Commentary on Blessed Job

If ever you have heard a discourse, under the pretext of Christianity, accusing the Creator—advocating, for instance, the doctrines of Marcion, of Valentinus, or of Basilides—you will see that it is from the mouths of such men that firebrands issue. ^B

PROOIMION OF THE AUTHOR

There is a varied opinion among the ancients concerning the proposed treatise. For some, undertaking the defense of the holy man, say not unreasonably that he, who preceded the era of grace and had despaired of a better state of affairs in this life—after he had been stripped of the happiness of all visible things, of wealth and children, and had been cast into an incurable disease—bore the calamity with difficulty. For since he was conscious of no injustice in himself and believed that he was suffering things that were not just, he was distraught in spirit; yet he uttered no blasphemous word against God—a thing which the devil was striving especially to bring about. However, in that he hesitated and doubted regarding God’s providence—why, namely, the just examination of judgment having not been observed, he was allowed to be afflicted with evils contrary to what he deserved, and why, since he knew no evil in himself, God did not embrace him with mercy and kindness—he did not venerate God with the highest worship and pure religion. Those who assert these things have by no means attributed perfect virtue to the righteous Job; rather, they have said that Job, struggling thus before the times of grace, became for us a renowned example, so that we—mindful of that saying of the most divine Paul, who spoke against those who brought divine judgments into controversy: "Nay, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Rom. IX, 20)—who have been made participants of grace, might be able to progress day by day toward greater perfection. ^C Others, indeed, wish him to have flourished under the kings of Judah and Israel; but I, placing my faith in God, who counts him among the number of righteous men and prophets, and who, through the divinely inspired mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, says: "If Noah, and Job, and Daniel stand, they shall not deliver their sons and daughters" (Ezek. XIV, 13); and giving my assent to the authority who says: "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord" (Jas. V, 11); I persuade myself that he was an admirable and apostolic man, and one endowed with the gift of prophecy, whether before the struggle or in the midst of the contests themselves; he was therefore perfect in virtue and was held worthy of God's testimony. Again, following the footsteps of the sacrosanct apostles and our most holy Fathers, who, having received the book from the apostles, set it forth according to the interpretation of the Seventy, in

^A truth I assert that this writing was not composed by human conception. Rather, I maintain that those seventy elders, guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, translated both this book and all those of the Old Testament into the Greek tongue before the arrival of the Lord, under Ptolemy, who reigned in Egypt—God having ordained this, that no one might say that those Seventy elders translated the Scriptures thus for the sake of the Christians. These things, then, suffice concerning the most valiant Job and this writing, which we accept in its entirety, together with what is written at the end, in which the genealogy of Job is contained, by which it is shown that he lived before the Law; for the Church has received the entire writing, so composed, from the apostles. I am also persuaded that his friends were righteous men; for it could not be that a righteous man would have any but righteous friends. But since Job was a great athlete, and the devil, the prince of apostate powers, had descended against him into the contest, God, who proclaims His own athletes worthy of a crown, permitted the righteous man to suffer everything and to endure all the blows of the enemy, so that no ^B pretext might be left for the adversary. Wherefore, in addition to all other bitter things, it was permitted that his friends should also be present to add to his suffering, by heaping upon him, instead of a healing medicine, words far more grievous than his wounds; and this permission came to pass in this way. There are many modes of abandonment: one person suffers on account of sin, as he to whom the Savior said: "Behold, you are made whole; sin no more" (John 5:14). Another suffers so that God may be glorified, as that man blind from birth, concerning whom the Lord again said: "Neither did this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him" (John 9:3). Others suffer by another dispensation, as the infants who were killed by Herod; and others, often, so that they may turn from vice to virtue. And to sum it up in a word, the ways of Divine Providence and discipline are many and various, and all are useful, even if their causes are unknown to us. One of these ^C modes, however, which is brought upon the righteous, is this: that their hidden virtue may shine forth, and they may shine out as having been tested like gold in a furnace. In this way did God permit the monument of patience, the great Job, to be tempted by the devil; and He kept this hidden from him for a time, so that he might be revealed as more conspicuously valiant; and it was hidden from his friends as well. But when they heard him praying for death, whereas it would have been appropriate to comfort him with other words, they were permitted—as we have already said—not to do this from any principle of justice, but perhaps with the devil secretly sowing this in them: that they should conceive a zeal for God, as they supposed, and—which was not true—reckoning it a blasphemy against God for the righteous man to desire to be released from the body, the ^D

^A friends who came to bring him comfort proved to be more bitter to the righteous man than his pains. That this surmise was not true is evident from the fact that, although it was in his power to dispose of himself and to remove his soul from the body, he could not endure to perform such an act on account of God, who had bound the soul to the body. And although he longed for death, yet because he kept his worship toward God pure—even though it remained in his power—he did not slay himself. If, therefore, anyone has followed in the footsteps of the great Job, and, having surpassed the passionate fear, has arrived at the final and perfect love, he knows with what confidence he speaks in this way, and that he would not have boldness to enter into judgment with God, had he not been bound to Him by the tie of love, and been exceedingly confident in the righteous judgment of God. ^B For this reason God also accepted him, knowing from what intention and what love he brought forth his words. But if anyone has also experienced pains, he will be struck with special wonder at the man’s philosophy in his torments.

But we must move on now to the interpretation of the literal words. We shall speak of whatever appertains to history and whatever looks toward allegory, doing no violence to history, just as has been done with the other holy Books. For so the Fathers have taught us: neither to root out what is written and turn everything toward allegory, nor, in the manner of the Jews, to remain only in the letter; but to cultivate and tend the intelligible paradise of the divine Scriptures, assigning some things to history and others to contemplation—and this especially in the case of the Prophets, of whom I consider the most holy Job to be one. For if the text admits of both without constraint—both the contemplation and the history—both should be used; but if it admits only of history, one must remain with the letter; but if it looks only toward a mystical sense, the discourse should be lifted up and transferred to allegory. ^C Let us proceed, therefore, as I said, to the clarification of the literal words, first asking the holy soul of the blessed Job to entreat God to grant us both to understand and to speak a word worthy of the man’s magnanimity. And that we may have an easier grasp and be able to follow well what is said, we must use prefatory considerations (protheoriae) for each chapter.

CHAPTER ONE.

In this first chapter, the Scripture indicates the name of the righteous man and his country, and it pre-defines the state of his soul, arming the listener in advance so that, in accordance with it, he may hear the man’s reputation and the things said by him, being in no way disturbed, but securely convinced regarding his righteousness. ^D Then it adds how he was a man of many children and of goodly children, and abounding in all the things that render human beings happy.

^A He teaches also regarding his children’s concord and brotherly love, and the father’s care, and the worship of the divine Power, and with how much diligence he nurtured those who were most dear to him, employing every providence, and expiating through sacrifices and prayers to God the sins which were committed by them through thought or against their will.

VERS. 1. *There was a certain man in the land of Ausitis, whose name was Job.*

For Ausitis was the land of the profane and wicked Esau, from whom it also received its name, namely from Aus, one of the sons of Esau. He wishes, therefore, to point out what kind of man the province of the profane and wicked Esau produced for piety, since the righteous man was his descendant. Some have said that the land of Ausitis is that of Seon, called "Aus" in Hebrew, while others have said it is Idumaea. Eusebius, however, brings forward Aristaeus, who, in his work on the Jews, testifies that this is a different land, situated on the borders of Idumaea and Arabia. But the Father of golden eloquence affirms that it is Arabia itself, where the tomb of that noble man is evident, as well as the wrestling-ground of the dunghill, in which he was adorned with splendid crowns, and where the local inhabitants, as the story goes, pay him annual honors. What place he inhabited, therefore, and where the blameless one wrestled, is clear from what has been said thus far. ^B

VERS. 3. *And his cattle were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses following at pasture, and a very great ministry; and there were great works for him upon the earth.*

He recounts his prosperity and enumerates his possessions in order that we might derive a twofold benefit from them: first, that wealth was no hindrance to him in the path of virtue. For when he was in such great happiness, flourishing among men with his children, he did not reject discipline, nor did he lead his mind away from piety. And what kind of words did he utter when despoiled of such great goods? Wherefore, let the rich learn from this not to injure another on account of their surfeit; and let the poor give thanks, whether they have never acquired wealth or have acquired it and fallen into poverty. Let those who have been bereft of their children also provide for themselves solace by looking toward the admirable image of this righteous man. By "ministry," he speaks of that which was provided by servants. For Aquila renders it "a very great servitude," while Symmachus, interpreting more clearly, says "household." ^C But "great works," in the spiritual sense, are the works of piety; whereas taken literally, they are those situated in the fields and in the houses: plantings, meadows, gardens, living quarters, buildings.

*And that man was noble, among those from the rising of the sun.*

For he was of the chosen Abrahamic race, and was truly a child of Abraham, as in his lineage, so also in his piety and his status as a successor of virtue. ^D

Moreover, Abraham and his ancestors dwelt in the provinces of the East.

^A VERS. 4. "And his sons going together made a feast every day, taking with them also their three sisters, to eat and drink with them." ^B They invited one another, he says, successively, and each on his own appointed day; for thus Aquila has interpreted it. This was a work of brotherly love and concord, and a token of their paternal upbringing. It is most worthy of admiration that regarding the males he said, "going together to one another," meaning that there was no contention among them about precedence, but each considered it of the highest importance to hasten to his brother. Regarding the females, he stated that they took them along; for they did not require of them any concern for such matters, but only included them as companions in the feast; and while the men were occupied with this service, the women were present with their brothers in a modest and undistracted manner.

VERS. 5. "And when the days of the feast were finished, Job sent and purified them, rising up early, and offered sacrifices for them, according to their number, and one calf for sin for their souls. For Job said, Lest perhaps my sons have thought evil in their thoughts towards God. Thus therefore did Job all the days." ^C Observe how he taught them concord even through the sacrifice, offering one calf for all, as if for one soul. Now, "he sent" indicates the care of a father; for he says this did not happen out of some formality, but out of sleepless concern. And "he purified" indicates that he used purifying waters, such as men are accustomed to by nature, and the Jews by the law. ^D As for "when the days of the feast were finished," this shows either that he did this daily, offering the sacrifice for the day that had just passed, or that after a period of seven days, he offered the sacrifice once a week. The sacrifices he offered for their salvation, but the calf for the sins of the mind; for he feared the agitation of the reason, which is wont to accompany dinners and feasts. And he was eager to cleanse with sacrifices the actions known only to God, looking toward grace and surpassing the legal precepts. You observe the evangelical precision; for since the evangelical law commands not to commit adultery in one's heart, or to be angry without cause, the holy Job propitiated God through sacrifice for the sins that his children had conceived only in their minds.

Therefore, the sons are worthy of admiration, but their father and preceptor is more worthy of admiration. For no open sin appeared in them, wherefore the father was not at all anxious regarding these; but his love for God and for his children was so great, that he sought to make Him propitious and to appease Him, while he strove to cleanse them from sins even as they were conceived in the mind. Papae! How great was his piety towards God, and how fervent the worship!

^A For thus Job used to do, he says, all his days. By which is revealed the unbroken constancy of the holy man’s resolve; for he did not practice virtue at one time and then cease at another, but the whole life of the righteous man was dedicated to God. This is the highest praise and the final limit of encomiums: that he who lives piously should never rest. For idleness from good deeds is a return to wickedness. From this we learn that such banquets should be avoided, as they provide an opportunity for sin; for where there has been excess, there is a need for expiation, even if the sons of Job were celebrating them out of brotherly kindness and mutual love. The phrase "lest perhaps they thought evils" is altogether right—not that the sons of Job were such, but because they were human. ^B Great, therefore, is it to be anxious and fearful concerning hidden things; which is what this righteous man suffered, and for this reason he offered sacrifices on behalf of his children, and was freeing them from sins. Who else takes such care of their children? He did not say, as do most men of our time, "I will leave them property, I will give them glory, I will buy them rank, I will purchase fields"; but what? "Lest perhaps they thought something in their hearts." For what is the profit from all these things, which remain here? "I will make the King of all things propitious to them," he says, "and then they will lack nothing."

VERS. 7. *And the Lord said to the devil: Whence comest thou?*

That divine angels converse with the devil is clear also from the things read in Zechariah, where the angel says to the devil: *The Lord who chose Jerusalem rebuke thee.* ^C Furthermore, it is said in the Catholic Epistles: *When Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a judgment of blasphemy, but said: The Lord rebuke thee.* And here, too, one may understand that a certain angel, obeying a divine command, conversed with the devil; and just as the attendant of any prince, when he brings responses to someone, we do not doubt that those responses are the prince’s, so the voices of the holy angels, which are uttered by the will of God, are believed to be those of God Himself. God therefore, through the holy angels, addresses the devil, for He does not deign to speak to him with His own word; but because of the one who is being tempted (God, to be sure, taking pleasure in the excellent deeds of the righteous man, while the devil acts out of envy and seeks permission to tempt him), Scripture uses a figurative mode of speech. ^D That phrase, "Whence comest thou?", is spoken to the devil by way of reproach, because he had abandoned the order of the ministering spirits, just as it was said to Adam: *Where art thou?* that is, "From what state into what have you fallen?" Perhaps that expression, "Whence comest thou?", also serves to refute the devil’s rash movement, as if He were saying: "Angels, who obey me, who perform my divine commands, when they accomplish these things, truly stand before me; they perform the execution of my will

for their standing is not local. But you, whence do you come? For you are not my minister." ^A

"And the Lord said to him: Have you considered with your mind concerning my servant Job?"

Emphatic, however, is the expression "with your mind"—meaning your perverse mind, steeped in wicked arts, which you always abuse to pervert the rectitude of men. The word "considered" may be taken interrogatively, but it can also be understood as an assertion, as if He were saying: "I know that you have considered; for you are envious of him because of the virtues that reside in him." By means of many praises, God extols the just man, in order to challenge the adversary to a disagreeable contest with the athlete, saying, "There is none like him upon the earth"—that is, among those of the same age and times, just as it was said in Genesis of Noah, that he was just in his generation. ^B

"And the devil answered and said before the Lord."

This is understood as a mark of the devil's impudence; for the phrase "before the Lord" is used to show his shameless disposition, which is always intent on opposing those who are pleasing to God. For God was bearing witness to the just man, while he was slandering him, as though he practiced piety not because of virtue, but for profit; and he says, "Does Job serve the Lord for nought?" Truly the words of the devil: "He does not," he says, "render you reverence for virtue, but for the reward of benefits towards him; he is a mercenary, not a true servant." That man is gratuitously pious toward God who serves Him neither because of punishments nor because of promises. Observe also his wickedness: since he could not find fault with what had been said, he attacks the motive, and, neglecting things that are open and manifest, he assails the hidden things. ^C

"Have you not hedged about his life, and those of his house, and all that he has round about?"

"He has already obtained," he says, "the reward of retribution; you protect all that he has, unharmed; he enjoys profound peace; no internal or external war has harmed him; he has as a wage the prosperity of present things; he holds the treatment of his wealth, and from this he counterfeits piety; you contrive for him a state of impassibility on every side, hedging him about like a strong wall, and freeing him from dangers." Observe, moreover, how the devil shows that he often attempted to harm Job: "Have you not," he says, "hedged about his exterior and his interior?" Meaning, his fields and the abundance of his livestock. Since you know, O wicked one, that he is hedged about? It is clear that, having often desired to do these things—which you later did upon receiving power—you learned from having been hindered that all things were hedged about; and for this reason you say, "with a strong wall." ^D

For God hedges about everything, insofar as it is not given over to the devil. ^A

VERS. 11. «But stretch forth your hand and touch all that he has, if he will not curse you to your face.» The Scripture, for its part, uses the decent term "bless" instead of "curse," just as it is written in the books of Kings concerning Naboth: "He blessed God and the king."

VERS. 12. «Then the Lord said to the devil: Behold, all that he has, I give into your hand, but do not touch him.» ^B

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Since the devil does not know the future, nor can he fully insinuate himself into the hearts of men, he promises himself the fall of the just man in vain; for he says, "If God grants me power over his resources and permits me to strip him of the abundance and glory he enjoys, I will easily goad him into uttering blasphemous words." But God, being one who knows the future, knows that the athlete will be victorious; hence He granted the devil permission to act against the just man according to his own will, only restraining him from causing harm to his body.

Observe, furthermore, that although the wicked one did not say, "Grant me permission," the great Gamester—knowing the fortitude of His own athlete—gives him over into the hands of his opponent to treat as he wishes. But since He understood that the fury of the enemy of the human race could never be satisfied, He bounded his infinite lust with fixed limits: "Use his possessions," He says, "as you wish, but do not touch the man himself." ^C

Mark the wisdom of the Gamester. First, He allows His athlete to be exercised in things external and less dangerous; then, having declared him a victor, He sets before him the contest concerning his own flesh. Meanwhile, He measures the calamity according to his strength and bids him be of good courage, but delivers up what is his to the adversary. For what evil could a man schooled in true philosophy derive from this, a man who is accustomed to pay no honor to things that are liable to corruption and mockery?

«And the devil departed from the Lord.» ^D

Although there is no place excluded from divine power and dominion, Scripture speaks in this way in order to show that the devil, having once received permission, set to his task without delay; and [to show] that within that which is good, nothing evil can exist or be performed, for evil things are outside of what is good. Therefore, in my judgment, the phrase "He departed from the Lord" signifies that, having obtained permission from Him, he went forth to accomplish those things that he was permitted to do.

VERS. 13. «And it was as this day.»

For this means the day arrived on which the theater was opened, the contest was convened, and the athlete descended for the wrestling; and mark how in one day...

^A the devil brought upon him an Iliad of evils, in order to provoke him to madness, to indignation, and to the heap of curses against God. For this is what he promised himself when he said: "Unless he will bless thee to thy face."

VERS. 14, 15. « And behold, a messenger came to Job, and said to him: The yoke of oxen were plowing, and the female asses were feeding beside them, and the captors coming took them captive, and killed the servants with the sword; and I alone escaped, and came to tell thee. »

The devil was indeed able, ^B having received authority from God, both to excite the minds of enemies, and to bring down fire from heaven, and to spare only the messengers of the calamities, and to stir up the wind for the collapse of the house, using the angelic power which he received from the Creator from the beginning. But he was able, as I have said, being permitted by God; he is also able to disguise himself and to array his own satellites, the demons, so that they might appear as enemies, and as human beings announcing the calamities; and to create the impression of fire coming down from heaven, and of a violent wind blowing against the house; since indeed he is even ^C transformed into an angel of light, having obtained such power of nature from the Creator. Whether, therefore, in this way or in that he struggled, it is manifest that he used his wrestling tricks bitterly, craftily, and maliciously. For observe with what wicked artifice the devil’s messenger proceeded, and by advancing gained momentum, in order to shake Job’s unshaken soul; for he did not say simply, "the yoke of oxen," but adds, "were plowing," that is, they were making a profit from the crops of the earth; nor did he say simply, "the asses," but "the female asses," from which comes the offspring and increase. To these things, having exposed the loss of the pack animals, he adds the slaughter of the servants who were set over the herds, so that he might increase the bitterness of the sorrow. For the only one who escaped to announce these things was not spared ^D by the humanity of the enemy, but that he might become the announcer of the wretched events; perhaps indeed it was not a human being who was bringing the message, but the demon himself who was putting on the person and form of the messengers.

VERS. 16. « While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said to Job: Fire fell from heaven, and burned up the sheep, and devoured the shepherds likewise; and I alone escaped, and came to tell thee. »

Since, at the first tidings, the righteous man was not troubled, but with a noble soul bore the news and repelled the trial of the adversary, immediately another of the devil’s satellites stood by, no longer saying that he was being fought against by men, but that the sheep and the shepherds had been struck from heaven by a thunderbolt, and hinting to him that God, whom he worshiped, had become his enemy.

