince them that they are sinners, showing them to be sinners. Fill their faces with ignominy, on account of the rebuke that is in you. C
V. 10. *But behold, wild beasts are with you. They eat hay just as oxen do.* The wild beasts are the contrary powers, for whom the Prophet prayed, saying: *Do not deliver to the wild beasts the soul that confesses to you*. The beasts are the contrary powers, over whom you, O man, have received authority. If you serve God, you will tread upon the asp and the basilisk.
V. 10. *But behold, beasts are with you.* Of the same. With you, Job, with every mindful person, with every victor.
V. 10. *They eat hay just as oxen do.* He speaks of the worms that, born from him, were eating him. For the perfection, he says, is *my hand from you, and behold, as hay he devours*.
V. 11. *But his force is in the navel of the belly.* This is the first force against man. From here he begins to cause fornication. D Of the same. *In order to indicate woman*; in order to show that he does not wage war only against those who have seed. Very appropriately he named the loin when speaking of man, and the navel of the belly when speaking of woman: *Behold, indeed, his power is in his loin, and his force is in the navel of the belly.*
A V. 25. *The nations of the Phoenicians shall share him among themselves.* Because the Canaanites, who are also the Phoenicians, are greatly reproached for their wickedness, for this reason it says: *The nations of the Phoenicians shall share him among themselves.* Each one takes some part from the dragon, if he be a Canaanite and Phoenician by race.
V. 26. *And every navigable vessel coming together shall not be able to bear one hide of his tail.* The extreme and highest parts of the dragon cannot kill all navigating vessels at once. Men, using their bodies as ships, cannot bear one hide of his tail. They cannot do it by themselves; but with divine power favoring us, we are able to bear not only one hide of his tail, but to carry him entirely and to kill him entirely. We each kill the devil, insofar as it lies within us, according to what is said by the Apostle: *And may God crush Satan under your feet swiftly.*
CHAP. XLI.
V. 4. *Who will uncover the face of his garment?* Why did he not say, "Who will uncover his face?" What is the B garment doing here? For who, he says, will uncover the face of his garment? In order that what is said may be understood, let us use the example of the masks which they put on, and they do not appear as what they are, but as what they wish to seem. For those who simulate some person on the stage assume masks, sometimes of leaders, at other times of kings, and at other times of women. And their own proper face is hidden, and what they are does not appear; but what they wish to be seen is looked upon. Such is the dragon. He never shows his face; but assuming a mask for the deceiving of men, he uses that. This adversary, moreover, has many masks, and for every vice he assumes the mask of a virtue. C And after a few words, to what follows: *What is left of the written verse.* What mask he puts on, who can overcome? Who can uncover and show what the dragon is inside? Such are also the rest of his disciples, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
V. 4. *Who can enter into the fold of his chest?* Do you see? This is called a thorax, and a breast: and the thorax is where the governing faculty of the soul is. His thorax is not simple. It has nothing simple. It is deceitful, it is folded. Who, therefore, can enter into the fold of his chest? A holy man can refute him, and show that his chest is folded; but that the chest of a holy person is not folded.
V. 5. *Who will open the gates of his face?* He hides the things that are stored within. Who, therefore, will open the gates of his face? Who is this, that he may refute and
show how much fraud, how much poison, and how many evils he has stored up inside? A
V. 5. *Fear is round about his teeth.* Concerning which it is said: *You have broken the teeth of the sinners.* And, *The Lord shall break the molars of the lions.* This is not the fear of God: but it is the fear round about his teeth. But if you have Christ within yourself, have no concern for that fear. For *you shall fear the Lord your God, and besides Him you shall fear no other.*
V. 6. *His interior parts are like the asp.* His teachings, his hidden thoughts. All things are the poison of asps, everything that is within him. And they are asps, not some soft things, but very hard. For asps are hard.
V. 10. *Out of his mouth.* Blasphemies and the discourses of impious and irreligious teachers.
V. 10. *Out of his mouth go forth burning lamps, and sparks of fire are brandished.* B I think indeed that all teachers of impious and irreligious dogmas are properly and truly members of the dragon: and if you wish to hear the names of the members of the dragon, who are they? The mouth of the dragon may also be understood tropically as the source from whence proceed pernicious discourses. Because from his mouth, sparks of fire are scattered. If ever I have heard a discourse slandering the Creator under the pretext of Christianity—or, to say it in a word, professing the tenets of Marcion, Valentinus, and Basilides—whenever they speak wickedly of the Creator of heaven and earth, whenever they say that He does not exist and does not have a spiritual essence, as these C people say, you will see burning lamps proceeding from the mouth of such as these, and sparks of fire brandished. Therefore, knowing these things, let us guard ourselves, so that those lamps may never burn us, and that those sparks of fire may never touch us.
V. 13. *But in his neck dwells power.* There is a certain evil power. But the weakness which my Savior and Lord assumed for my sake—which is called the weakness of God—has overcome that power of his. *For the weakness of God,* the Apostle says indeed, *is stronger than men;* but I would say it is stronger than the power of the dragon. D
V. 14. *But the flesh of his body has clung together.* He could have said: *But the flesh of his body is united.* But he did not say this. For they are not united; it is not so. Things in his case that are many, or are one, appear to have clung together; on account of this he says they have clung together, they are not united.
V. 15. *His heart has thickened like a stone; it stands like an untamed anvil.* Not exercised, not obedient to the Word, properly
but is hardened, indomitable, unyielding. And if anyone has drawn strength from the devil, or from this dragon, he has a heart that is indomitable and not exercised. But if anyone is gold, following the word which as it were melts gold: he yields A in this way, until he becomes a golden leaf and receives the marks of the letters of God, in Christ Jesus; to whom be glory forever, amen.
CAP. XLII. V. 10. *And the Lord gave twice as much, as many as were before to Job for a doubling.* The noble athlete, and the one who endured every temptation, the most valiant Job, obtains the rewards of his patience, as the Scripture says: *All things double compared to the former ones.* But the Lord Jesus Christ B gives rewards that are not double, but a hundredfold. For He says: *Whoever shall have left father or mother, house, brothers, sisters for my sake, or for the sake of the Gospel, as it is written in Mark, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.* He would not have received double the former things, had he not displayed a doubled virtue.
ORIGEN’S EXCERPTS ON THE PSALMS
(From the Gallandian Library.)C PSAL. IX. V. 8. *He prepared His throne in judgment.* V. 9. *And He Himself shall judge the world in justice. He shall judge the peoples in uprightness.*
One must therefore fear such a judge, who turns away from blameworthy actions and impious thoughts. Understand the world to be the Church, a world inhabited by both the Father and the Son, according to the saying: *I and my Father will come, and we will make our abode with him*; but understand "peoples" as those remaining outside the Church.
V. 12. *Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.*
And otherwise: in every soul that is Zion and a watchtower, God dwells. He seeks out the blood of the nations that slew them, and remembers them, raising them up. Therefore, the phrase, *Their memorial has perished with a sound, it shall be referred to the swords,* is appropriate. Yet He remembers those for whom He became a refuge.
V. 33. *Arise, O Lord my God; let Your hand be exalted; do not forget Your poor to the end.*
Afflicted by these impious D words, the Prophet,