VERS. 17. « While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger,

and said to Job: The horsemen made three bands against us, and surrounded the camels, and took them, and slew the boys with the sword; and I alone was saved, and I came to tell thee. » ^A

The mention of war is made again by the messenger, so that Job might despair of his soul, as if harassed by war both from God and from men. But [the phrase] "three bands" signifies that the enemies arranged themselves into three divisions and companies. For so Aquila rendered it: "The Chaldeans placed three commands against us." He says that only a messenger of the calamities was saved; nor is he silent about the men who were killed, for at their slaughter righteous men sorrow greatly. ^B

VERS. 18. « While he was yet speaking, another messenger comes, saying to Job: While thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking with their elder brother [VER. 19], suddenly a violent spirit rushed from the desert, and touched the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon thy children, and they are dead; and I alone was saved, and I came to tell thee. »

Observe here also the bitterness of the devil, and carefully note the crafty artifice of the account, how he makes mention of the offspring by name, striking the very nature of the righteous man, as it were. For he did not say: "It fell upon all who were inside" (although the house became a common grave for all, and the ruin killed everyone, from whose number, he says, I alone was saved), but he says more specifically, reminding him of his nature, and inflicting lethal wounds: "It fell upon thy children." He adorns the banquet, when he confirms that their elder brother was the one who had arranged it; he mentions that the children were happy and playful, and that a great wind was suddenly stirred up from the desert region, and that it did not touch other houses, but overturned only that one where the children were feasting. ^C

Again, he fabricates a calamity sent by God: for since he had fashioned a double incursion of enemies, and likewise a double one from God—fire and wind—finally adding the slaughter of the children, with only the messengers left surviving, he adds the paradoxical element, so that by the unexpected nature of the news, he might drive the righteous man to loss of counsel, perturbation of mind, and blasphemy against God. ^D

VERS. 20. « When Job had heard this, rising, he rended his garments, and shaved the hair of his head. »

It is probable that, because of the preceding reports, he had been thoughtful and struck with wonder at the events. But when he heard of the sudden passing of such and so beautiful an offspring, so that he might not appear to be devoid of feeling or sympathy, he pays the debt [owed] to nature, and rends his garment, and shaves his hair in a manner of mourning. For victory is not gained because one does not suffer, but because, when one suffers, he endures with an invincible mind.

^A If he tore his tunic and shaved his hair, he does not on that account show a sensibility that is foreign to a philosopher. For Paul himself, in the Acts, manifested this same thing with these words: "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?" David also showed this, when he lamented not one of his obedient children, but the one who was most hostile to him in arms, and groaning with bitter lamentations, he would say: "My son Absalom, my son!" Our God and Savior also wept with compassion, whether for the sake of Lazarus or (as it is more true to say) for the destruction of the Jews. Therefore Job also, that he might not appear to have cast off common feeling (which is something alien to nature and to virtue), suffered what is of nature, and in his grief, he shaves his hair. For those to whom wearing long hair was considered an adornment, these were accustomed to shave their hair at times of mourning; on the other hand, those for whom it was thought becoming to be shorn, these would grow their hair long when they lay in squalor and mourning, putting up with the annoyance of the hair; he also rends his garment, which was the sign of mourning among the ancients. One might say, in a more refined explanation, that he divested himself of his garment specifically for the devil, just as an athlete stripping for a wrestling match, so that, becoming naked, he might utter those celebrated words.

• "And falling to the ground, he worshipped the Lord, and said: Naked I came out of my mother's womb; naked also shall I return thither."

Oh, the surpassing excellence of his philosophy! In outward form, according to nature, he paid the debt by rending his garment and plucking his hair; but in disposition, he runs to God, and naturally touches upon philosophy, in the midst of his sufferings, ^B having prepared for himself and for us the medicine of consolation. For a law is enacted for man, he says: to be brought forth from non-being into existence naked, and also to depart from life in the same state. "What evil then," he says, "have we suffered, when we have nothing by nature, but have received [everything] from God, and are again deprived of what we were necessarily destined to undergo the loss of, only a little while later?" And he supposes that he is suffering his troubles from God, yet he worships, and gives back the deposit with thanksgiving, and with those very devilish darts he transfixes the wicked one. The enemy had said, speaking ironically, "If he will not curse you to your face," instead of "he will speak evil." But Job, weaving a hymn of thanksgiving for what had happened, sends forth this very voice, blessing God, and says:

CHAPTER II

Protheoria

^A, [he] accuses the just man before God, claiming that he does not pursue righteousness for the sake of virtue, but as if rendering a reward back to God for the benefits he had received. For he says: "Take away his prosperity, and you shall see the corruption of his ways; for as soon as you take away his wealth, he will utter blasphemy against you to your face." On these matters, God—knowing the courage of the just man in his soul, and wishing to proclaim him more brilliantly through these contests—grants to the devil authority over Job’s wealth. And the devil set out at once to destroy his property, and as he utterly demolished all of it, he spared only the messengers, so that they might always strike him with new and bitter tidings. Since the most precious possessions of parents are their children, the devil, having seized the excellent decade of children while they were feasting together at one table, collapsed the house entirely upon them all, and turned their home into a grave, making the man who had many children childless in a single moment of time. Then that adamant Job, paying the debt to nature, tore his garment, but he uttered nothing base, nor anything unworthy of his own greatness of soul; rather, in that most grievous and greatest blow, he uttered those much-celebrated words: "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it has come to pass; may the name of the Lord be blessed." By these words, the devil received a lethal wound, and especially on account of the praises which God bestowed upon the just man ^B, yet he was not filled with shame (for the beast is shameless); rather, he proposes a contest against the very skin of the just man, and asks God for the power to use Job's body. But the lover of mankind, God—wishing to make his own champions public spectacles to be crowned before angels and men—permits this, too. And after the just man received the incurable wound, and remained no less unshaken and unperturbed, the dragon turns to his habitual trickery, and slipping underneath his spouse and insinuating himself into her, he exhorts the just man with these words: "Say some word against the Lord, and die." But he received a blow to the face once again, when he heard: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evils?" By this method, though the devil had been put to flight and defeated by the athlete many times through various assaults, three famous friends of Job—the report of his calamities having traversed all places—upon hearing what had happened, came to visit him. But finding no remedy for consolation because of the magnitude of his evils, they sat by him in silence, signifying their shared sense of grief by their very presence. This is the meaning of the second chapter; next, the words must be set forth and examined with precision.

VERS. 2. And the Lord said to the devil: Whence do you come?

^A God saw how Satan, suffused with shame, bore it with annoyance; but when, by questioning him, He perceived him acting wickedly, He then reproved his base deed, just as He had once rebuked Cain. "I know," He says, "from what dire tragedy you return, defeated and muffled in shame, while preparing for yourself another stratagem." By questioning him in this way, He exposes his unbridled madness and the extreme bitterness of his undertaking.

« Then the devil said in the presence of the Lord: Having traversed that which is under heaven, and walked about the whole, I am here. »

The master of pride knows not how to bear himself with moderation, but everywhere manifests his inhuman character. For this reason, even now, he makes known his circuit and his enmity toward all men, and without any covering discloses the inconstancy of his wickedness, being unable to keep quiet.

« But you said to destroy his substance in vain. »

Some, however, say "to destroy in vain" means, "you reasoned rashly and in vain, as if, should his possessions be taken away, he would be led to blasphemy." Others understand "to destroy in vain" to mean that Job’s goods were lost because of sin, or because they had not been spent on works of charity.

« Then the devil, answering, said to the Lord: Skin for skin, all that a man has, he will give for his soul. »

^C Consider here, first, the great equanimity of this just man, who, having been exercised in poverty and childlessness, not only did not blaspheme, but even sent up words of thanksgiving. The holy angels congratulated him on his victory, but the devil was gnashing his teeth and seeking permission to put his powers to the test a second time. And God, who is good, desiring to render those who serve Him from the heart illustrious in glory, provokes and irritates the beast, that he might be put to shame the more vehemently, and that He might crown the righteous man with many encomiums, as one who had preserved the natural truth and had undergone no perversion from his calamities. "He still," He says, "holds to his innocence, having suffered no harm; but you were boasting in vain, that is, you were prating inappropriately, when you said: If he loses his possessions, he will blaspheme."

Contemplate here how God, who had foreseen and known the outcome beforehand, and who knew that the great Job would never say anything unseemly, granted to the adversary power for a struggle against the righteous man. But the devil knows neither the outcome of future events, nor the things that are in our hearts; wherefore, ignorant that he was going to be defeated, he spoke ravingly, [saying] that he would surely bless Thee to Thy face. And again, hoping for victory, he requests the trial against the skin of the righteous man and says: "Skin for skin, and all that a man has, he will give for his soul." Symmachus says, "skin" for "skin." ^D (Note: "he will blaspheme" is a variant reading).

^A Tested, the enemy of mankind acts shamelessly yet again, and says: "It is no great thing if, when other bodies were suffering, he did not blaspheme, fearing lest he provoke You to anger, and that You might visit the blow upon his own body." For this is what he means by "skin for skin." For it happens often that a man, in order that his eye might not be harmed, extends his hand and receives the blow upon a less precious limb, setting "skin for skin" ^B as a shield, so that he may save the more vital part. What is surprising, then, if he abandoned his possessions? Since we ourselves often offer up body for body, and when a blow is perhaps aimed at the eye or the head, we thrust out our hand to ward it off, that we may avoid the most vital part of the blow; and we readily offer up all our wealth for our own safety. Yet the statement can also be understood in another way: the wicked one, demeaning the righteous man’s praise before God, says, "Skin for skin he has given," that is to say, having been harmed in small things, he has offered a small amount of praise; and it is no great thing, he says, if a man despises his possessions, so that he himself might not be harmed; for he says "his soul" instead of "himself."

VERS. 5. "Otherwise, stretch forth Your hand, and touch his bones and his flesh; surely he will bless You to Your face."

^C *Of Olympiodorus and Chrysostom.* The beast is cruel and shameless; for it is not satisfied to be sated only with our flesh, but desires to penetrate even to the bones and the marrow; lacking no wickedness, it devises a new scheme. It is a matter of light importance, it says, if he has lost his property, having gladly despised all things in order to preserve his own safety: but what is this, if You have not granted him power over his soul? And this is the very thing he seemed to be asking for when he said, "All that a man has he will give for his soul"; therefore, inflict a blow upon his body. But why then did he not ask for this at the beginning? ^D Naturally, because he reasoned with himself that if it happened that he overcame him, it would be better to have gained the victory through lesser things; but if not, I shall be superior in the struggle of the body. Wealth, he says, is not highly valued by men; for they give everything for the safety of their own soul. He did not, however, say simply "touch the flesh," but he meant for the evil to penetrate even deeper, so maliciously does he speak. Hence it is also perceived that the ancient dragon has no power over us, unless it be granted by God, and that according to His ineffable providence concerning us; and while he could destroy a man if he received permission, he cannot inflict evil, but begs for license from God. For he knows, although he has fallen, that he can do nothing against anyone unless God permits it; and such permission is understood to happen wisely, as it comes from God. What he says is of this sort: "Remove his..."

from him the protection of external care, and of the soul's nurture; for he is not worthy of admiration if you keep him unassailed. Allow me to destroy his flesh even to the marrow. For trial knows how to expose an undisciplined mind, which has only luxury as the basis of its devotion to you; for if you strike his flesh, at that very moment he will bless you to your face," that is, he will openly revile you with curses.

^B V. 6. "And the Lord said to the devil: Behold, I deliver him to you; only guard his soul" (Theodotion, however, says: "Do not touch his soul").

Chrysostom and Olympiodorus. Again, the man-loving God, who wishes to make those who are his own athletes a public spectacle for angels and men, permits even this, that we might learn that whatever the wicked one can do, he can do only by permission. And while the one said, "You touch his flesh," yet, so that he might not say, "You struck him openly, as if he were your own servant," He did not do what the devil requested, but permitted it to him.

What this says, therefore, is this: Do not touch his ruling faculty, but create the contest through torments of the flesh. And while He permits to him power over the body, yet He does not grant him leave to take away the soul along with the body; because by a new restoration, double the goods were to be restored to him, and what had perished was to be redeemed.

Again, however, God tests this golden statue by the devil’s fire, according to his measure, not wishing Himself to know—for He already knew—but for the refutation of the devil, and for the sake of making this man known to us. Moreover, "guard his soul" is in place of, "Do not attempt to harm the divine image." For He did not entrust the guarding of the soul to the enemy; for by what reason would He have set a foe, who is not by nature disposed to do good, as a guardian of a soul?

V. 7. "And the devil went out from the Lord."

We are taught again that he who turns to test a man goes out from the presence of the Lord. For every evil deliberation is naturally severed from God, having no kinship with goodness.

V. 9. "And when much time had passed, his wife said to him: For how long will you endure, saying: Behold, I wait for a little time still, expecting the hope of my salvation?"

For he had endured in poverty and in sufferings for no small time, and comforting himself, he said: "One must bear it manfully, one must persevere, one must await the help from God; God does not delay."

for in helping and in repelling these evils, God will delay. But the wife, who was reserved by the devil like a final engine of war for the overthrow of some most heavily fortified wall, languished as her strength was broken by the calamities brought upon her: for the wily devil, after having attacked the righteous man for a sufficiently long time, then makes use of the wife's weakness and arms her against him, just as he had once done with Eve against the forefather. She, therefore, broken by the calamities and having lost heart, filled with an ungodly spirit, ^A burst forth into these words. And first, indeed, she attempts to show that his hopes in God are altogether vain, drawing an argument from the length of past time as proof for the future; then she adds what follows. But observe the cunning of the crafty one; when much time had passed, he attacks Job: for then especially are the grounds of hope refuted, and broken strengths are weakened. Moreover, at that time Job's weakness appeared to be twofold: for he himself had become weaker through the length of time, and all hope had faded away, having grown more tenuous by the day. Let us, therefore, not look at the fact that she was a wife, but rather let us see what it is she advises. This I also counsel to everyone, not to look at the ranks and faces of men, but at the logic of the counsel; for a wife was given, not that she might undermine, but that she might assist.

« And I, wandering and a maidservant, from place to place, and from house to house. »

But all this happened by divine permission and the devil's assault, for he acted with authority because God had permitted it, in order that ^B he might show Job, who was struggling in all things, to be worthy of the victor's crown. Wherefore, no one pitied his wife, nor did anyone, mindful of her former happiness, console her poverty; for the enemy did not allow anyone to be moved by her misery; but he hired her out for wages: for this is what the word "maidservant" declares, that she served those who requested it, one by one, in order to sustain her life and that of her husband.

VERS. 10. « If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the bad? »

You see the mind and countenance of the master in his tribulations: for after he had heard from his wife, whom he had instructed in religious laws, things he would never have expected, he first strikes terror into her with a fearful gaze, then also covers her with shame by his words: these things, he says, were for a foolish woman to say. For is it not foolishness ^C to imagine that death will immediately follow along with blasphemy, or even to dare to utter any wicked word against God? Having thus chastened his wife, he then exhorts her, both by his speech and by his countenance, to bear the incursion of calamities with thanksgiving. For many, he says, have never experienced any prosperity at all; but we, to whom God has granted this, why do we suffer adversity with an uneven temper? Why do we not receive these things with much thanksgiving, as from a true and genuine Lord? ^D

Upon hearing these things, she became quiet, and complying with his admonitions, said nothing; so that I could easily believe that she became a participant in the good things that happened to Job afterward. The noble athlete, however, inflicted a triple blow upon the devil, since he himself did not succumb, while he also reconstructed his fallen wife, and uttered those words which are witnesses of a grateful heart, worthy of all praise and of never-ending memory. ^A

VERS. 11. *When his three friends heard all the evils that had happened to him, each came from his own region to him.*

If anyone asks why the friends arrived after such a long interval of time, let him understand, first, that they were inhabitants of diverse provinces, and perhaps received the news much later; furthermore, the magnitude of the calamity, that he was sitting in the dung-heap deprived of all help, seemed to lack credibility: besides, they were waiting for the rumor to be confirmed by the speech of many, and for the sending of certain people to explore the truth of the matter; meanwhile, as these things were happening, time was slipping by. Add to this that, once the truth of the matter was discovered, since they were kings and were contemplating a journey, it was necessary for them to first correctly order their domestic affairs and to substitute deputies of their empire in the place of those who presided over their subjects. All these things caused a delay for them and slowed their journey; and certainly, if they had not abounded in love as well as in justice, they would never have left their own provinces and kingdoms to visit him for the sake of seeing him, but would rather have fulfilled this duty through others. We can also consider that it happened by a certain divine dispensation that their arrival was deferred for a longer time; ^B for since, immediately after the discourse of the friends, an end was put to the struggle, God (who in the meantime was addressing, refreshing, and crowning the righteous man) ordaining it, it came about that the arrival of the friends was delayed, so that the misery of the disease might be prolonged, and the virtue of the righteous man who was struggling might be celebrated by better praises from God. ^C

*Eliphaz King of the Thæmanites, Baldad the tyrant of the Sauchæans, and Sophar King of the Minæans.*

Now, Thæman is a city of Judea near Sinai. Saucha is a city of the Moabites, over whom Baldad ruled; for here "tyrant" is put for "king." But the Minæans are the Ammanites; or, as we find in the second book of Chronicles [Paral. xx. 23], others besides the Ammanites. For it says: *The sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against those living in Mount Seir to exterminate and destroy them; and after they had consumed them, they rose up against one another.* Consider, therefore, whether the Minæans are others besides the Ammanites, who also dwelled in Mount Seir. Eliphaz, moreover, by interpretation signifies "God has scattered me," or "contempt of my God"; Thæman, however, "their failure"; Baldad, "veterancy," or "glorious"; of the Sauchæans, "their loquacity"; Sophar, "mark," or "contempt." In the book..."

of Genesis we find that Sophar was the son of Eliphaz, whom Esau took from Ada; and Eliphaz was the son of Thæman, from whom the region and village of Thæman derives its name, lying at a distance of fifteen milestones ^A from the city of Petra. These friends seem to have used more unrestrained speech owing to their closeness and kinship. For at the end of the history we hear that Eliphaz was one of the sons of Esau, from whom also this admirable man traces his lineage; whence, as if they would easily persuade him because of their blood kinship, those adversaries of philosophy and equanimity are sent to him.

"And they arrived to him with one heart, to console him and to visit him." Symmachus rendered it thus: "For they had agreed, coming together, to sympathize with him and to console him." Consider from this point also that another stretch of time had elapsed, while they sent messengers between each other, met together, and undertook the journey in unison. "To visit," moreover, is said in place of "to console," for they seem to have been with him for a long time; they would certainly not have done this if they had only intended to visit ^B him, since many others had already come to him for the mere purpose of viewing him.

VERS. 12. "But when they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him."

Consider in this place the atrocity of the evil. They did not recognize him because the plague had obliterated his former features; for it is likely that, as the sores changed his form into the greatest deformity, they were altered. Perhaps even that expression, "they looked up to heaven," has this meaning: "How these things have come to pass, You alone know, O Lord; for we, through the poverty of our minds, are unable to grasp the causes of what has happened." ^C

VERS. 12, 13. "And casting earth upon their heads, they sat with him for seven days and seven nights."

Now the Scripture did not say that they sat with him for seven whole days from morning until evening, nor for seven nights from evening until morning. It is clear, therefore, that after they had sat with him for a great part of the day, they were accustomed to depart to perform necessary duties, and returning again, they would sit until deep into the night, and then departing again, would return to him at the first light; which is certainly characteristic of true friends and those most deeply affected by a shared sense of calamities. But the Scripture, following the custom of daily speech, spoke thus ^D freely and loosely: "They sat with him seven days and seven nights." Just as when it says that Jacob served for fourteen years, and was consumed by the heat of the day and frozen by the ice of the night, did he therefore never enter under a roof, and did he obtain no rest from his labors during all that

time? To wish to explain these things too subtly and sharply is ridiculous. For Scripture, as I have said, uses a familiar manner of speaking. Yet because some, mocking Scripture, accuse it of falsehood from this passage (for they say it is impossible that they could have spent so many days without food and sleep), we are compelled in this place to imitate their importunate and talkative nonsense. ^A

And there was no one who spoke to him.

Meanwhile, however, they persisted day and night, in the manner I have described, and as the law of charity demanded, but they found no prayer suitable for alleviating his affliction, since the calamity was far greater than any consolation of words.

CHAPTER III. Protheoria.

And with this, the second chapter is completed. Bringing forward the protheoria of the third chapter, we say that the just man was indeed in anguish—for no one can deny this: virtue belongs not to those who lack feeling, but to those who philosophize in adverse circumstances. The wound inflicted upon his body, by which he was most vehemently stimulated, created an external pain perceptible to the senses; but as for the internal pain, he nourished it in his soul because, being a just man and dear to God, he perceived that some were scandalized by his calamities, as if the glory of God were being torn apart on his account—on account of him who, being just, suffered such things. For when he says, "Why hast thou set me as a contradiction to thee?" ^B he himself did not contradict God—far from it! For in what matter could he do such a thing? But this is what he says: "Why, O Lord, is thy name blasphemed because of me?" He was troubled not a whit less, and he was violently dizzy, being wounded by the love of God, lest he had perhaps suffered complete abandonment by God. For nothing so torments a soul inflamed with the love of God as the suspicion of divine desertion; he would have chosen death a thousand times over rather than to be numbered among the living with such agonies and such a suspicion. ^C We have heard what expressions of a grateful mind he uttered during the loss of his possessions and the sudden death of his children, and how he rebuked his wife for thinking unseemly thoughts about the Lord; and what he spoke after his trial, reduction to nothing, and grievous torments; and we have heard how none of the things that happen in the lives of men disturbed him. But after his friends, just men and moved by his evils, had arrived—once their charity and patience were made known—he thought it opportune to recount and make manifest before them the pains of his soul; and in the context of the history, he speaks of things full of danger. ^D For the devil’s sole aim and all his effort was to impel the just man to curse God; but he is found nowhere to have done this, but rather, speaking honorably of Him, he uttered voices full of thanksgiving. He curses, however, the day of his birth, and longs for death, for the causes mentioned above. But as for the understanding, he speaks a mystery, and philosophizes concerning things that have already come to pass, and ful-

conceives a certain hope for things to come; for such are the utterances of the holy prophets always. But having come to the words themselves, let us clarify the meaning, while He who strengthened even the holy Job for his struggles guides us toward the interpretation. ^A

VERS. 1. *Post hoc aperuit Jobus os suum.* When a righteous man opens his mouth, one must not heed what is said carelessly, but must seek some fruit for ourselves from the words; for the voices of the holy are always full of utility. And the righteous man, indeed, while opening his mouth, reveals hidden treasures. Wherefore also the vessel of election, Paul, writing says: *Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians* [II Cor. vi, 11]. And it is written concerning the Lord, that *opening his mouth, he taught* [Matth. v, 2]. And, in short, that person is testified to open his mouth, who has previously been taught the measure of silence. Accordingly, Job also opens his mouth after this, that is to say, after the great trophy, after those sufferings which he had borne beyond measure, he speaks of nothing unexamined, with the tongue of prudence running ahead; but he brings forth the wisdom of his soul in speech. Nay, even that testimony of Scripture concerning him, that he opened his mouth, indicates the tranquility of his mind and the seemliness of his words. ^B

VERS. 1, 2, 3. *Et maledixit diei suo, dicens: Pereat dies in quo natus sum, et nox illa in qua dixerunt, Ecce masculus.* That the righteous are grieved in adverse circumstances cannot be doubted. For you may hear Jeremiah saying: *Cursed be the day in which I was born* [Jerem. xx, 14]. And Moses: *Kill me, if thou art about to do thus to me* [Num. xi, 15]. Yet they do not despair, nor do they fall, nor do they utter anything blasphemous against God; but either against themselves, or against things which cannot suffer injury, they belch forth words of mourning. So the great David curses the mountains of Gelboe, because there the beloved Jonathan fell with his father [II Reg. i, 21]. For the causes mentioned, therefore, Job was grieved; but as he considered any thought of iniquity against God to be a bold crime, he brings forth voices of mourning, not of wickedness and blasphemy; and he curses a thing which does not exist, but which had passed by—night, that is, and day—which were no longer, so that he might signal the magnitude of his pain. For as a pious man he did not dare to speak against God (judging that His providence is far superior to human reasoning), but against himself he uttered harsher words, that by this method he might provide some consolation to his suffering. ^C

As for the force of the word, Scripture knows one day to be the expanse of day and night; however, in terms of intention, it calls... ^D

^A day and night that in which sin had its beginning: day, as having the promise of illumination—"For you shall be," it says, "as gods"—and night, because it enveloped the soul in darkness and introduced death, when the difference between male and female was first seen more clearly. Thus, according to this meaning, he does not curse the day itself as evil, as is the opinion of the Manichaeans, but he accuses what happened during the day; according to which meaning days are called evil, not because they are such by nature, but because of the things that happen in them. The just man also detests, in another way, those who named him male, because Christ alone is male, and such an appellation is properly suited to Him, since the human race became effeminate through the disobedience of Adam, and could no longer be called by such principal names. ^B Therefore, he recognizes that day, which he prays may perish, as the generation of carnal thought; wherefore he calls it his own, for it was the day of the first parent, and by this he frees the creation from every accusation. For when that first condemnation reached us, we lament it as being peculiar to us, seeking a deliverer, and we curse that wickedness which appeared as a day and led us away from piety; for whatever is pleasant to anyone is considered a day, and thus we are deceived, our faculty of judgment failing us. The just man prays that such a day be blotted out, as it is one which exists as light only in name; but by night he speaks of the sudden and furtive entry of sin. For the hater of goodness is worthy of such an appellation, ^C and is thought by foolish men to be other than what he is in reality, for while he is darkness, he feigns light, and appears as such to those who are deceived by his fraud; therefore he utters the curse in another way, so that neither as light—the most ready instrument of his deceit—nor as night—with his hidden traps—may he unfairly ensnare the people. What he says, therefore, is of this sort: "Let that former day perish," I say, the primogenitor and cause of transgression, which brought sadness, sin, and death to men, and which became the progenitor of darkness and of individual errors: for the beginning of pains, and the first day of sadness, was the conception of Eve, that is, the generative beginning of the curse, for "In pains," he says, "you shall bring forth children." ^D In order, then, to show the great pain of his body, Job uttered the curse against his own birth, and not against God; not against the present day, but against the past one, and against the cause of his tribulations, comforting himself in his suffering while he rails against that day. For the use of miserable words is accustomed to mitigate bodily pains.

* Nox illa sit tenebra, et non requirat

^A eam Dominus desuper, nec perveniat ad eam splendor; excipiant illam tenebrae, et umbra mortis.

If the words are considered in their literal sense, he desires that his birthday be without splendor, and likewise the night, and that it not be illuminated by the lights of the moon or the stars, but rather be overwhelmed by the densest darkness; which he also calls the shadow of death. But if you look to the inner meaning, he earnestly strives in prayer that sin, such as it is by its own innate depravity, may be stripped of all light, so that it may appear as it is, and not be able to feign virtue, or deceive the simpler sort with the appearance of light; but that, being perceived in its blind gloom, it may be shunned by all. Or, if you prefer, he prays that that day might not be sought out; for when it is sought out, the fall that happened to the human race necessarily comes to mind; but if it is not sought out, there comes an oblivion of the curse upon us and the sentence that flowed from it. Whence he asks that no radiance should shine upon that day, so that the sins which Adam committed on it might not come into view—as if he were saying: May God lend an ear to these my prayers, that it be removed from the number of days, lest the remembrance of my birth bring with it the memory of calamities.

But when he adds: *Let darkness and the shadow of death receive it,* he prays that the evils which have happened to us through the devil might return upon the devil himself; for he calls the things that happened during that time—the curse, and the sentence—darkness and the shadow of death, designating the devil by these terms. "To that place," he says, "let the dwelling place of his own way of life be cast away, as is fitting; let him who found this death receive it, let him be entangled in his own snares; nor let him find license for his wickedness, through those who obey him out of ignorance."

VERS. 5. *Let darkness come upon it.* ^C Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion rendered it with other words; for Aquila said "obscuration," Symmachus "gloom," and Theodotion "covering of clouds." *Gnosos* [caligo], however, is a cloudy gloom. In the literal sense, he prays for the darkness of the day; but according to the more recondite meaning, he earnestly demands that sin, which is the very thing itself, be made visible, so that Satan, transforming himself into an angel of light, may not palm off evils upon us as if they were goods; but rather that, known for what they are—that they are evils and the cause of darkness—they might be hated. But perhaps you might subinfer here that sin is invisible: for by what reasoning would anyone be able to see things that are not, when he finds that every sense of non-subsistent things perishes along with them?

VERS. 6. *Cursed be the day, and that night, let darkness take it away.* ^D The number of that day, he says, should be eradicated from the minds of men; for this is what "let it be cursed" means. And for "let darkness take it away," Aquila rendered it "lunar obscuration"; he says, however, that just as men in darkness can neither see anything, nor know anything of those...

^A things which are before their feet, so let the day of my birth be in ignorance; but according to the sense, it refers to the transgression, which, like some light concealing the first men, wished to appear under the guise of light because of the ease of deception; for the day became night for the hostile one, since it found no obstacle to its wicked operation; and again, the day which is reckoned by those who live for the flesh, according to what is said, "And night is illumination in my delights," is night, wrapping man on all sides in its shadow.

"Let it not be in the days of the year, neither let it be counted in the number of the months."

Symmachus: "Neither let it be joined." If we regard the words themselves, he says: "Let the day of my birth be blotted out," when the annual cycle is contracted. And because some months consist of more days and others of fewer, and the year is increased according to a certain period, ^B as in the case of the quadrennial period, he says that it should neither come into the number of the months, nor be numbered as a day of the year before the accustomed period, and when it ought to appear, let it be utterly overwhelmed by oblivion. But according to the sense, he calls "the year" the time of the Lord's coming, according to what was said in His person: "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He prays, therefore, that at that time no memory of it may be made, so that Christ, when He has revealed Himself to the world, may not impute sins to us, but rather grant oblivion for all things.

"And let not gladness or joy come upon it."

He speaks nothing against God, nor against His works, but curses things which do not exist, bringing consolation to himself and soothing his pains; for that night indeed, and the light of the stars, and the shining of the morning star, had passed away on that night. And just as those who are cauterized or cut by physicians bite their garments to manifest their pain, so this blessed man laments all these things tearfully. ^C But according to the sense: "Let that night be pain," that is, let sin, being an evil thing, be known and therefore hated as the cause of pain. "And let not gladness come upon it"; for if sin were not forgiven, but were imputed to us, our adversary, that night and parent of sins, would rejoice with great joy. May that enemy, therefore, not attain his wicked end, and may he be frustrated of his prey, grieving that he may mourn more bitterly; may I not be the cause of joy to the hostile foe, wounded by his darts!

"But let him curse it who curses that day, who is ready to overcome the great sea-monster."

He simultaneously prays and prophesies things to come, looking ^D toward Christ, who, having bound the strong devil, ...

^A plundered his vessels. For who else has cursed sin and blotted it out within Himself? And who else has tamed the intelligible sea-monster, the ancient serpent, the instigator of sin, the Leviathan who exercises tyranny over the softness and ease of our own pleasures, and swims about with much boldness? It is he whom the divine Scripture calls a dragon in many places, but especially toward the end of this book, when God testifies with His own voice that he is strong and superior to all; and that is why here, too, it is not called a sea-monster simply, but a "great" one. He, therefore, he says, who alone is able to capture the great sea-monster, who possesses power that cannot be resisted, may He Himself fulfill the prayer regarding my day and my night.

VERS. 9. "Let the stars of that night be darkened; let it wait, and not come into light, and let it not see the lucifer rising."

^B Olympiodorus and Polychronius. But Symmachus says: "Let light be expected, and let it not be, let it remain in darkness." Literally, he says, let them not impart their splendor; that is, let not the stars of that night shine, but let them be obscured, and let them not show the use of the stars, and let the course of the stars of that night be utterly useless. "Let it wait," that is, let it cease from its course and from shining, and let it no longer continue to shine, nor complete its course; nor let light take up that night, nor let anyone recognize that it has passed. For this is what he signifies by the words: "Let it not see the lucifer rising," that is, the morning star, or indeed the sun.

But according to the spiritual sense, he understands sin, which he also calls "night." Let the apparent beauties and delights be obscured, he says, and let wickedness never at any time overcome virtue; for the phrase, "Let it not come into light," is the same as if he were to say: "Let the pleasures of sin be recognized ^C as being darkness, and let them not have the power to deceive, nor to pretend that they possess anything good." And in that very thing, let there not exist a "lucifer"—that is, a discourse which seems bright due to its persuasiveness. For often the lover of sin persists in his fall, either because he embraces pleasure and is charmed by its enticements, or because he fashions for himself persuasive arguments, on account of which he thinks he is in no way wandering in error.

That which is said, "Let it not see the lucifer rising," perhaps he did not utter as a prayer, but rather pointed out what is the case; for sin cannot endure the Word concerning the Lord, who is called the "lucifer" (as Peter writes in his Epistles [II Petr. 1, 19]) rising in our hearts; for when the light shines forth, the darkness retreats.

VERS. 10. "Because it did not close the doors of my mother’s womb."

Literally, he says, because ^D it did not hinder my birth,

^A even though it was not in the power of the night to prevent him from coming forth from the womb. But he says this through all of it, with this meaning: that it was better not to have been born than, having been born, to suffer these things. According to the spiritual sense: I denounce sin, he says, because the first impulses of my will were not repressed; rather I conceived and brought forth sin, that is, I performed it in deed by tasting the forbidden tree, and did not stop at the mere impulse. "Why did I not die in the belly? Why did I come out from the womb and not perish immediately?" According to the literal sense, then, the meaning is plain, that it was better either not to be born, or if born, to die immediately. According to the anagoge: It is good, he says, that no evil thought should be born in our minds at all, or if it should be born, that it be immediately extinguished.

"Why did the knees meet me? Why did I suck the breasts?" ^B According to the literal sense: I ought not, he says, to have been placed upon the nurse’s knees, nor to have received milk, in order that I might be quickened. According to the theory: Why, he says, did I not stumble at the transgression, or why was I not tripped up, when going to taste of the forbidden tree? Why did I even make any progress in evil things? For this is what he says: "I sucked the breasts," that is, I increased the ways of wickedness.

"Now I would have slept in stillness; when I had slept, I would have had rest with kings, and the world's counselors, who boasted in swords; or with princes, whose gold was much, who filled their houses with silver." ^C From these things we are taught not to think highly of ourselves because of power, or wealth, or wisdom; since even kings and the counselors of the earth—that is, those who think highly of themselves for their wisdom and counsel, and who boast in swords, that is, in authorities, in powers, and in victories over their enemies—and in addition to these, those who are rich in gold, submit to the death that is common to all. Therefore, I would have suffered nothing grievous, having endured death concomitant with my birth, and having partaken of none of the things that seem good in life; since even those who have thought highly of themselves in these matters have died, just like the rest of men.

Why do you lament these things, he says, which are by nature fleeting and transient? ^D Do you think death is hard and burdensome? But it is rather a cessation of the evils of this present life, through which I would have been delivered from the attendant miseries, had I not come into the light; but even now, dying, I shall be like kings and rulers. For where now is their power, and their confidence in wealth, and their boastfulness in counsel and prudence? But, according to the literal sense, how could one who had not been born at all expect to sleep and rest? Therefore, it is manifest that it will be understood according to the theoretical sense, as if it were not

for the fact that the first parent committed sin, he would have enjoyed eternal rest, as if in a most pleasant sleep. ^A

VERS. 16. "Or as an untimely birth coming out of the mother’s womb, or as infants who have not seen the light."

(Of Polychronius and Olympiodorus.) After he had said that he wished death had immediately received him upon his exit from the maternal womb, he adds for the sake of amplification: "Or as an embryo not seeing the light." Would that, he says, death had followed the maternal birth pangs, so that I would not even have had need of the nourishment of milk, being carried off to the grave; for thus, not only would I not have endured anything grievous or bitter, but I would also have been delivered from the hardships of life. But why do I say that I wished to die immediately from birth? Would that I had not even arrived at the first formation of members in the womb. Lest he appear to be exalting himself, he compares himself to an abortive fetus. ^B An abortion is a fetus not yet perfectly formed in the womb; but he calls an "infant" one who has not yet perceived any sense of the good or evil things that are in life. However, the reason and cause for these things—why some, that is, fetuses, are not fully developed, while others are indeed perfect but are brought into the light dead, and some are even extinguished in the very act of birth—must be left to the divine judgment, which far exceeds our comprehension. But I envy the formless fetuses, who have experienced no sickness, nor have they fallen into any difficulties or troubles; but as they came into the world without labor, so they departed from it without any sense of pain. I also envy those who passed away at an immature age; for these, after looking upon life for a short time, were suddenly extinguished. Then, lest anyone think that all things are equal there, ^C he shows that there is a difference between the wicked and the righteous; for he adds:

VERS. 17. "There the wicked have ceased from the fury of wrath; there they have rested, weary in body."

A most excellent lesson he teaches us, and he shows the profitable and advantageous nature of death: that although death exists on account of sin, nevertheless, by the benignity and dispensation of God, it is converted to the good and utility of men. For the wicked and the proud, for that reason, are cut off from their wickedness and incurable fury, even against their will, and they cease; and those who are weary in body—that is, those who are tormented by bodily pains and are exercised by the troubles of adverse circumstances—attain the end of their labors. ^D Therefore, I do not ask for any evil to befall me, but for death, which God instituted for the convenience and utility of mortals. But since some books have: "There the wicked have kindled the fury of wrath," here the sense of the words can be that those who are not at all chastised in this life, but remain in impiety, draw upon themselves the punishment of divine wrath. Theodotion, however, interpreting it in this way: "They have calmed the fury of wrath," provides another meaning, namely, that they have ceased from their own wickedness.

^A "Small and great are there, and the servant fearing his lord." 19 He who was rotting away, teeming with worms, and dripping with pus, philosophized at length about death in this manner; and as if he had forgotten his pains, with the clear eye of his mind he transmitted to us the finest of teachings. We, however, do not arrive at an understanding of these things; for if we kept a memory of death, we would become better, and we would easily despise wealth, and power, and whatever seems delightful in this life.

20 "For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, and life to souls that are in pain?" In many places, Scripture uses the "Why?" for supplication, not to express any impatience, according to what is said: "Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off?" and "Why, O God, have you cast us off to the end?" ^B For he does not find fault, nor does he accuse, but he implores that he might not be abandoned in his tribulations, nor cast off to the end. Since, therefore, you are the Giver of light and life, O Lord, take away the pains, take away the bitterness from the soul—for as things now stand, in this life full of pains, death is more desirable.

23 "Death is rest for a man; for God has enclosed him." Having said that death is rest for a man, Job at once adds the reason: "For God has enclosed him." Death, he says, is rest in two respects: for it is the end of this life, and it concludes the deeds of men that are done here, so that it is no longer in our power to do anything wicked; ^C furthermore, the pursuits and labors of virtue also find their end in death; for there are no longer contests there, but crowns; no longer sweats, but rest. Therefore, "God has enclosed him" means that death puts an end to the labors undertaken for the sake of virtue, and a cessation of wickedness. Perhaps also, lest anyone might say, "If death is rest, why then do you not choose it?" he says, "God has enclosed him"; the gates, he says, are shut; and thus Symmachus rendered it: "God has fenced him in," that is, He has made him inactive. But I approve the former more. Some books have, between the words "Death is rest for a man" and "For God has enclosed him," this verse inserted: "Whose way is hidden from him." The sense is this: ^D The way of death is hidden from man; for when death may befall him, because of its uncertain and sudden arrival, men are ignorant, according to what is said: "For the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so it shall come." Some, however, interpret "Whose way is hidden from him" as referring to man; but to me it seems it should be understood rather of death, which is sufficiently clear from what has preceded, and from

VARIE LECTIONES. * *id est, φημί (that is to say).*

as something hidden.

VERS. 24. "For before my food my sighing comes; and I weep, being constrained by fear." Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. He gives the reason for desiring death. Now what he says is of this kind: Let no one say that these things are uttered by me lightly and rashly, as though I were suffering no evil, since I cannot take even food itself without labor, nor do I consume it without sighing; but I am always groaning, burdened by my sufferings, and I look forward day by day to an increase of evils, and I also dread what is to come on account of what has passed; and not only this, but I pour forth tears, fearing lest I have been utterly forsaken by God; so that it would have been better not to have existed at all than to suffer this.

VERS. 25. "For the fear which I feared came upon me; and that which I dreaded has met me." He did not use those words of David: "I said in my abundance: I shall not be moved forever"; but on account of excellent philosophy and equanimity, meditating within himself upon the change of things to the contrary state, he always nurtured fear.

CHAPTER IV. Protheoria.

^A received, as it were, not from any malicious intent, but from a benevolence toward this just man, and from piety toward God, that their speech was instituted. However, this altercation of Job’s friends, and the contradiction, although it occurred neither decorously, nor at an opportune time, nor before a person suited to hear it, is not useless to us. In the first place, therefore, we are taught this: that exhortations ought not to be made at random, but with great care, and with prayers poured out to God, that He may deign to keep our thoughts without error or depravity; and that he who judges contrary to what is fitting perceives not only no utility from his judgment, but rather harm, even if he appears to be defending the cause of God with his words. ^B Therefore, every discourse must be held with the fear of God; for the wicked demon is accustomed to lie in wait for our conversations and to disturb the irascible part of the soul, so that, blinded in mind and turning aside from the straight path, we who have often gathered together for the sake of utility, may ourselves become the authors of evil and harm to one another. Eliphaz, however, using an introduction suited to persuasion, errs and wanders in the middle of his discourse and strives to prove that Job is being tormented by evils because of his sins; and he attempts to turn the converted and lead to piety the one who was free from all reproach, and who worshiped God religiously, and who had philosophized in such a way in the midst of his torments.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said.

VERS. 7. Or when the truthful have perished root and branch.

VERS. 8, 9. As I saw those who were plowing

^A absurda: qui autem seminant ea, dolores metent sibi. A præcepto Domini peribunt; a spiritu autem iræ ejus delebuntur.

Olymp. et Polychr. That what a man sows, that he also reaps, according to the holy Apostle [Galat. VI, 7], is manifest; and Eliphaz spoke well in this, that punishments are set before those who do lawless things. “For these,” he says, “I have seen falling under the judgment of God.” And with good reason, for they deservedly receive the fruit of their own deeds; for the wicked, for the evils they have sown, shall carry away a corresponding sheaf—namely, punishment. Since it is necessary first to plow, then to sow, and then to reap, he has followed the order of the metaphor in his speech, first saying, “Those who plow iniquity,” then, “those who sow it,” and then adding, “they shall reap pains.” But he did not perceive that retributions do not always occur in this life; for many of those who have committed wicked deeds have departed without reproof or punishment, not having been punished in this life, but are kept for the tribunals there. He did not, therefore, assert correctly that the unjust are always punished in this life, or that the true and just do not fall into calamities here; for these, by and large, suffer evils so that their virtue may be tested. But Eliphaz, erring in his mind, speaks against the Scripture; for when the Scripture bears witness regarding Job saying, “And that man was true” [Job 1, 1], he himself says, “You are not true; for if you were, you would not have perished root and branch,” that is, bereft of children and property.

The phrase, “By the spirit of His wrath,” is put for “by the threat of God.” It is said, “They shall perish by the spirit,” as usually happens to seeds consumed by the wind, so that here too the metaphor may be preserved; for those who sow such things reap barrenness.

Vers. 10. “The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the pride of the dragons have been extinguished. The myrmecoleon has perished because it had no food; and the cubs of the lions have scattered from one another.”

Some deny that the myrmecoleon ^B is a real animal, but say that such a name is used only by a composition of words. Others say that it is a small beast born from the Ocean, or produced from the earth, which, being destitute of its natural food, perishes. Some even affirm that it is able to live without food, being so fashioned by God. As far as the history is concerned, Eliphaz attempts to show that Job is by no means a true man, using examples taken from nature and putting his discourse in the form of a question: “Tell me, Job,” he says, “have lions lost their proper strength? Does not the lion remain a robust animal to this very day? Has the exultation and pride of dragons been extinguished? Do they not exult to this day and retain their fearless nature? Has the myrmecoleon perished, even though not feeding? Do the lion’s cubs graze in herds like cattle? Do they not lead a solitary life?” And in his own place, as...

he says, these observe the boundaries of nature and remain within them, ^A both small and large animals. Likewise, you too, had you been truly righteous and not merely pious in words, none of these things would have befallen you, nor would you have transgressed the boundaries set by God, so as to be wretched while living justly.

Regarding the contemplation, one must liken the impulses of the passions to those wild beasts, and the devil to the myrmecoleon, for he is like an ant to the pious, but a lion to the impious. If, therefore, he says, the devil had found no food in you—that is, if you had not been unjust—he would have perished, or rather, he would have remained inactive, and the assaults of the passions would have been extinguished and dissolved.

Vers. 12. “If any true word had been in your speeches” [Symmachus, however, says, “And toward me a word was spoken stealthily, in theft”], “none of this evil would have befallen you.” From what is probable, he says, one might conclude that you have paid the penalty for certain transgressions. For if you had not only possessed piety in words, but had also shown the truth of your religion in deeds, and nothing that ought not to have been done had been done by you, you would not have tasted the bitterness of such great evils, especially since God in no way disregards the actions of righteous men.

“Will not my ear receive magnificent things from him?” [Symmachus: “And my ear received a whisper from him.”] [Vers. 15-16] “But with fear, and a nocturnal sound, fear falling upon men, horror met me, and trembling, and it greatly shook my bones; and a spirit came upon my face. And my hairs and flesh shuddered; I arose, and I did not recognize it; I saw, and there was no form before my eyes, ^C but I heard a breeze and a voice.”

This passage is deep and difficult to discern, and it puts forward many paths of thought. For either Eliphaz speaks thus to strike fear into the righteous man, saying: “It is right for you, O Job, to fear and not to despise God, since he chastises not only during the day, but even in sleep, through nocturnal visions,” just as I also heard ^D from others who were recounting amazing things concerning him, and I myself have often experienced it, being terrified in sleep, so as to tremble, and for my hairs to bristle, and to endure the shaking of the harmony of my bones, and to seem to have some spirit come upon me, yet seeing nothing formed; but hearing only voices quietly, falling upon me in a terrifying way and causing trembling. Or else he seems to be saying something of this sort: “Fear Him who even punishes through dreams, whose very thought is fearful.” For if ever I take into my mind the greatness of His nature, and how he is everywhere, and exists outside of everything, I endure the same as those in the dead of night, when profound silence possesses everything, and in the great quietness I am terrified by the sound of the night.

I shall weigh, however, that it is outside everything; I feel that the same thing happens to me that happens to those who, in the dead of night, when deep silence occupies everything, lulled by a wondrous quiet, are nevertheless terrified by a nightly sound; so that in such meditations, trembling and horror seize me, and in my mind I embrace some invisible and incomprehensible spirit. But if I proceed to lift myself higher by reasoning, I perceive nothing, nor do I grasp anything; for the nature of God, which lacks all form, escapes the optical faculty of the soul; and the higher one has ascended in reasonings, the more the discovery of the sought-after One deserts him: for the nature is incomprehensible, yet it is perceived by the mind, as it were by a certain fine breeze, and a silent voice refreshing the mind, and the divine efficacy causing that sense to operate in us, while in no way showing the divine nature itself. ^A ¶ remainder ^A—so that shivering and trembling come upon me in such thoughts, and I find myself in a state of wonder concerning some invisible and incomprehensible spirit. Even if I were to rise further in my reasonings, I perceive nothing, nor do I grasp anything; for the formless nature of God escapes the optical faculty of the soul; and the further one ascends in reasonings, so much the more does the discovery of the sought-after One desert him; for the nature is incomprehensible, yet the mind senses it nevertheless, as it were a fine breeze and a quiet voice refreshing the intellect, and causing one to sense the operation of God, while in no way showing the divine nature itself. Such contemplation is entirely unreachable, and full of shivering, and causes the reasonings to grow dizzy; and something similar happens to what occurs with the wind. For just as it is not possible to seize that with the eyes, so also is it not possible to find God with reasoning; for He is unreachable to the mind, as the wind is to the eye. And just as the voice and the windy spirit give a perception of themselves, but do not come to the sight of man, so also is the divine nature. Often, at least, I lifted up my reasoning, but no less did I slip from the vision of God; and wishing to see what God is, I saw only His effects. ^B You will also apply it in this way: "Do not despise my words and my exhortation; for I also was deemed worthy of divine revelation, and I saw visions in dreams, and I received the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and I know that God is formless, and simple, and incomprehensible in nature; yet in a certain fine breeze a perception of Him came to me." Eliphaz says these things, preparing his speech so that it might be favorably received, so that in what he intends to say, he might appear worthy of belief; perhaps he also attempts to terrify Job, and strives to lead him to repentance. "For did he not," he says, "receive from God my ear things wonderful, so that I might appear trustworthy to you?" For you will understand "he receives" here as "he received," Scripture in many places substituting one tense for another. And indeed, having often heard from others, and wishing myself to reason about God, I am brought into dread, and I am filled with all fear, and also with a nightly sound (he says this from what happens by nature; for in the dead of the night, when deep silence encompasses everything, we have the notion of a certain sound circulating around us); and just as when the wind rushes upon us, I have a perception of its effect, but I am not able to grasp it through conjecture: so also in thinking about God, in as much as I expect to find Him, He escapes the understanding of my reasonings, although I am not without divine illumination. "For a spirit," he says, "went over my face." What then, you, O Job, do you philosophize in opposition? And will you not comprehend God, who is so supernatural? For in as much as one thinks to reach Him by reasonings, so much does the exact understanding escape him, and his own

perception of the matter ^A flees the grasp of his reason, even though I be not entirely devoid of divine illumination: "For the spirit," he says, "runs into my face." Why, then, O Job, do you philosophize against God and not fear Him, since the more one examines Him with keener intellectual inquiry, the more the absolute perception of Him escapes, and one perceives the tenuity of one's own wit and the weight of what is being sought?

VERS. 17. "For what? Shall a man be pure before the Lord? Or shall a man be blameless in his works?"

See how he contradicts God; for when He said: "A man blameless," he, ^B judging [the matter] from himself and his own deeds, denies that he is free from blame.

VERS. 18. "If He does not trust in His servants, and finds something crooked against His angels."

He wishes to bring the argument from the greater, and to affirm that every man is under sin. For what need is there to speak of men, he says, when not even the angels are blameless? For they too are of a mutable nature, and in respect to the exactness of God, not even those who are His own true servants and ministers have fidelity and constancy in all things. And Symmachus expressed this meaning, saying: "In his servants are instability, and in his angels he will find vanity." Do not, therefore, marvel, he says, that I have said, "A man shall not be pure before the Lord," when He has not trusted even in His servants and ministering angels, so that they might be by nature and firmly blameless; for they, too, are held fast by His grace, since only He is immutable.

And that which is said, "He discovers something crooked," means: He fashioned their nature to be mutable, so that it might come about that they incur blame—which is what the apostate powers have suffered because they were not allotted a nature free from mutation, but fell away from their own station by the freedom of their will.

VERS. 19-21. "But those who inhabit houses of clay, from which we ourselves are also of the same clay. He smote them like a moth, and from morning until evening they are no more; because they could not help themselves, they perished. For He breathed upon them, and they withered; they perished because they had no wisdom."

If, he says, He punished angels who sinned, what wonder is it if we, who are far inferior to them, and being from the earth, and ^D wallowing upon the earth, and endowed with that nature which easily drags us and lures us into offenses, are punished? And this is wisely managed by God, so that we might not, hoping for impunity in sinning, be driven by insane fury into the highest impiety. For if the angels, who are spirits and inhabitants of heaven, if they be compared with divine perfection, are not free from blame, what will become of us, who are earthly and inhabit the earth? This very thing is signified by the exposition of Symmachus, for thus he says: "How much more those who inhabit houses of clay, whose foundation is earthly?" For if God strikes,

^A we are consumed just as easily, and we do not endure for a whole day, like herbs eaten by worms, or garments consumed by moths. By these words, he places before our eyes how great is the power with which God is endowed, and how great is the imbecility of our nature; for we are weak like herbs and are quickly consumed, as a garment is by a moth; but God is endowed with power, and with ease reduces those whom He wills to nothing: for just as it is easy for a man to breathe, so it is for God only to will and to dry up and destroy.

The judgment of which he metaphorically called a "breathing upon" (He breathed, he says, upon them, and they withered; just as when a wind blows and flowers wither), in order to manifest His power: for by His merely expressing a judgment, they are suddenly afflicted with punishment, and they cannot repel the blow inflicted. Then, lest he should seem to say that, by doing everything according to His power, He brings wrath upon men without cause, he says that men suffer these things, not rashly and without a stated cause, but because they do not have wisdom, that is, they do not fear God; for the beginning, he says, of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. ^B

CAP. V.

VERS. 1, 2. "Call now, if there is anyone to answer you, or if you will look upon any of the holy angels; for wrath kills the foolish, and jealousy slays the one who is led astray."

Why, he says, do you speak above your dignity, being a man? For a man is at such an interval inferior to God, that God is not only invisible and incomprehensible, but even if you were to call upon Him a thousand times, He will by no means answer you. But why do I speak of God, since even His angels are invisible to us? To me it appears that he calls the sinner a fool, whom even wrath kills, but not the wise man, for wrath is not there. You can also understand it thus: ^C Judging yourself to be without sin, and being lifted up by pride against God, you are foolishly kindled with wrath, and pursue those using prosperous fortune with envy; so that you deservedly experience the onset of God's just wrath, or are overcome by your own: for to every fool and irascible person, his own wrath brings destruction.

VERS. 3. "I have seen fools taking root; but immediately their habitation was consumed."

Symmachus, however: "And I cursed their splendor immediately." Since the prosperous fortune often found among unjust men, and especially the formerly happy state of Job's affairs, stood against Eliphaz—lest this man of many struggles should say: "If I was a fool, how did I formerly abound in riches?"—the friend, resolving that which could be objected, says: "The unjust man, even if he lives in delights, and ^D believes he possesses his goods firmly and securely

(for this is what 'to cast roots' signifies), yet he does not abide for long; but his diet—that is, his entire household and his life passed in prosperity—falls away and is corrupted." Having mentioned the root, as in the case of a plant, he preserved the metaphor by adding the phrase, "to be eaten," for plants whose root has been eaten away wither. He then sets forth the results for the impious, expressed in the form of a wish, yet understood definitively ^A and effectively, or rather, as an outcome.

"Far be their children from salvation." This often happens to the impious; for the Jewish nation inherited the land of promise, the previous inhabitants having been destroyed because of their impiety. But these things do not always happen in the present life, for retributions do not always occur here, but also in the future life; wherefore Eliphaz spoke less correctly, as he stated these things without distinction. But the phrase "Far be it" is not said as a wish, but rather stands for "they are far," as if it had already altogether come to pass; for tenses are used without distinction, and especially in this present volume.

"And let them be crushed at the gates of the lesser, and there will be no one to deliver them." That is, let them be crushed and disgraced; for *kolabros* is a small pig, for which Aquila rendered "they shall be crushed," Theodotion "they are broken," and Symmachus "let them be humbled." They will be considered vile, he says, and of no account, wearing away at the gates of others, and these the gates of the lesser; and they will arrive at the uttermost misery, being bereft of God's care, and there will be no one to deliver them from their calamities.

"For labor will not come forth from the earth." [Symmachus says: "For labor will not come forth from the dust."] "Nor will toil sprout from the mountains; but man is born to labor: yet the fledglings of the vulture fly the highest." ^B He seems to be quietly comforting Job with these words. It does not become you, he says, being a man, to be distressed that you are afflicted with troubles, for punishments are not inflicted upon things that lack sensation. But even the birds (for by the name "vulture" he understands the rest) have obtained a life much less anxious and laborious than our own.

"Yet, nevertheless, I will beseech the Lord." These things, he says, may be as they are; but I take refuge in God, and flee to His assistance. Then he recounts the excellence of God, to strike fear into Job and to draw him to repentance by his own example. The word "I" is said arrogantly, and to distinguish himself from Job, as if he were to say: "Since you have neglected prayer, I will supplicate God." ^C

"Who turns aside the counsels of the crafty, and their hands will not perform the truth." He who turns into the opposite the counsels of those who do not ^D

^A act in accordance with what is true and upright—that is, he who does not permit events to proceed according to the wishes of crafty and cunning men, but easily, whenever he wills, overturns the evil machinations of such people; or, as Aquila interpreted it, "makes void"; as Symmachus, "dissolves"; as Theodotion, "scatters."

"Who captures the wise in their prudence; and the counsel of the crafty he turned aside." This means: he who reproves, who overcomes, who prevails by his own wisdom; or he who demonstrates that human wisdom is foolishness; according to that saying: "Who captures the wise in their craftiness." He calls those "crafty" who are exceedingly shrewd and who execute what they have proposed for themselves in a hidden and devious manner; whom those who pursue the properties of words are accustomed to call ^B *ankylognomones* (crooked-minded), on account of the crookedness of their intent. As for "he turned aside," it means he has made them useless, he has rendered them void, he has caused them to stand outside their goal. Which Symmachus translated thus: "And crooked counsel shall be thrown into confusion."

"In the day darkness shall meet them, and at noon they shall grope as in the night; and let them perish in war. And let the weak escape from the hand of the mighty; and let there be hope for the weak, but let the mouth of the unjust be stopped." By "day" and "noon," he hints at prosperity; as if to say, that in the very peak of their success, the wicked will undergo a sudden change of their well-being. For he calls calamitous conditions of affairs "night" and "darkness." It also happens to these men that they sustain slaughter from their enemies; but he who is humble according to God, and equipped with no power or force, but places his hope in God, will escape the injury of the mighty ^C.

"But blessed is the man whom the Lord reproves; therefore, do not reject the admonition of the Almighty. For he himself causes pain, and again he restores; he struck, and his hands have healed." He calls the discipline that tends toward the amendment of character a "blessing." He exhorts Job, as one being disciplined for sin, not to be vexed, but rather to entreat God with prayers, he who both inflicted the wound and is able to apply the healing; and what he says is of this sort:

"Six times he will deliver you out of distresses, and in the seventh, no evil shall touch you." For "six times," that is to say, you will encounter difficulties frequently; but after you have experienced these, if you are found grateful and acceptable, then in the seventh—that is to say, after many trials ^D—at last God will no longer allow you to suffer.

"Of the unjust and lawless you shall laugh, and of wild beasts you shall not be afraid; for wild beasts shall be at peace—"

^A And then you shall know that your house shall be at peace; and the dwelling of your tabernacle shall not sin."

"Once you have perceived," he says, "the power of piety, and of the refuge that is in God, you shall laugh broadly at the unjust; and you shall not be afraid of wild men. For even they, being ashamed of your piety toward God, will no longer choose to make war against you, but with the rest of your blessings, there shall also be present to you the security from those who plot against you. And then you shall know through experience that your house is at peace. And 'the whole conduct of your life shall not sin,' that is to say, it shall not fall outside of good hopes, it shall not be unfortunate, it shall not suffer anything terrible, it shall have no change, as now, but it shall be established in security, with God holding fast the prosperity belonging to you by His own providence. ^B 'And you shall know that your seed is much; and your children shall be as the all-abundant grass of the field.'"

"With peace," he says, "surrounding you from every side, you shall also possess the blessedness that comes from having many children—for in ancient times this was regarded as a part of blessing—and you, who are now bereaved of children, shall appear as a father of beautiful children, like a field that is lush and heavy with grain; for your children, or descendants, shall be as the all-abundant grass of the field, that is to say, like a field flourishing with all kinds of herbs."

"Lo, these things we have searched out; these are the things we have heard. But you, know for yourself if you have done anything." ^C

*Of Polychronius and Olympiodorus.* That is: These things are so, and no one could say that human affairs are ordered otherwise. We have known this in life by experience, and we have received it from others by hearing, that nothing escapes the notice of Divine Providence; but rather that the lawless are punished, and the pious enjoy many blessings by the providence of God. Therefore, since these things are so, it is fitting for you to consider for what sins you are paying the penalty, and how, by diligent care, you might appease God, rather than being indignant, as you do now. ^D

Chapter VI. Protheoria.

Since Eliphaz had exhorted the just man to repentance, as if he were being punished for sin, his counsel ended in failure for him; for he could not at all persuade him that he was a sinner, since he was conscious of no absurdity within himself. Therefore, the just man also saw the need for a rebuttal, and he makes an apology for all that he had said, and does not show his endurance by silence any longer. By natural examples he makes a case for his own words, and he calls God holy, and says that he has placed his hope in Him; and he reveals the hidden cause of his grief, saying that he fears lest God should have abandoned him completely.

^A He then lists his own calamities, and exhorts us neither to place hope and confidence in wealth and power; he also reproves his friends because they had made his troubles heavier through their words; and he counsels them to fear, looking at the things that happen to their neighbors; and he teaches all men the best lesson: that life is a place of trial. And again, he tragically exaggerates his own calamities, and earnestly entreats God to be mindful of him, and to deign to visit him. For his words, he makes an apologetic defense again, and offers the vileness of human nature as a plea, and asks God to grant him amnesty, if he has committed any offense.

VERS. 1-3. ^B *But Job answering, says: For if anyone weighing would weigh my anger, and take up my sorrows in a balance together, it would indeed be heavier than the sand of the sea.*

Since Eliphaz had spoken reproachfully to Job, saying: *If you have instructed many to patiently endure adversities, now pain has invaded you, and you are troubled in soul;* and had accused him as a man lacking philosophy, and one who could not apply solace to himself; the just man, showing his calamity to be greater than any solace, says: Would that it were permitted to weigh the anger sent upon me by God, and the sorrows of soul and body together in a balance, so that it might become manifest that the evils that have been at once brought upon me, and which induce anguish and sadness, are heavier than the sand which is on the seashore. ^C

VERS. 4. *But, as it seems, my words are evil [Symmachus indeed says: My speeches are very bitter]; for the arrows of the Lord are in my body, whose fury drinks my blood: when I begin to speak, they goad me.*

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. For you who have come for the sake of offering consolation, act contrary to what you proposed at the beginning, using reproachful words; and this, even while my wounds are visible, and are able to bend even the minds of enemies to pity. But you, however, philosophize over the ills of others, having experienced no calamity yourselves, and you hold my words in contempt, flowing with softness, and not considering how the punishments, inflicted upon my body with a certain vehemence by God, consume my blood, that is, they diminish my strength, and take away my vital faculty, ^D and do not allow me to emit a voice without pain, but rather interrupt me whenever I wish to speak. For my part, I am deservedly not believed, since words cannot express the affliction, and the listeners judge my words from their own rest and tranquility, and not from my calamities. Hence there is no one who pities me, but whatever I say seems cheap and of no value: but I alone know how immedicable the evil inflicted upon me is, I who [have received] the wounds sent by God in [my] body. The arrows...

^A of the Lord, he says, are in me, whose wrath my spirit drinks in. By "arrows," he means punishments; and by "their wrath," he means the painful and bitter onslaught, and the pain by which, being pricked, he is not even permitted to speak.

« What then? Will the wild donkey bray in vain, or does he do so when seeking food? And will the ox break forth a voice when he has fodder at the manger? »

Symmachus, however: "Does the wild donkey groan with hunger when grass is present?" He uses natural examples, and shows that his argument is reasonable, and that he was rightly not persuaded by Eliphaz's exhortation, but rather looked toward the contention of his discourse. ^B

« Will bread be eaten without salt? Or is there taste in empty words? »

Symmachus, however: "Will a thing that is unseasoned be eaten, as it lacks salt?" How, he says, shall I allow myself to be persuaded by your exhortation, which neither contains a reasonable argument nor is prepared for consolation? For just as bread that is saltless is not edible, so also empty words, and those not possessing what is persuasive or reasonable, cannot persuade those who hear. For he calls persuasion "taste," insisting on the metaphor of the word. For this reason the Apostle also said: "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt," as if to say sweet and tasty, at once astringent and sweetening for the hearers.

^C « O that he would grant, and my request might come, and the Lord would grant my hope: may the Lord begin and wound me, but let him not destroy me in the end. »

Aquila and Symmachus rendered "begin" as "taking hold [of me] with his hand." What then was Job’s request and hope, which he prays may be fulfilled? The end of life, and death, and that his torments might not be prolonged for too long; for this is what "let him not destroy me in the end" means. It is as if he had said: Death is my only remedy for these evils, and my rest. For my own part, I cannot lead myself out of this life, but I implore the Lord that, by laying his hand on me and scourging me, he might take me away, and not permit me to be destroyed in the end, that is, to suffer long-drawn-out tortures. ^D And thus he asks for death as a benefit, so that he might be liberated from his distress of mind.

« And may my city be a tomb; upon which I used to leap upon its walls. »

Aquila and Theodotion said: "And it shall be my consolation still." The meaning of the verse is this: It is sufficient for me, he says, for consolation and the soothing of my pains, if it befall me to die and be buried in that very city. But the part "I used to leap upon walls" is for: In which I used to conduct myself with confidence and pleasure.

^A ‹ I will not spare; for I have not spoken falsely the holy words of my God. ›

I will not spare, he says, against my opposition to you, nor will I speak timidly, but boldly, since I am not conscious of having transgressed the commandment of God, so as to consider this affliction just; for I do not endure to have one thing in my mind and to utter words contrary to my opinion; but what I think, I speak in truth. Because of this disposition of his, and this frankness combined with truth, Scripture praised him, saying: *And that man was true, blameless*. Observe the Abrahamic kinship, behold him as a successor to Isaac and Jacob, not only in the flesh, but also in piety and religion: for of them God spoke: *I am their God*. And what does their genuine offspring say? *For I have not spoken falsely the holy words of my God*. You have seen the love which he has for God! How in all things he claims God for his own! Praise also his truth that shines forth in all things, and consider with what great love toward God he brought forth these words.

‹ For what is my strength, that I might endure? Or what is my time, that my soul should hold out? Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of bronze? ›

^B Polychronius and Olympiodorus. But Aquila: *And what is my end, that I should be long-suffering?* If anyone, he says, should reproach me as I am oppressed by calamities, let him consider with himself that I am a man, and encompassed on all sides by distresses, and was forced to utter such words, because I could not bear the evils without a sense of pain (for when the body is weak, it yields entirely to the passions); am I, he says, devoid of all sense of pain, or am I made of stone or bronze? Am I not clothed in human flesh, and am I not of short duration? Let no one, therefore, reproach one who is grieving and asking for deliverance from present evils.

‹ Or was I not trusting in Him? But help has departed from me, mercy has denied me, and the visitation of the Lord has looked past me. ›

^C And this, he says, is the condition of the body; but that which especially tortures my soul is the fact that one may infer from present evils that God, by whom I was most especially desired, and on whom all the hope of my life hung, has abandoned me, and stripped me of His own protection and mercies: because of this, the just man was most especially troubled. Let every one who is wounded by divine love consider what great pain the suspicion of being abandoned by the God who is desired creates in a soul endowed with reason. ^D For if those who are wounded by the love of a woman, and are afterward scorned by them, think their life is no longer liveable, and struggle with intolerable sorrows; what would a soul suffer that has been wounded by love for God, and [then] endured abandonment?

He adds, moreover, what befell him, from which he suspected that he was despised by God. ^A

<Vers. 15. My kinsmen have not looked upon me; as a failing torrent, or as a wave, they have passed me by.> [Commentary] of Polychronius and Olympiodorus. First, he says, God has abandoned me, placed as I am in such great calamity; then, I have been cast into such misery that I am destitute of the help of friends, and do not experience any humanity even from those related by blood. For they have not looked upon me; not because of sins I have committed, but because of what I have suffered, they loathe me. He likens himself to a mountain torrent because of his previous prosperity; for such is the river that flows only in winter, at one time full of waters, at another time it dries up, and the channel is left without any moisture. Such also is a wave, not remaining in the same state, but at one time being lifted up and swelling to a height, and at other times subsiding and dissolving into foam. ^B

<Vers. 16-18. As snow, or frozen ice; just as what has been liquefied by the heat having arisen, it is not known what it was: so I also have been abandoned by all. I have perished, and I have become an exile from my house.> That is, there remains neither memory nor any trace of my former prosperity; but just as snow or ice, liquefied by the heat, makes the place indistinguishable and leaves no trace behind, so they esteemed me as nothing—and indeed those who, because of the closeness of kin, ought especially to have shown me affection. And what was previously hidden—namely, that they were not friends, but only seemed to be—calamity has brought into the open. There is also something else more grievous: those who formerly stood in awe of me now trample upon my calamities. He spoke the word "perished" with regard to the perception of the many, who consider a total loss of property to be ruin and destruction; and the phrase "I have become an exile" means that I have been utterly cut off, along with my whole household. ^C

<Vers. 19, 20. Behold the ways of the Thae-manites, look upon the paths of the Sabaeans; and they shall owe confusion, those who trust in cities and wealth.> Another interpreter rendered it thus: <They look to the ways of Thae-man, they wait for the journeys of Saba for themselves.> By the change which he himself experienced, he exhorts those who pride themselves on power and wealth not to place their hope in the uncertainty of these things. For you, he says, who turn your mind to the ways of Thae-man and the paths of the Ethiopians (for the Sabaeans are the Ethiopians), that is, those who expect profit for themselves from the trade with them, do not trust in wealth; for those who hope in these things shall owe disgrace. He points out the regions which were once happy, but now are desolate and full of ruins, and he commands them to look at these and not to trust in the uncertainty of wealth. Whether it is to be interpreted in this way or that, he exhorts them ^D

^A to put their trust in neither riches nor power, that is, those who examine things with the intellect. He was saying these things, suggesting to his friends as well that they should not be high-minded about the things they have, in view of the fact that he had fallen into extreme poverty; meaning: Remember your own condition, the future is uncertain, and we are all subject to it equally. VERS. 21. « But now you too have set upon me without mercy. » Be it so, he says; those others have neglected me; but why also have you, my friends, along with those kinsmen, judged me like someone lawless, because of the blemish of my body? And have you thus used bitter words against me, and set upon me without mercy? That is, ^B in a sympathetic-less, censorious, and accusatory manner, scraping at my pain with insults, when you ought to have comforted me? Next follows the excellent counsel of a philosopher and a God-fearing man: that one ought to become more cautious and struck with fear when looking upon the calamities of others; for he adds: VERS. 25. « But as it seems, the words of the truthful are vile. » As if to say: Truth is burdensome to the many, among whom you also suffer the same; and for this reason you hold the words of my truth in no esteem. VERS. 28. « But now, looking upon your faces, I will not lie. » This is: I will speak the truth with boldness, not drawing back ^C at all, nor blushing. The saying is instructive, that one should not speak words of detraction about those who are absent, but should speak what needs to be said to their face; for it has been said: "Do not slander, nor listen gladly to a slanderer." And the phrase, "I will not lie," shows the freedom of speech, just as Paul says: "I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie." VERS. 29, 30. « Sit down, I beseech you, and let there be no injustice, and again, stand by the righteous. Is there not iniquity in my tongue, or does my throat not meditate on understanding? » Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. I ask you yourselves, he says, to sit as judges for me and to bring forth just votes. For I trust that I will say nothing unjust ^D nor bring forward senseless or trifling words. He says this, provoking them to an examination, and as if to say: Become judges of the things I say to you, provided only that the share of justice is not absent from the vote; begin, proceed to the counter-argument, undertake to refute the truth of my words. As though he had now appointed them as judges, he begins to plead for his own words, and to show that he was not worthy of reproach for having desired to exchange life for death. He proves his desire to be consistent with reason from two

^A causes: first, that this frail life is full of dangers; and second, that, beyond common and general fears and anxieties of soul, he was himself, more than others, engulfed in incurable calamities. Meanwhile, he agitates the common miseries of life, saying:

CHAP. VII.

^B • VERS. 3. "So I have awaited empty months." ›

So, I ask, in misery and fear. This, however, he says not of all, but of himself; for after having shown that life is miserable for everyone, he descends to the things that had happened specifically to him: I, he says, have become one of the number of those who pass their lives in trouble, and for a long time now I have been tested by calamities and miseries; for that is what "empty months" signifies.

• "But nights of pains have been given to me. [VERS. 4] If I sleep, I say: When is the day? And if I rise, again: When is the evening? I am filled with pains from evening until morning." ›

Aquila and Theodotion say: "When shall I arise?" If you wish, he says, to learn the things that have happened specifically to me, they are these: nights were ordained by divine dispensation for the rest of men, but I, during them, am tormented by pains, and I long in my prayers to see the sun, hoping perhaps to have some solace by day; but when the day shines forth, being afflicted with the same pains, I long for the evening; and when it comes, until another day arises, I am tormented by similar anguish.

^C • VERS. 5. "My body is covered in the putrefaction of worms; I scrape clods of earth because of the discharge." ›

Would, he says, that the evil had not proceeded further than the pains; but now worms are being born from me, and they consume my body, and a discharge so sharp and biting flows from me that if ever, lacking a potsherd, I wish to catch it with clods of earth, the discharge melts the clods themselves by the vehemence of its acrimony.

• VERS. 6, 7. "My life is swifter than speech: [Others have rendered: than a runner.] And it has perished in vain hope. [Symmachus, however: My days are consumed, since there is no hope.]" ›

Having set forth the things that had already happened to him, he finally adds how his life, like a runner, hastens toward the finish line, showing no hope at all of a better state; for that is what "in vain hope" means.

^D • VERS. 7. "Remember, therefore, that my spirit is my life, and my eye shall not return to see good." ›

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. In similar fashion David also prayed, when he said: "Spare me, that I may be refreshed, before I depart and am no more." See, however, how the just man nowhere

^A requests to be saved by his works and righteous deeds, but [acknowledges] because his life is short and momentary. ^B By "spirit" here, he understands the breath which is perceived by the senses, and which we draw in by breathing; just as Solomon also said: "For our life is a smoke in our nostrils." What he says is of this kind: Remember that human life is fragile and transient, to which it is impossible to return once death has snatched us away from it, and that one can no longer look upon or enjoy the good things of this life.

Ver. 8, 9. "The eye of him that hath seen me shall look upon me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more, as a cloud consumed and passed away out of heaven."

Polychronius and Olympiodorus. He shows in this place how sudden death is; for, he says, as often as someone looks at me intently, I frequently pass away and perish; and the end of our life is so sudden that those who see me today will by no means see me tomorrow; for if you should but wish it, and look upon me with your eyes to the point that I no longer exist, I have perished; for this is what is signified by the words: "Thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more"; ^C and I am like a cloud that has been dispersed, and has lost its own structure. Symmachus, however, has expressed this more clearly, saying: "As a cloud consumed, it shall pass away."

Vers. 11, 12. "Therefore I also will not spare my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. [Symmachus, however: I will discourse in the bitterness of my soul.] I will open the bitterness of my soul, being constrained; am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast set a guard over me?"

I will not be silent, therefore, he says, but being placed in straits, I will pray and beseech. He brings forward the present necessities, a mind embittered by grief, and the vileness of human nature as a petition, and says: Consider, Lord, that I am not worthy to be numbered among thy great works and immense masses, such as the sea or a whale (for he calls this a dragon), but that I am vile and small, and being surrounded by calamities of this kind, my strength languishes. And just as thou hast enclosed the sea, and the whales that are in it, with boundaries which they do not cross; ^D so also hast thou surrounded me with calamities, the outcome of which I cannot find. The Hebrew, however, instead of "Thou hast set a guard over me," says "labors and hardships." And this is what he implies: Just as waters flow into the sea, so do hardships inundate me; but it is characteristic and peculiar to it to receive and consume the influx of waters into its bosom without feeling, and for the whale that is in it to not at all dread the inundation of the waves; but for a man to bear grave and adverse things in a similar way is impossible. Then, turning God toward mercy, he adds:

Vers. 15, 16. "Thou shalt deliver my soul from my spirit. [The word, "Thou shalt deliver," is put for "Deliver." Aquila]

'And my soul chooses hanging.' And from death my bones. Symmachus: 'And death through my bones.'] For I shall not live forever, that I may be patient." ^A I humbly pray, take away my life, and deliver me from the pain by means of death; for thou didst not create me immortal, so that I should suffer pains now and live in rest in the future age. Therefore I ask naught contrary to thy decree, O Lord; thou didst fashion me mortal, not immortal, therefore bring death upon me, slay me. Behold these heavy words. What do they contain that is heavy? He recounted his calamity and asked for death; it is not unjust, he says, if, being mortal, I should desire death. Moses prayed in the same words, saying: "If thou wilt deal thus with me, kill me." ^B "Depart from me, for my life is vanity." [Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Symmachus, however, says: "Because my days are vanity." Another interpreter: "For my days are vapor." Cease, he says, striking me while I live in vanity, and possessing nothing secure, because I am failing, and I have no strength anymore; for this is what it means: "My life is vanity." So also David prayed: "Remove thy scourges from me, for I have failed by the strength of thy hand." It is customary for the saints, even to refer to God himself the blows which they receive from enemies by the permission of God, as one who is able to stop them, yet allows them for a time; for we know no other, they say, all things are in thy power and will.]

VERS. 17, 18. "For what is man, that thou hast magnified him, or that thou settest thy mind toward him? Wilt thou make visitation of him until morning? and in rest wilt thou judge him?"

^A a path to his death and departure, do not extend my sorrows for a long time; and therefore he adds:

VERS. 19. "How long wilt thou not suffer me, nor leave me alone, until I swallow down my spittle?"

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. He does not say these things indignantly, but as a suppliant he desires to know how long his sorrows are to be extended; is it until he can neither spit nor speak anymore? Grant me, therefore, he says, even the shortest space for the relief of my soul, and free me from my pains. For that expression: "Until I swallow down my spittle," is as if he were to say "I am suffering what usually befalls those close to death." Similar to this is that of David: "Forgive me, that I may be refreshed, before I go hence and be no more." And the same man ^B elsewhere: "How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry? Shall thy wrath burn like fire? Remember what my substance is." Not by way of rebuke, but as a suppliant he spoke, and presented the weakness of nature as an argument for his petition, just as Job now, too, asks that his pains not be extended even unto death, but that he at least enjoy a brief respite. Afterwards, further placating God, he says:

VERS. 20. "Thou who knowest the mind of men, why hast thou set me as an adversary to thee? But I am a burden upon thee."

Thou art not unaware, O Master, he says, thou whose access is to the inmost thoughts, that often those who see me, thy servant, enduring these things and neglected, blaspheme thy name; and so I am, in a way, a burden to thee, having become the cause of harsh words and blasphemous outcries, ^C though it must be understood that he himself was not crying out against God.

VERS. 21. "Why hast thou not made an oblivion of my iniquity, and a cleansing of my sin?"

These words also contain a petition within them (for "why," as has often been shown, is used by way of supplication), for in this place the just man seeks earnestly to understand the cause of his temptations. The sense of the words is this: Art thou not, he says, benevolent toward the human race? Art thou not capable of forgiving sins, and through the multitude of thy mercies showing the sinner clear of every stain? Why am I not also permitted to enjoy thy kindness? If not for my sake, then for thine own. Why, being great and immense, didst thou not despise my vileness? Why didst thou not, by omitting ^D an examination, disregard or entirely blot out my transgressions because of thy mercy and clemency? But by exacting everything according to just calculations, thou hast required the penalties of my offenses from me; and thou hast caused me, through the excess of such freedom of speech, to seem burdensome and annoying to thee, having spoken more than is allowed by nature to my Lord, and having, as it were, acted as an adversary, because thou didst not grant me amnesty, even if I did commit some sin, being of a changeable, slippery, and weak nature.

<‘Nunc autem in terram abibo: mane autem surgens ultra non ero.’> ^A He has woven the brevity of life into his supplication, that he might move God to mercy in every way. But that which he says, ‘Surging in the morning I shall no longer be,’ seems to imply this: Death, he says, is not like sleep; for men after sleep rise again at the break of day, and lead their lives and breathe; but he who has once died expects neither the morning time, so as to awaken as if from sleep, nor companionship with men. If, therefore, I am so fleeting and short-lived, and dying a little later, shall no longer rise again as if from sleep; why dost thou not allow even the shortest span of life to be immune from punishments? Job said these things, not because he was conscious of any sin in himself, but speaking by way of concession, saying: If I have sinned, yet with all others I ought to experience thy loving-kindness and mercy. Therefore, the pious, God-loving, just, and blameless mind of Job is shown through all things, even if he did not use a very clear enunciation of words.

CHAP. VIII.

< ‘Recto: Respondens autem Baldad Sanchites, ait: Usquequo loqueris haec, spiritus multiloquus oris tui?’>

Theodotio, indeed, said “most heavy.” Stop, he says, thinking to win with a multitude of words; you are very irksome and heavy to us, multiplying words, and bringing forth those things which lack reason and judgment. Then he reproves Job, as if he were trifling, and bringing the just judgment of God into the midst, thinks that he will stop his mouth, and says:

VERS. 3. "Nunquid Dominus injuste aget judicans? aut qui omnia fecit, turbabit justitiam?"

Chrysost., Polychron. et Olympiod. Do you not see, he says, how much equity there is in the creation, how much good order? Is it possible for God to pass judgment upon anyone without judgment and reason? Or would He who made all things decently and harmoniously, and who brought them into existence at the beginning through His benevolence and clemency, overturn the laws of equity in your case alone, and afflict you in defiance of justice and right? He strikes the holy man ^A silently, therefore, as if he were suffering adversities rightfully and on account of sins; he is of the same opinion as the one before him, namely, that tribulations and afflictions are altogether sent upon men because of sin. But he ought to have considered in his mind that such things happen not only to the wicked, but also to the upright (since they are indifferent matters), and that a righteous man becomes more admirable by enduring hardships and pains. But since he could not convict him of sin, he turns to his children, and says:

VERS. 4. "If your children have sinned against Him, He sent them into the hand of their iniquities."

The meaning of these words is this: If your children have sinned, have they not been punished with a just penalty? He said "against Him" because nothing escapes God. And "in the hand," that is, in action, as if he were to say: They have received a reward according to their own actions, and God has entirely punished the offenses of your children with the penalty of death; and "He sent them into the hand of their iniquities," that is, the punishments for their iniquities. ^B He implies the ruin of the house by which the children were destroyed. Yet in this point—where he says "If you have not sinned, your children nevertheless have sinned"—he confuses his argument and is tossed about by a multitude of opinions, not at all weighing with himself that one person would by no means be punished for another.

VERS. 5-7. "You, however, rise at dawn, praying to the Lord Almighty. If you are pure and truthful, He will hear your prayer; and He will restore to you a dwelling of justice. And your former things will be few, but your latter things will be inexpressible."

I advise you, he says, to pray to God with every zeal and diligence, and to postpone all other matters to your prayers; for that is what "Rise at dawn" signifies. And if you are truly sincere and without any pretense or deception, ^C He will restore to you a condition and state of life worthy of a just man, and you will enjoy such happiness in all things that your former goods, when compared to the latter, will seem negligible.

VERS. 8, 9. "For ask the first generation, and investigate by the race of the fathers: for we are of yesterday, and we do not know: for our life is a shadow upon the earth."

Inquire, he says, into ancient things, and investigate what was done in the times of the fathers; for we came into existence yesterday and the day before yesterday, we live today and tomorrow, and our whole life, like a shadow, passes away; and because of the shortness of life, we are able neither to know ^D the precise truth, nor to speak

from the memory of the ancients, recounting such things, we may perhaps not be held worthy of belief, as we were born not long ago and shortly after will not be. For such is our life; we were made when we were not, and having been made we shall be dissolved. As a shadow in the waning day, so is our life easily dislodged from its state and bent this way and that. ^A He says this, desiring to win credence for his words from those of older times, as those who had encountered the greatest number of events, which few of their own century and age had encountered.

«Can the papyrus flourish without water? Or will the reed grow up without drink?»

Just as, he says, it is impossible for the papyrus or the reed either to grow or be harvested if they do not enjoy the moisture of water—nay, every herb that is not watered withers—so it is impossible for abundance to remain with a man without piety. For this reason he adds: «So therefore will be the end of the ungodly,» that is, prosperity does not remain with them until the end, but like the web of a spider which cannot withstand a touch, such a man dissolves, and together with his whole family he perishes utterly. For this is what is signified by: «His house is uninhabitable.»

«If he props up his house, it shall not stand; and even if he lays hold of it, it shall not continue.»

For even if, as far as possible, he seems to act securely and to manage his affairs firmly, yet if God lays hold of him—that is, if He strikes and grasps him—it shall not continue, that is, it shall not stand. ^B Thus also Symmachus: «He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand.»

«For he is moist under the sun, and his shoot shall go forth from his rot.»

Aquila, however, says: «There is moisture in the face of the sun.» Just as the papyrus and reed, he says, even if they have the moisture of water, when the heat of the sun falls upon them, they dry up and their shoots rot; so too do the ungodly suffer when the divine wrath falls upon them. He seems by the *rhadamnoi* (which signify shoots, branches, or flowers) to hint at the destruction of Job’s children. You may understand the verse also in this way: in as much as the papyrus is moist under the sun—that is, devoid of being sun-scorched—it grows from the mud; but it cannot endure the sun, but as it were rots, and its flower falls off and flows away. ^C For this is what is meant by «His shoot shall go forth,» that is, it shall flow away because of rotting.

«He sleeps in a gathering of stones, and he shall live in the midst of pebbles; if he drinks, the place shall belie him.»

As if discoursing about a plant growing among stones and pebbles, not lasting until the end. ^D

^A For he says that the impious are like those planted in ground that has no depth, but is stony and hard; for they either strike no roots at all, or if they do strike root, because they do not have depth of earth, they wither so that they do not even appear any longer in that place. For [the phrase] "If it swallows him," is instead of, "if it takes root, and seems to stand firmly." And [the phrase], "the place shall belie him," is instead of, "he becomes invisible and unknown through disaster"; since even a tree when cut down leaves a memory of itself, but grass does not. He rightly seems to remember stones and pebbles, because the impious rest in the roughness and unevenness of evil things, and in scandals, regarding whom it has been said: "Clear the stones from the way." And even if they seem to receive some word of piety, they immediately vomit it out, because they are not endowed with a fertile and fruit-bearing soul.

«Hast thou not seen such things, [Vers. 19] since the subversion of the impious is such?» ^B Olympiodorus and Polychronius. These things, he says, you ought also to contemplate from the things that have happened to other men. Is any of what has been said called into doubt by you? Has not the discourse truly depicted the destruction of the impious? Do these things, which are obvious to the knowledge of all, escape you?

«But from the earth another shall sprout; for the Lord will not reject the innocent.» [Vers. 20] The pious man is different from the impious man; therefore he says that God will not utterly desert and despise a pious man, even if he is afflicted by some adversity. For just as God utterly overturns and destroys the impious who use prosperous fortune, so also does He cause the simple and innocent, even if they wither for a time, to flourish again, and He places them in a happy state of affairs; for the innocent is not neglected forever, nor does the impious enjoy perpetual happiness.

«But He shall not accept any gift of the impious. [Vers. 21] The mouth of the truthful shall be filled with laughter; but their lips with confession.» ^C Olympiodorus and Polychronius. After he had recounted God’s providence toward the pious, and His hatred toward the impious, and the gifts that are offered by them, he teaches [us]; then he inserts into the writing the joy that He exhibits toward the just and the arguments of praise, and he proclaims the destruction of the impious with disgrace: For the gifts of the impious, he says, are not acceptable to God, for He does not even accept their honors; but He fills with joy those who honor Him with a genuine disposition, so that, abounding in the abundance of all things, they may exult and praise God. ^D Moreover, he seems to speak figuratively to Job, that "formerly you falsely practiced virtue; therefore God, having condemned your hypocrisy, exacted punishment; and because you were by no means true, He admitted neither the honors that seemed to appear, nor the gifts and the sacrifices that you offered."

CHAPTER IX. Protheoria.

VERSE 2. "Then Job answered and said, Truly I know that it is so."

I know, he says, that God is not unjust, but rather as one who punishes the impious according to the norm of equity, He takes punishment from them. But so that he might show that this doctrine is settled and firm for him, he confirms his word as if with an oath, saying, "Truly I know that it is so." ^D He used a prologue of this kind in order to fortify the speech that followed, lest anyone should suspect (when he hears him saying, "I willingly contend in judgment with God") that he is saying these things as one who has suffered injustice, but rather that, trusting in the justice of God...

in His own righteousness, and in his love for God, he utters those words according to what is said: "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God." ^A That he is conscious of no sin in himself is evident from his own words. But understanding, in turn, that before divine exactness no one is without sin, he adds: "For how shall a mortal be just before the Lord? For if He should wish to contend in judgment with him, he will not obey Him, so as not to contradict one of His words out of a thousand; for He is wise in mind, and mighty, and great."

But I also know this, he says, that no one is just before divine exactness, nor shall "every living being be justified" in His sight, unless He should wish to justify anyone by His grace alone; otherwise, it is not permitted to open one's mouth against Him. A man may indeed be just if compared with other men, but if he is compared with the Lord of all, "How shall a mortal be just?" For God does not exercise tyranny in judging, ^B but persuades the one being judged, and makes him willing to accept His sentence. Or how shall those who inhabit the earth be made equal to God, when there is, to be sure, a very great difference between them? For if God should wish to enter into judgment with a man, the man is utterly unable to obey and to open his mouth; for he is not able, even if God utters a thousand words, to contradict even one, saying that it was spoken amiss. For it is impossible that Essential Wisdom should not know all things, even those that escape us; and it is impossible that He who is wise—not by the composition of words, but in understanding—should say anything unwise or worthy of reproach; and besides wisdom, He is adorned with omnipotence and the majesty of His nature.

Again, it must be noted that the righteous man said these things, almost using the words of blessed David: "And do not enter into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no living being be justified"; ^C so that if we hear him wishing to contend in judgment with God, we may not suspect him of saying: "I suffer unjustly, and if I bring a lawsuit against God, I can convict Him of doing unjust things" (away with the thought; for these things were far from the magnanimity of the great and God-loving Job), but rather that we may learn that he avoids the judgments of men as those who speak either through ignorance or for the sake of someone—which his friends also suffered, who were wandering regarding the reasons of Divine Providence and thought they were advocating for God because they had condemned the just man. But he also asks and humbly prays that God Himself, who is truthful, be established as judge for him, so that he may be shown not to be punished for sins, but by the true judgment of God.

"Who, having become hardened against Him, has remained?" ^D Again, Job has placed this as a precaution, that we might understand that he is by no means embittered, but

as a suppliant, and resting upon the truth of God, he brings forth his words. For how could he who knows that it is of no benefit to appear hardened against God, be embittered? And indeed, not long after, but in the very words that follow immediately, after having used such a preamble and sufficiently fortified our mind, he explains the power of God; almost persuading everyone not to dare to speak against One who is endowed with such power, such strength, and majesty, and who permits justice in no way to be disturbed or undermined.

^A VERS. 5. "Who brings mountains into old age, and they know not; who overturns them in his wrath."

This Symmachus has interpreted more clearly: "Who removes mountains, and moves them from sight." But what is the power of this verse? Literally, he says, "Who renders mountains evanescent with no effort," according to that: "Who touches the hills, and they smoke." As for the meaning: "Who transfers and removes from men—even while they are unaware—the snares of the devil, which exceed their strength."

^B VERS. 6. "Who moves that which is under heaven from its foundations: and its pillars are shaken."

He calls the supports "pillars"; for it is in the power of Him who founded and established it, to move it just as it pleases Him. Similar to this is that in the Psalms: "Who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble."

VERS. 7. "Who says to the sun, and it does not rise."

Not as if the sun hears, he says; but he shows the magnificence of His power.

VERS. 8. "And against the stars He places a seal."

That is, He shuts them in. He can, he says, command the sun to remain in its place, and not to rise, and to shut off the stars, so that they may not illuminate the earth.

^C VERS. 9. "Who makes the Pleiad, and Hesperus, and Arcturus, and the chambers of the South."

Under the name of the more famous stars, He has encompassed the rest, as if to say: "Who has distinguished the entire celestial ornament." Through the South, other winds are also signified: He called the treasures of the winds "chambers," so that we might understand that the cause and reason of the winds transcend our capacity. The Hebrew, however, says: "And all the stars that surround the South," so that the multitude of stars appearing in that region is indicated by the title of "chamber," that is, the stars stored up in the southern part of the heaven. ^D An *astron* differs from a *aster* (star), in that the *astron* consists of stars; as for those things that are without reproach—

in using these names ^A indiscriminately. For what harm do they do to Scripture by being named by it in such a way that humans, when they hear them, are able to understand?

VERS. 11. ‹If he should pass me by, I shall not see; and if he should pass me by, I did not know.›

Nature, he says, is invisible and incomprehensible, so that it escapes our notice as to how it is in all things, outside all things, and above all things. And why do I speak about Him, when even His judgments no created nature is able to comprehend by the conception of the mind? For He does all things, working them with invisible power, in such a way that He escapes not only the perception of the senses, but also the grasp of the mind itself. I, therefore, can neither recognize Him as being merciful, nor can I contemplate Him as being angry; and even if He should pass me by, even if He should go past, I do not perceive it.

VERS. 12. ‹If he should remove, who shall restore? or who shall say to him: What have you done?›

Behold, he says, He has snatched something from the world; who will bring back what has been snatched away? And what am I saying, "who will bring back?" Who at all will be able to contradict Him regarding what is done? If He should wish to accomplish a total destruction, who shall set aside what seems good to Him?

VERS. 13. ‹For He has turned away anger.›

One thing, he says, we do know: that He punishes without passion and inflicts punishments without anger, ordaining all things for our profit. By way of synecdoche, however, he has indicated every form of wickedness through "anger"; for He does not turn away anger only, but the other passions as well. And as Symmachus says: *God, whose anger is inflexible,* the inevitability of the divine movement is revealed; for who shall turn away the hand of God ^B when it is punishing?

VERS. 14-16. ‹But if he should listen to me, or if he should judge my words; for if I am righteous, he will not listen to me, I will pray to his judgment: and if I should call, and he should not hear, I do not believe that he has heard my voice, [17] lest he crush me with darkness.›

This passage is rough and precipitous, and no one could traverse it without exhaustion. With God, however, as our guide, and with the holy Job smoothing the place with that potsherd ^C with which he wiped away the discharge, the ascent must be attempted. What, then, is the power of these verses? Bildad had said, "Will the Lord act unjustly in judging?" And he added, "Arise in the early morning praying to God; and if you are pure, He will listen to your prayer, and will bestow upon you a way of life better than the first." To these things Job replies, "How shall I know, O friend, if the Lord will listen and will judge the words of my prayer? For even if I were to be justified while contending in judgment with Him, He will not answer me; for this is what 'He will not listen to me' means. For I would gladly implore His judgment and reckoning, if only He would answer ^D."

For God is neither seen nor does He utter a voice; rather, I fear lest He might invisibly crush me with darkness and a tempest, because I dared to justify myself before Him. Some have understood it thus: 'If I justify myself, God will turn away from me, since God does not judge according to our mind; for His judgments are beyond our grasp.' Therefore, I implore His judgment the more, and if I should call upon God, and He should be willing to hear my defense and justify me, I do not believe that He has justified me; for He is invisible, and I am ignorant of His judgment; wherefore I fear lest, from an unseen place, He might destroy me utterly like a tempest, that is, a darkness. What he says is of this kind: The darkness is circular, encompassing and enveloping from every side; even if, therefore, he says, from one part I may appear just, from another He will convict me. Proof of what has been said are the present things; for with various calamities He has suddenly overwhelmed me, without having exacted penalties for any sin; whence he adds:

'And He has made my bruises many in vain.'

One thing, however, he says, I know, that I do not understand the cause for which I am being so bruised; for this is what 'in vain' seems to signify. Or he says this also: that God had no need to test me through torments; for He knew [my heart] even before the trials. Others, in place of 'in vain,' have rendered it 'without cause' and 'gratuitously.'

'For He does not allow me to breathe; but He has filled me with bitterness.'

That is, I am full of many terrible things, and I am not even able to breathe without pain. Such is the intensity of the afflictions that I do not even have an instant of respite.

'For if I am just, my mouth will speak wickedly [the others: "He will condemn me"], and if I am blameless, I will be found perverse.'

Even if I am justified, he says, before Him, I will act wickedly; and even if I might perhaps be justified by my works, I will be condemned by my words. For if I dare to say that I am just, this very act of saying so, I consider to be wicked; and if I should even dare to say that I am blameless, and praise myself, this very thing shows me to be perverse and not upright. For being just, I should not say this very thing, that I am just; for the just man does not speak of himself. Similar to this is that: 'I have become foolish by boasting; you forced me.'

'For whether I have acted wickedly, I do not know in my soul, yet my life is taken away.'

' ^A *Of Polychronius and Olympiodorus.* He spoke the saying of the Apostle: "I am conscious of nothing, yet I am not thereby justified." For I am not aware of having committed any transgression myself, yet I know that I am suffering evil; and seeing my own affairs in such dire straits, I have reached a state of perplexity, not knowing to whom [m] to attribute the cause of what has come to pass.

"Therefore I said, 'Anger destroys the great and the mighty,' because the wicked are in [a state of] sudden death, but the righteous are mocked, for they are delivered into the hands of the wicked." *Of the same.* Pondering these things, I say that the anger of God destroys him who considers himself to be great and powerful in righteousness, because God exercises His anger generally against all, no one excepted, whether a man is distinguished in piety or illustrious in his life. ^B And I know, indeed, that the wicked shall also suffer final punishments, and that suddenly. Yet for the present, the pious are mocked by the wicked, as long, that is, as the kindness of God and the great treasuries of things laid up for both in the future remain hidden. For the righteous are often delivered into the hands of the wicked, not so that the latter might be honored, but so that the former might be tested. Let Job persuade you of this, both by his words and his sufferings—for words are proven by the things themselves—who was delivered to the devil, demanding him for punishment, and his goods appeared to be snatched away by enemies, although he himself knew not the cause of this dispensation.

"He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not himself, who then is it?" [Symmachus: *And now who is it?*]

Since he had mentioned the devil, saying: "For they are delivered into the hands of the wicked," he consequently adds that sin, often approaching under the mask of righteousness, deceives even those endowed with the faculty of discernment; therefore, no one is without sin. But if the devil, the author of sin, did not use cunning, he would not be great, but easily assailable. These things, however, as a saint and prophet, he has inserted with a kind of concealment into the middle of his discourse; then he turns again to narrating his own affairs, and adds what follows.

"But my life is swifter than a runner; they have fled and have not seen. Or is there a trace of a path for ships, or for an eagle flying in search of food?" ^D That is, it is most swift, whether it be good or evil. Symmachus, however, says: "They have departed like ships hurrying, like an eagle flying for food." Men, he says, who quickly depart from this life, cannot see the individual events of human life; for just as the tracks of a ship and an eagle cannot be found, so neither can the signs of prosperous fortune. As, therefore, it is not possible to find the track of a ship in the sea, nor of an eagle in the air, so...

^A so neither does any sign of human happiness remain. And the events concerning me are a proof of this, for I, who enjoyed some small portion of good things, ran through them all the more quickly, like a ship driven by the wind, or an eagle sharply cleaving the air with the swiftness of its wings; for the phrase "to swoop down for food," that is, for nourishment, signifies swiftness. And the image of the eagle has the same meaning as that of the ship, only differing in the variety of the example.

VER. 27, 28. "And if I say, I will forget my speech, I will look down with my face [and] groan, I am moved in all my members; for I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent."

This has a double meaning. For either he says this: "If I wish to use words in my own defense, I prolong my speech to great length; but meanwhile I groan and become trembling, fearing lest I should be convicted of having done something through ignorance." Or rather, he wishes to say this: "If I set out to speak and recount the things concerning me, the bitterness of my pain brings me to forgetfulness; and my faculty of memory has perished, so great is the pain within me; even if I should recover from the things that oppress me, the punishment has nevertheless opened everyone's mouths against me. Therefore, covering my face, I groan and lament, and my limbs are shaken, knowing that, examined according to thy strictness, I shall not appear innocent, nor without sin."

VER. 29. "And since I am ungodly, why did I not die?"

Aquila, however, [says:] "To what end do I labor in vain? If I am altogether judged to be ungodly, it would have been better for me to have died before the ungodliness." The Savior said something similar concerning Judas: "It would have been good for that man if he had not been born" (Matt. xxvi, 24). Lo, now this lover of God, Job, also says: "It were better for me to have died than to be accused of ungodliness; I would prefer death than to be pelted with so many insults as a transgressor of the law." "Why have I not died?" He says, "I do not know the dispensation."

VER. 30, 31. "For if I wash myself with snow, and am cleansed with pure hands, thou hast thoroughly dipped me in filth, and my garment has loathed me."

^D Of Chrysostom and Olympiodorus. It was the custom among the ancients to wash away defilements with baths; and this was also an ancient custom, where they wished to show that they did not partake in this sin, they would wash their hands, saying, "I am innocent of this matter," as Pilate also did in the case of the Savior (Matt. xxvii, 24). David also sang (Ps. xxv, 6), "I will wash my hands among the innocent." This, therefore, is what he says: "Although I have been pure, these accurate examinations and the punishments that are brought upon me, by the prejudicial opinion of men, have rendered me defiled and unclean."

^A And he says this because his friends, in order to prove him a sinner, were bringing forward the things that had happened to him. What he says is in this vein: "I am set forth as an example of impiety to all. Why then did I not die? For it was necessary that the wicked one be taken from the midst, so that he might not be a teacher of impiety to others. Even if I were purer than the sun, I have a stain, and not an ordinary one." But even those who are so close to me, as a garment is to the body, even they have hated me, not because of the punishment, but as one who is accursed and defiled; ^B as one unclean, so have they turned away from me. "My body also has become loathsome to me; for this is the garment." It is also possible to understand "My garment has loathed me" in this way: that the clothing itself flees from me, as if it had hated me, meaning instead: "I am not even able to put on clothes, because of the severity of the ulcers." ^C

VERS. 32, 33. "For you are not a man as I am, that I might contradict you, so that we might come to judgment together. Would that there were a mediator between us, who might argue and hear [the case] between us both."

Since the prejudice conceived from his torments seemed to demonstrate the impiety of the just man, and it was not possible to show the falsity of this opinion from the things that were being seen, he wishes to be judged before God Himself, who is truthful and does not respect persons, trusting greatly in His just judgment; ^D as if he were to say: "You indeed, O friends, bring your votes against me out of the evils inflicted upon me. But if the truthful God, being no respecter of persons and existing as Truth itself, should wish to go to judgment with me, He Himself will bear witness that He did not bring these torments because of my sins." That such is the mind of the righteous man, and [that he acts] out of great love and boldness towards God, and trust in His truth, avoiding the judgment of men but gladly being judged before God, who speaks all things truthfully and without error—listen to him speaking in the following verses, when he debates with Zophar, who, having left the discourse with his friends as being erroneous and not proceeding with just judgment, adds: "But yet I will speak to the Lord, who is truthful, of course, and no respecter of persons, and I will argue before Him, if He wishes; but you are unjust physicians, and healers of evils, all of you." You see how he avoids the judgments of men as unjust, but flees to God, the Physician of souls and righteous Judge. Then, also trusting greatly in the just judgment of God, he takes courage, and says: "I know that I shall appear righteous." And again, "Behold, in heaven is my witness, and my witness is in the high [...]

^A places." You see how, everywhere fleeing the erroneous judgments of men, he asks God Himself to be both his adversary and his witness. What proofs of love, of boldness, and of confidence these are! Therefore, God, who thoroughly understands the minds of men, did not remain silent, knowing with what disposition the just man was speaking; but He bestowed victory upon him over his friends, and declared that he did not suffer on account of sin, but that he might be shown to be righteous. Having thus known this love of the just man toward God, let us listen to what follows as it is written. But if the Psalmist says: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified," let not this disturb us. For the great Job also knows that, with respect to divine justice and exactitude, no one is righteous; but his intention now is not to contend with the divine exactitude, nor to show that the righteous God is punishing him unjustly, but to convict of lying the friends who thought he was being punished on account of sins. ^B Therefore, the good God also concurred with Job's opinion, and openly declared that he had not suffered on account of impiety, but that his affliction was a trial, testing the noble man so that he might be shown to be righteous. But let us hear the renowned man saying: "For he is not a man like me, whom I would answer, that we might come together into judgment." Let us hear the famous man saying, "For he is not a man like me, whom I would answer, that we might come together into judgment."

VERSES 34, 35. "Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me; and I will not be afraid, but I will speak."

"Let him take his rod away from me," that is, the inquisition and the afflictions; "and let not his fear terrify me." For this is what it means: to terrify, to choke, to turn about, to strike. He makes the deliverance from afflictions a proof of pardon and indulgence. ^C

CHAPTER X.

"For I am not thus conscious of anything, while my soul is weary."

Olympiodorus and Evagrius. This is said by him in some such way, or because his friends were reproaching him as if he were being punished for sins, or because he says that his soul does not share in the weariness of his body; for indeed this was laid low by the affliction, but the soul remained unhumbled.

"I will speak, being compressed by the bitterness of my soul, and I will say to the Lord: Do not teach me to be impious; and, Why did you judge me so? Or is it good for you if I act unjustly?"

Do not despise me as I am worn out by labor, lest I become unjust, being swallowed up by excessive grief; as if he were saying: Do not permit me, Lord, to be tempted beyond what I am able, but put an end to the evils against me, and do not extend the afflictions for too long, ^D lest, as is likely, being struck by calamity, I utter something inept, or out of necessity

^A forced into a voice of impiety. This is the meaning of: Do not teach me to be impious, which is the same as: "Turn the voice of impiety away from me," for the Lord teaches no one to be impious. And the words, *Why have you so judged me?* are for: "Make known to me for what transgressions you exact the penalty from me." The word "why" is not used causally here, but suppliantly. *Or is it good for you if I should do iniquity?* It is as if he said: "It is neither good, O Master, nor pleasing to you that I should lapse into iniquity; show mercy, therefore, for many, unable to bear their calamities, have turned to iniquity or even to blasphemy." Thus, the saint, in his own person, makes supplication to God on behalf of us all, that He might deign to grant us a reprieve from the temptations against us, lest we be swallowed up by greater sorrow.

*For you have despised the works of your hands and have attended to the counsel of the impious.*

He again entreats Him as his Maker, that He not despise His own handiwork; and he gradually convinces himself that he has been handed over to the devil (for he calls him, and the demons with him, the impious); but the reason of Providence—why he was under the devil’s power—he has not yet been able to learn. Hence, it seems to me that he uses a varied circuit of words, partly requesting eagerly to be delivered from evils, and partly desiring to understand the cause for which he is being punished. ^B

VERS. 4-7. *Or do you see as a mortal sees, or do you perceive as man sees? Or is your life human, or your years those of a man? For you have inquired into my iniquity and investigated my sins; for you know that I have not acted impiously; but who is there who can rescue me from your hands?*

Does he mean: "Do you pass judgment on affairs in the manner of men? Can your strict examination miss anything, as is the case with humans? Are your years few, and are you ignorant of what happened before your own beginning, so that you have need to search or examine the things that have been done in order to know that I have done nothing impious?" ^C

*Chrysostom and Olympiodorus.* "I myself know that I have not acted impiously, but it may happen that I have acted impiously, and yet am unaware of it; when you punish, therefore, no one can be justified; but even if I have not acted impiously according to my own judgment, I know that your will cannot be avoided," as if to say: "Even if I am conscious of no wrong in myself, yet let your will prevail, which knows our affairs better than we ourselves do, and let it conquer and win."

VERS. 6. *Your hands have fashioned me and made me.* ^D

*Chrysostom and Olympiod. He says: "Though I am a sinner, I am the work of your hands." You see how he acknowledges God as his Maker and entreats Him to show mercy to His own handiwork.

^A *Afterwards changing, you struck me.* Aquila and Theodotion say: *Simultaneously in a circuit you have overwhelmed me.*

After you made me, he says, and established me in abundance, you changed my circumstances into afflictions and scourges. The whole matter is this: No one else is able to deliver me from these evils, save you who have struck me. ^B *Remember that you fashioned me as clay, and you turn me back again into earth.* Even if you have brought, he says, as one possessing power, bitter things and afflictions, yet remember that I am weak, and that I have my composition from clay, that is to say, as far as the body is concerned.

VERSES 10-12. *Did you not milk me like milk, and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and sinews. You placed life and mercy with me, and your visitation has preserved my spirit.*

For you milked me like milk, he says, that is, from the dust, on account of its extreme fineness, or rather on account of the seminal element. And you "curdled" me, that is, you thickened me like cheese, whether because of the coagulation at the beginning of the molding, or because of the hardening that occurs in the womb. The phrase "wove me together with sinews" is instead of "you stitched me together." And the phrase, "You placed life and mercy with me, and your visitation has preserved my spirit," means: Through your kindness and mercy alone, you brought us from things that were not into being and life; and your providence toward us keeps our composition safe. ^C

VERSE 13. *Having these things in yourself, I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible to you.*

These truths, he says, considering them firm within myself—that you are able to bring even from non-being into being, and that you are able to produce, as a wise and powerful God, the fluid and milky substance into the composition of man; and that you are merciful and the giver of life, and that you take much providence toward us; and simply, by contemplating the creative, the providential, and the judicial power, which are indicated by "life," "mercy," and "visitation"—I know that you are able, and that you are able to deliver your handiwork from present pains. You see with what reverence he makes mention of the Creator, and gives thanks for the creation and for the providence toward us; these things are truly evidences of a genuinely pious and very grateful man, and are consistent with the religion of the blessed Job. ^D

VERSE 14. *For if I sin, you watch over me; and from iniquity you have not held me innocent.*

It is fitting, he says, for your kindness to grant some forgiveness to your handiwork, and not to examine all my actions and transgressions too accurately, as one who knows all things. Here again, the holy man, taking on his own person, toward our own [human] nature, makes supplication before God; for he has assumed the role of humanity in common. He says, since...

nothing escapes you, O Lord, but you even observe our works—for this is what "you watch" means—and even if you do not immediately punish those who sin, you do not on that account leave them unpunished. But, he says, you have become a strict investigator of my offenses, and by demanding satisfaction for all things, you have not treated me with equal kindness. ^A

VERS. 15. « Sive enim impie gero, vae mihi; et si justus fuero, non possum suspicere. » Aquila, however, says: « Et justificatus non tollam caput. » The sense is this: If I am impious, he says, this will be the worst of all things for me; but if I should dare to say that I am just, I derive no benefit from it. Meanwhile, I am in suspense because of the things I suffer; for while I am conscious of no wickedness in myself, the bitterness of my calamities speaks against me and does not allow me to lift my head. ^B

« Plenus enim sum opprobrio, [VERS. 16] et capior sicut leo ad occisionem. » One thing I know, he says, that my disgrace is poured out, and like a lion hunted for slaughter, I am struck by punishments from all sides. He seems to compare himself to a lion on account of his former happiness and strength of vigor, for it is a commanding animal.

VERS. 17. « Instaurans in me inquisitionem meam. » The evils that press upon me, he says, do not relax, but increase all the more, and the evil is always being renewed; as if he were to say, I am surrounded by various and diverse calamities, and I am like those who, after previous floggings, are brought repeatedly to another examination and other torments. ^C

« Ira autem magna mihi usus es. » That is, you have used great punishment against me; for he calls "wrath" the punishment that had been heavily inflicted upon him and the laborious way of life, not a passion [of the soul]. And here again, he indicates the magnitude of his afflictions, not because he was broken in spirit, but so that he might make it known to his friends that this great wrath was not roused on account of sins, as they supposed, if they would but carefully weigh the accounts of his life. ^D

VERS. 18, 19. « Quare ergo de ventre eduxisti me, et non sum mortuus, oculus autem non vidisset me, et essem tanquam non fuissem? Cur enim de utero in monumentum non sum translatus? » Olymp. and Polychr. Ecclesiastes later said these same things, declaring the dead man happier than the living, and the one who is not yet born, happier than both. But humanity has fallen into this calamitous life because it had not cleaved to God, nor guarded His divine commands. Yet, the blessed Job desired death not only on account of his pains, but because, as time was extended and his miseries increased, he [feared] lest he should be entirely

had incurred complete abandonment by God. He used these sentiments in his first discourse, and now repeats them again, wishing everywhere to show that, in desiring death so that he might be delivered from bitter agonies, he was neither worthy of censure nor a blasphemer. "Therefore," he says, "upon me, who am about to fall into these evils, it would have been better never to have existed at all, or, having been born, to have been carried off to the grave immediately; for even if I were to receive no reward for good deeds, I would at least not have been torn apart by such great tortures."

VERS. 20. "Or is not the life of my time short?" Again, he brings forward the briefness of life as a plea, and asks that it be shown to him, through the remission of his torments, that he has indeed found God to be propitious; for not yet having learned the cause of the temptations, ^B he behaves himself, not without cause, with a certain negligence and agitation. "For who," he says, "is unaware that men, whose life is short and fragile, consider it grievous to be struggled with in miseries?"

VERS. 22. "Where there is no light, nor is it [possible] to see the life of men." That is to say, where there is no order of the sun and stars, nor is it permitted to see the state of human affairs, namely, the sanctioning of good laws and political order. He says these things, fearing that, should he die in the midst of his torments and probations, he might be cast out ^C entirely from the countenance of God and be numbered with the impious in Hades, who dwell in eternal darkness, according to the words of the Savior; for since God is light by nature, those who are excluded from his countenance exist in darkness.

Chapter XI. Protheoria.

VERS. 1, 2. "Responding, however, Sophar the Minæan, speaks: 'He who speaks much, shall also hear in turn.' [Symmachus, 'Shall it not be that the multi-loquent one is answered?']"

SOPHAR, like the others, or rather more vehemently than they, makes an attack upon Job; for they were equally ignorant of the disposition of soul that the righteous man employed when he spoke of God: whence, conceiving that they were taking up the cause of God, they were unaware that they were offending God.

^A ‹ Or does the eloquent man think himself to be righteous? › Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. The nature and character of a righteous man, they say, is not estimated by a multitude of words; for it is not the case that if one is fluent and eloquent, he is immediately righteous; but even speech that flows quickly and swiftly does not lack the possibility of contradiction. But you, as it seems, fancy that the portion of the righteous man consists in a multitude of words; but you shall know that you have said nothing noble, nor anything that cannot be gainsaid; for just because you are able to speak, it does not follow that you are righteous.

‹ Blessed is he that is born of woman, short-lived. › For he gains who departs from life quickly, so that he does not see, or rather does not experience, bitter and troublesome things, and does not sin much. He says this, in order to shut the mouth of Job who was justifying himself; or else he is bewailing our own life, seeing that it draws many calamities with it and is full of pains, and for this reason he calls him blessed who has not remained in it for long.

VERS. 5. ‹ Be not many in words, since there is no one who contradicts you. › Perhaps also, because Job had requested God to descend with him into judgment: "Do not," he says, "trifle in vain; for you will not have God to contend with you in judgment."

VERS. 5, 6. ‹ But how would the Lord speak to you, and open his lips with you? Then he will announce to you the power of wisdom, that it will be double to those things which are about you; and then you shall know that things worthy of your sins have befallen you from the Lord. › Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Would that, he says, it were possible for God to converse with you, and to set forth the arcana of his wisdom in words—for this is what the phrase "He will announce to you the power of wisdom" signifies—so that, having learned his wisdom and ^B the excellence according to justice, you would no longer dare to say that "I am pure and blameless," but would know that God has distributed to you according to merit, bringing upon you punishments equal to your sins. The phrase, "For it will be double to those things which are about you," signifies this: The excellence of God is far greater than one who, like you, boasts that he is wise and righteous. If, therefore, he is wiser and more righteous than we, he has wisely and justly brought punishments upon you; and this you would have understood if the Lord had spoken to you, and had instructed you according to his own wisdom. For then, having contemplated his dispensation—which is accompanied by wisdom even in bitter things—that it is not by way of retaliation, but rather, like a physician, for the health of the soul that he brings afflictions, you ^C would have become more prudent

^A and, having weighed the difference between yourself and God, and seeing that you dared something greater than your own nature admitted, by choosing to enter into judgment with the Master, not even understanding the reason for the things done by Him, you would have cast down your pride; and, having known the magnitude of divine wisdom and power, you would have confessed that you have suffered punishment worthy of your sins. ^B “Or will you find the footprint of the Lord? Or have you reached the uttermost parts of what the Almighty has made?”

The things of God, he says, exceed your powers, and it is impossible to find the reasons for His providence, or to reach the end of His counsels or of His works. Far be it from me to say that you will find His beginning or end—for he calls the outcomes “uttermost parts”—nor can you say that even if you do not find the beginning, you will be able to reach the end; for the infinite and eternal time of God is impossible to be grasped by human contemplation.

^C “The heaven is high, and what will you do? And things deeper than those in Hades; what do you know? Or are they longer than the measure of the earth, or the breadth of the sea?”

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. How, he says, would you be able to attain to how much the height of the heaven is? For this is what “And what will you do?” signifies, meaning: “You will be utterly unable to find it,” or what things are those that are beneath Hades? And why do I speak of things above the heaven, or things lower than the earth? Do you know the breadth of the sea, or how great the measure of the earth is, or how it came to be, and on what foundation it stands? Yet you would not insolently claim to know any of these things. If, therefore, the things that are seen and made by God escape our comprehension, and it is not possible to say by what measures the earth and sea have been bounded, how is it not the height of audacity to stretch out one's tongue against Him?

^D “And if He overthrows all things, who will say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. As if to say: being unreachable in His nature, He is also incomprehensible in the providence toward individuals. If, therefore, He should even wish to overthrow all things, who would contradict His nod and such great authority? And he says this truly and appropriately to the purpose: “For who resists His will?” This is similar to, “Will the object formed say to Him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me thus?’” But since he said, “If He overthrows all things, who will contradict Him?” so that he might not appear to be saying that He even punished you by His authority, he immediately adds:

^A Ver. 11. “For He Himself knows the works of the wicked; and seeing absurd things, He will not overlook them.”

Of the same. These things, he says, He does, knowing the deeds of each one, and the cause of things that happen, and not leaving human affairs unexamined, nor letting those who sin go without punishment. Since, therefore, He is powerful, and wise, and just, He did not overlook you when you were acting lawlessly, but punished you. It is clear, therefore, that it was on Job’s account that Sophar said, “If He overthrows;” and showing that God is inescapable, he added that He knows the works of men, not overlooking their faults.

Ver. 12. “But man swims otherwise in words, and a man born of a woman is like a solitary wild ass.”

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. He took the image from the solitary ass, an unmanageable animal, to indicate that Job was unmanageable in divine matters. For God, he says, is so great and of such a quality, and the things that pertain to Him are such, that it is a fearful thing even to think about them in one’s mind. But men chatter in vain and rashly, and are nothing, according to the baseness of their nature, when compared with divine wisdom and excellence, being no different from an ass, and thinking things contrary to the nature of God regarding divine matters, they hallucinate in vain, and differ not at all from cattle, which understand nothing beyond what is placed before their feet. Just as an ass in the desert has no end to the road because it is pathless, nor can it reach the outer limit of the desert, just as the one who is swimming cannot reach the limit of the sea; so he means that men, although they are partakers of reason, do not understand from visible things the wisdom and power of God, but like cattle, wallowing in present things, they think nothing worthy of a rational nature.

Ver. 13, 14. “For if you have made your heart pure, and extend your hands to Him, if there is anything wicked in your hand, put it far from you, and let not iniquity dwell in your house.”

Symmachus, in place of “You extend hands to God,” rendered it, “You will spread out your palms to Him.” The tenses here, therefore, are changed. The meaning, however, is this: If, he says, you are willing to obey me in anything while I am counseling the best things, purify your heart, and having made a rejection of those things which you have done wickedly, approach God with a sincere disposition, and spread out your blameless hands in prayer, and suppliantly call upon God, and make an end of sinning; do not perpetrate anything further that is unjust or wicked, nor let any remnants of wickedness remain in you. And if it should happen that you set yourself to any unjust action, let not wickedness persist in your life. For if by this method you render God propitious, and you are shown to be pure in all things, those things will happen to you of which he makes mention afterward; and (to put it in one word), with all misfortune removed, you will return to your former happiness.

^A VERSE 16. «And you shall forget your labor, as a wave that has passed by, and you shall not be afraid.» No trace of your labors shall remain, neither any memory of your calamities, just as no trace of a wave that has passed is left behind; you shall be fearless henceforth, now that your evils have been calmed. Truly, as calm after a storm is altogether pleasant, so is prosperity after adversity.

^B VERSE 17. «And your prayer shall be as the morning star.» Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. That is, pure and rising; or, illuminating the darkness of your soul contracted from evils; or rather, the herald of a conspicuous life.

VERSE 18. «And from care and anxiety, peace shall appear to you.» Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. A calm and peaceful state shall succeed to the pains and anxieties you now have, for that care which is according to God is free from all anxiety and perturbation; therefore, things that pertain to piety are to be cultivated with diligent study.

VERSE 19, 20. «But many shall pray to you; but salvation shall abandon them; for their hope is perdition; and the eyes of the wicked shall waste away.»

^C Of Polychronius and Olympiodorus. Those, he says, who now despise you on account of your calamities and insult you, shall later implore you, when the salvation from God has abandoned them and all hope has departed; then also their eyes, on account of envy, namely, in seeing your prosperous lot, shall melt away. From these words, too, it is permitted to understand that the devil, besides other evils, also instigated certain persons to hold Job in mockery and insult him in his calamities. These men, he says, when later vexed by calamities, will earnestly strive to obtain your help, but they shall be frustrated in their expectation, and their hopes shall perish, vain and empty; for it is not possible that the wicked should live securely, but falling into adverse circumstances, while they expect a change of things, they are overwhelmed by calamities and extinguished before they can become partakers of any good. ^D Therefore, in this place, he understands certain wicked persons, and the grief they had conceived because of the change of your condition, you who had fallen into troubles and difficulties; concerning whom he also pronounces that, failing in the wicked hope they fostered concerning you, they shall be killed, and looking upon your prosperous lot, they shall waste away with envy; or, according to Theodotion: «Their eyes shall fail,» that is, they shall grow weary from gazing long and waiting for your sudden change back to misfortune, which, however, they cannot see, and they shall pine away. Indeed, if these things had been said to another who was suffering adversity on account of his sins, they would have been spoken not inaptly (for neither are the speeches of the friends of Job...

^A to be rejected, if some other person needed to be admonished, and if they had been offered with due distinction); but the just man grieves all the more, because, being conscious to himself of no wickedness, he is admonished as an impious person to perform penance.

CHAPTER XII. Protheoria.

After Sophar had used a more vehement address, and by bringing forward the divine wisdom and power had attempted partly to strike fear into the just man, and partly to show that he was not suffering unjustly, Job mocks Sophar, because he wished to construct his argument with demonstrations that are manifest and confessed by all. Then, showing himself to be wiser than his friends in divine matters, he speaks magnificently concerning God's wisdom and power; and he reproaches them because they were unable to bring forth words fit for healing. He himself, however, gladly recounts what he was suffering before a just God, relying much on His just judgment, and he blames his friends for taking upon themselves the advocacy of God contrary to justice and what is right. He says: Even if you seem to speak for God a thousand times, if you have spoken deceitfully and not justly, God, who loves the truth, will in no wise approve of you. But he himself, on the contrary, hopes to attain salvation because he discourses before God with confidence, sincerely and without guile, concerning what he has in his heart, and he says: I know that in speaking the truth, I shall appear just before the true and just God. Then he turns to prayers, and entreats God to grant pardon if he had offended in anything, and he sets forth the weakness of nature as a plea for supplication, asserting that no man is pure, even if he should have lived but a single day. And ^B having made a comparison, he shows that man is weaker than plants, and he supplicates God as his Maker, that He might be willing to spare His own handiwork, and he earnestly begs Him not to descend to accurate examination and inquiry. But it is worthy of admiration how, being vexed by such great calamities and tortures, he was not struck with amazement, nor did he lose heart; how nothing of what was said by his friends escaped him, but he met them all, brought forth doctrines, held opinions of God worthy of Him, and in the midst of torments, as if not in the flesh but wholly in spirit, he philosophized.

VERS. 1, 2. ^C «Respondens autem Job, ait: Itaque vos estis homines? aut vobiscum morietur sapientia?»

You judge, he says, that you alone are men, who have knowledge of the great works of God and diligently guard the faculty of reason; and you think that neither has there been any wise man before you, nor will one arise after you, but that all wisdom is to have its end in your generation, so that no one else becomes a partaker of it. That is to say: It will meet its end with you, nor will it pass to another, but the perfection of wisdom will be circumscribed within you alone. He says these things,^D

but not in any spirit of pride against them, but rather being troubled at the things they spoke against the truth; wherefore he adds:

«For my heart is as yours is.» I have the same nature as you, he says, and I cannot be ignorant of such things; for I too am a man, and certainly not heartless. He wishes to say that I am not inferior to you in understanding; but I too understand just as you do. I have not lost my heart, as is said of some who have cast away the proper energy of the soul; but having been struck by the magnitude of my evils, I am exposed to being reviled.

«For the just and blameless man has come to be a laughingstock.» While he seems to be speaking about himself, he puts forward a general statement, namely, that carnal men consider the things done by just and spiritual men to be folly; according to that which is said: *The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit* (1 Cor. II, 14). He calls himself just here, not attributing perfect virtue to himself, but meaning that he has wronged no one, and that no one among the others has any charge to bring against him. And if I, he says, having done no wrong, suffer such things, how much more so the wicked man?

«For at an appointed time he was prepared to fall by others, and his houses to be plundered by the lawless.» Here, those who hold to the view of fate say: Behold, even the Scripture says that it was fated for him to suffer, and that it was determined by God that he should appear inferior to those who previously were less than him. But the Scripture does not say this, far from it. For our sufferings are not by necessity—whether they be natural, or of the will, or by temptation. For some things must be attributed to the weakness of nature, others to the free choice of the will, and others to the governance of God, who permits them to be brought upon us for a time for our benefit. Rather, God, directing our affairs by measure according to the reasons of His own providence, knows how long it is fitting for us to suffer, and brings temptations upon men in a certain manner and in due measure.

«Nevertheless, let no one who is wicked be confident that he will be innocent, all who provoke the Lord, as though there will be no examination of them.»

*From Polychronius and Olympiodorus.* Do you think, he says, that I am ignorant of the reasons of Providence, although these are known to me no less than to you? And I know, just as you do, that it is not possible for one who has sinned against God not to pay the penalty. For this is clear and acknowledged, that sin does not go unpunished, nor do those who provoke God remain without examination. Even if one mocks the just man and oppresses him by his power, he will not be innocent, even if he seems to prevail over him; for he provokes ^D

God; but there shall certainly be an examination and judgment of the deeds committed. ^B

VERS. 7-11. “But yet ask the quadrupeds, if they will answer thee; and the birds of the heaven, if they will tell thee; speak to the earth if it will tell thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare to thee. Who then in all these has not known that the hand of the Lord has made these? If not in his hand is the soul of all living things, and the spirit of every man? For the ear indeed discerns words, but the throat tastes foods.”

Chrysostom and Olympiodorus. Since they boasted of having the knowledge of God, for this reason he declares that every creature knows its own Maker, which is known not only to men, but also to irrational animals, and to the very earth itself, which is devoid of sense. Why therefore, he says, are you so affected, as if you had said something great and wonderful? For it is necessary that the wicked should utterly perish, and no one is ignorant of this. But to strike greater shame into Zophar, he spoke hyperbolically: Ask the irrational and inanimate things, which even themselves, though they do not speak, by seeming to produce such a voice, declare the glory of God; since, therefore, they sense the power of the divine, if they were endowed with speech, they would profess that God is the creator of the universe, and his wisdom is unsearchable, and he is the punisher of the wicked, and that all things are under his hand, and the life of all things that live, and death, and he has readily the power to do whatever he may resolve concerning each individual, and he holds together and restrains all things, both the soul of the irrational and the spirit of man. If, therefore, irrational animals, if it were to speak, would thus report concerning God, how much more man, who is by nature imbued with reason, just as, indeed, the throat is discerning of things tasted, and the ear has the faculty for discerning sounds. But some copies, instead of "ear," have "mind"; he says, therefore: As we all possess a throat for the discernment of foods, and it is common to all men to take food: so also we have received a mind for the knowledge of God, which is able to know things concerning his wisdom and power—for the mind ^C discerns intelligible things, but sense discerns those things that fall under sense—and it is common to all of us also to know God as the maker of the universe.

VERS. 12. “In much time is wisdom, and in much life is knowledge.”

Chrysostom and Olympiodorus. It seems to me that by these words he lashes them: Do not, he says, imagine that you have discovered everything; for even if we are imbued with a mind that has the power of discernment, yet to make discoveries, we are in need of much time; for the wise man, as he grows old, makes progress in wisdom. And perhaps he wishes to say this: I know what I hear, and I have spent time to acquire knowledge. But Aquila and Symmachus, the one rendered it: “In ancients is wisdom”; the other: “In the long-lived,” which is achieved among men by labor and acquired by time, but with God, by will alone.

VERS. 13. “With him is wisdom and virtue.” ^D

^A With him, namely with God; for he is the fountain of wisdom and power, who also grants these things to others. And while all men possess the ability to think most highly of God, God alone possesses the exact knowledge of things in creation and power over all, and administers all things, not by conjecture and ignorance of the future, but endowed with a perfect knowledge of each thing.

VERS. 14. “If he destroys, who will build? If he shuts against men, who will open?”

He has added to the divine omnipotence that which is indisputable, according to the Psalmist: “Thou art terrible, and who will withstand thee?” ^B He says that there is no one who does not know that God is both wise and powerful, and that he does with ease all that he wishes, and that no one is able to overturn what seems good to him. The proof of his power is in the outcomes. For if he decrees death for someone, who can prevent it from coming? But if he should not wish to kill, but to afflict someone with a life full of sorrows, who will be fit to console him? For whatever he may have plotted against us on account of our sins will come to pass without any contradiction.

VERS. 18. “Who places kings upon thrones, and wrapped their loins with a belt.”

But this also is the power of God, that to no one is it granted to reign without him. “And wrapped their loins with a belt.” Symmachus, however, says: “And girding them with a rope about the loins,” that is, making them slaves instead of lords. ^C

VERS. 19. “Who sends out priests as prisoners, and has overturned the dynasts of the earth.”

For he does not spare even priests who transgress, but destroys them together with those who rule badly; as if to say: those who are in the highest authority among men are of no account to him. If, therefore, he means those who do not rightly use the priesthood, he shows that he does not spare even them, if the situation demands it; but if he means those who perform their duty as it is right to do, he signifies that God often is accustomed to send even them into captivity, and this for the benefit of the rest of the people; for as far as their own actions were concerned, these were not deserving of undergoing captivity. But the phrase, “He has overturned the dynasts of the earth,” is similar to what he said above: “He has removed the judges of the earth.” ^D

VERS. 20. “Who changes the lips of the faithful.”

He calls them “faithful” here, those to whom, as those who tell the truth, faith ought to be accorded; which Symmachus clarified by his interpretation, rendering it: “Overturning the lips of the unerring,” that is, he turns the counsels of those who seem least of all to err into the opposite, as he did in the case of Balaam.

VERS. 22. “Who reveals profound things from darkness, and has brought into light the shadow of death.”

According to the literal meaning: “He who makes manifest those things which [are hidden to all]..."

or also, he who saves those men who are in dangers and near to death,” for he calls danger the “shadow of death.” In a more recondite sense, he seems ^A prophetically to announce the advent of the Lord, who said to those who are in chains, “Come forth,” and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves”; and He appeared to those who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

Vers. 23. “Decieving the nations and destroying them; overthrowing the nations and leading them on.” This He did to the Israelites: He led astray those who went out from Egypt and refused to obey His commandments, whose corpses fell in the desert; but their children He led on, as if leveling and smoothing the way for them into the land of promise. ^B

Vers. 24. “Changing the hearts of the princes of the earth; He made them wander in a way they did not know.” Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius: Something similar is also said in the Psalms: “He destroys the thoughts of the peoples, and rejects the counsels of princes.” Theodotus, however, rendered “changing” as “transferring”; Symmachus, “overturning”; and Aquila, “removing.” All three agree in one sense, as if to say: He puts not only the common people to flight, but also the strong men who seem to rule over the rest; a thing which happened even in the case of Zedekiah, who could not lift his hands against the barbarian, ^C but turned his back at the first encounter. He remembers these things as being such as could be applied to present affairs; for thus the convenient and opportune use of these words will better shine forth. Then, narrating the things which are accustomed to happen of necessity to those who are in flight, he adds:

“Let them grope in darkness, and not light; and let them wander like a drunken man.” As if to say: These men, regarding the carrying out of the proposed matters, differ nothing from those who, bereft of light, wander in darkness and gloom; and overcome by the magnitude of their calamities, they differ in nothing from those who are whirled about by drunkenness. For the expression, “Let them grope in darkness,” and, “Let them wander,” is not that of one wishing, but points out the event, that is, they grope and they wander. ^D

CAP. XIII. Vers. 1. “Behold, my eye has seen these things, and my ear has heard, and I know whatsoever you also know, and I am not less understanding than you.” Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius: These things, he says, I have learned by experience itself, and I have heard from others who spoke—that is, I have understood from the things themselves, and I have received from doctrine, and I have been instructed about God; and although I may appear younger than you in age, yet in prudence, and especially in the knowledge of divine things, I am in no way surpassed, nor am I inferior to you in these matters in any respect.

^A "Yet surely I will speak to the Lord." You see how, as before a just judge and the physician of souls, he wishes his cause to be examined, trusting in the righteous judgment of God, regarding his friends as those who err and, instead of the healing of medicines and words of consolation, are rubbing his wound sore.

"And I will argue in his sight, if He wills." That is, I shall plainly set forth my cause, upon the supposition that He wills and permits it; for I know that the cause of my affliction is not unknown to Him. Similar to this is that, "For do I now persuade men?" and "He who judges me is the Lord." If, therefore, God, he says, permits me, with Him as judge, I will convict you of falsehood—you who aggravate the diseases of the sufferer, belying the promise of your arrival; but I shall cease from contention with you; if God should wish to judge my actions, I shall gladly undergo the justification.

"Sit autem vobis obmutescere, et evadet vobis sapientia." ^B

Of Chrysostom and Olympiodorus

^A VERS. 7, 8. “Will you not speak before the Lord? And will you utter craftiness before his sight? Or will you withdraw yourselves?”

He begins his rebuke by teaching them that everything they bring forth, they utter while God is watching. Moreover, he points out to them the craftiness itself, as being offered up before Him, for the sake of correction, so that they might cease from such a disposition, as if they had the Lord watching over them. And he says: “Do you not understand that God hears your words? How then do you dare to speak falsely when He is listening? Or will you escape Him by acting deviously?” For this is what is meant by, “Or will you withdraw yourselves?”—that is, “Can you hide from Him?” Theodotion, however, rendered it: “Will you show partiality to Him?” But the Hebrew said: “Be ashamed,” that is, “Are you afraid to speak against God, and for this reason do you speak to curry favor?” Consider, therefore, your own conduct, you who seem to champion God’s cause: do you not decide in your minds the opposite of your words, knowing one thing about me but falsely asserting another? For you speak on God’s behalf while feigning the truth, for he called hypocrisy and simulation “craftiness” in this place.

“But you yourselves be judges; for if he shall search you out—for if you should do everything and be added to him, he will nevertheless rebuke you.” ^B Olympiodorus and Polychronius: “You,” he says, “be judges if what I say is not true, that if God searches out our inner selves, even if you should claim a thousand times to speak on His behalf, and even if you should offer many times more than what has already been said, and if you should proceed further to curry favor with Him with your words, He, being an incorruptible judge of the trial, will pass judgment against you, exposing the shiftiness of your mind and showing you to be liars nonetheless, just as if you were speaking against Him. So that it is to my advantage that you be examined, but to you it is not good.” Note, moreover, how the righteous man everywhere censures a lie, even if someone seems to be speaking on behalf of God. Therefore he himself converses about what he thinks with truth and boldness, for which God also approves of him, since He is Truth itself. He says, then, to his lying friends: “I choose you as judges; tell me, is there any good in it, if God should examine your words? Or will the matter not turn out entirely to your detriment, since He Himself abominates hypocrisy and lying?” ^C

“But if you should also secretly show partiality, will not His whirlwind confuse you?” [Symmachus, however: “Will you secretly respect His person? Will not His agitation terrify you?”] “But the fear from Him will fall upon you, and your pride will turn out like ashes, and your body clay.” The sense of Job’s words is this: “Even if,” he says, “while trying to please God, and as if revering His person,

you speak with one mind while holding something else in your thoughts, will not the twisting and torment—for this is what his ‘whirlwind’ is—terrify and overturn you? Your arrogance and boasting will be humbled, and his wrath being kindled, your bodily constitution—you who have conducted clandestine judgments and have therefore fallen into contempt—will be shown to be but dust and ashes, and that you are nothing else but mud?” It is as if he were saying: “While being dust and mud, you boast insolently, and while being situated outside of any calamities, and unable to endure even the smallest part of my sufferings, you grant no pardon to my miseries.”

VERS. 13, 14. ^B “Obmutesce at I may speak, and let me find rest from anger, taking my flesh in my teeth.”

“Be quiet,” he says, “and while silent, give me your ears, so that by speaking I may find some consolation for the pressing pain, and by words soothing my heaviness, I may find rest.” For this perhaps denotes the statement, “Taking my flesh in my teeth,” that is, “Even though I shall discourse with groaning and pain, I will speak nonetheless, considering it the only consolation for my troubles to be able to discourse freely about my affairs, and to bring forth with my mouth the evils that I am enduring.”

“And I will place my soul in my hand. [VERS. 15.] If he who is powerful oppresses me, since he has even begun, I shall surely speak and argue before him.”

“I put my soul,” he says, “as a pledge, prepared with a willing spirit to undergo punishment for my words, even if God, who has begun to torment me, wishes to destroy me. For if what I am saying is not true, I will not refuse to suffer whatever seems good to God; but I know that I will refute those who are lying.”

VERS. 18, 19. “Behold, I draw near to my judgment; I know that I shall appear righteous. For who is it that will enter into judgment with me, that I should now be silent and fail?”

^C Of Polychronius and Olympiodorus: Now also he lays the foundation of his instruction, and begins to teach his friends that he is not suffering on account of sins, and he says, “Behold, I set myself in judgment, trusting in my own righteous deeds.” And demonstrating the reason for his boldness, he adds, “For who is it who will enter into judgment with me, as if he had been wronged in some way by me? Who will refute me for my sins, so that I should be afraid and keep silent?” For the word “fail” means, “I shall be prevented from speaking.” The Hebrew text, indeed, has, “That I may not speak.” He does not say this out of arrogance, but to teach them not to hold a false opinion concerning him. For it happens sometimes that someone speaks excellent things about himself, which he had not originally intended to do, when he encounters another who is ill-disposed toward him. For example, if someone to whom the ministry of providing for the poor has been entrusted, is slandered as though he... ^D

had embezzled what was to be dispensed to them for his own use, we do not at all blame him if he says, by way of apology, that he even gave of his own to the needy, provided he had not said this before. Thus, neither should Job be blamed—not out of self-love, but for the aforementioned reason—when he speaks with pure confidence: *I know that I shall appear just*, placing his trust in the divine truth and the just judgment of God, before whom I am speaking; ^A therefore I shall not fail, that is, I shall not be silent, and by my silence make myself guilty and inexcusable, as if I had no defense for my cause.

VERS. 20. ^B *But grant me two things, then I shall not hide from your face.* He turns his discourse to God: If you grant me these two things, I shall speak freely before you, for no man will refute me; but with you, putting fear aside, I shall gladly converse. Aquila and Theodotion, however, rendered ^C *But grant me two things* as "Only do not do two things with me." The Hebrew, for "I shall not hide from your face," has "I shall not turn aside," that is, "I shall meet you face to face in judgment," if you have granted me these two things. What are they?

VERS. 22. *Then you shall call, and I shall obey; or you shall speak, and I shall give you an answer.* The others translated more clearly: "I shall speak, and you will answer me." If these things, he says, are granted to me by you, and I know that you are favorably disposed toward me, then demand an account of my past life, and I shall offer a defense, and when asked, I shall come forward to make my apology. By many arguments he makes his confidence in God manifest, so that in this way he may draw his friends into a true opinion regarding him. For the fact that he has humbly prayed for his calamities to be diminished and lightened, and that he has addressed God without fear, and has contended with Him in judgment, clearly sets before their eyes that he is righteous.

VERS. 26. *For you have written evils against me, and have laid upon me the sins of my youth.* *You have written evils*, that is, you have noted down all my sins from my youth, so that they might never fade from your memory. For, being in doubt and not finding the cause of the things that have happened to him, he turns his mind in every direction; and since he is not conscious of any sins he might have committed in manful and mature age, he says: Do you, then, demand from me now the penalties of those things I committed when I was a youth? You see how he acknowledges himself a sinner, and wishes to obtain pardon on account of his age, or even to show himself a sinner on account of his age.

*And you have set my foot in a snare.* [The interpretation] of Polychronius and Olympiodorus. But Aquila and Symmachus translated it: the one, "in anguish and misery, as though under the stocks of a prison," the other, "in the stocks." But he persists in the metaphor; for when he had said, *You have written against me*, and have condemned me to punishment, and for the sins I committed in youth you exact penalties, he subjoins—

^A he adds, that you have in a way fettered me with evils, so that I cannot move any further; as if he were to say: You have watched my actions accurately, just as those do who cast criminals into the stocks; for Aquila has rendered it thus: *And you have placed my foot in the stocks.*

*«And you arrived at the roots of my feet.»*

See how, throughout all things, he sets forward the weakness of our nature for the sake of supplication, comparing man to a leaf, and to grass carried hither and thither by the wind, and to a skin decaying, and to a flower quickly withering, and to a passing shadow. Such a being, he says, O Master, do you bring into precise examination, and do you scrutinize his matters so minutely?

*«Which decays like a skin.»*

Having already shown the insignificance of human nature by two examples—both by the leaf that falls away, and by the grass that withers due to the lack of moisture and is played with by the winds—he now employs another image, by which he demonstrates that even before the punishment, this nature is weak, our body being of its own accord prone to dissolution, and aging like a skin, or, according to Symmachus, like rottenness.

CHAPTER XIV.

*«For man born of a woman is short-lived, and full of wrath.»* ^C

The phrase *full of wrath*, Aquila rendered as *full of perturbation*; as if to say: man’s life is momentary and full of perturbation; for we mortals, born of mortals, and having a life circumscribed in a short time, possess a life full of tumult and disturbance, or else we are entirely liable to the wrath and punishment that comes from God. He said these things while seeking forgiveness if he had sinned in any way, and imploring mercy for human lowliness.

*«For who shall be clean from filth? Nay, not one, even if his life be one day upon the earth.»*

Why, he says, is it necessary to say many things about man, since the very generation of man does not exist without filth and sin? Hence it is that infants are baptized to wash away the filth which they have contracted through the transgression of Adam. He says this because, through the transgression ^D in Adam, our nature has become weak and prone to sin, and indeed because of generation that is joined with a love of pleasure—not, however, as though sin were connatural and consubstantial with us; God forbid!

*«Depart from him, that he may rest, and take satisfaction in his life, as a hireling.»*

Come to pity, O Master, him who is so insignificant and short-lived, and turn away your searching gaze from him, that he may catch his breath like a hireling, who, after much labor, finds a little rest. But some copies have: *Depart from me, that I may rest, and take satisfaction in my life, as a hireling.*

^A And again, by presenting the brevity of life joined with trouble and misery, he says: Command that I, who am exhausted and miserable, may be at rest.

VERS. 7-10. *For there is hope for a tree; if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its branch will not fail. If its root has grown old in the earth, and its trunk has died in the rock, it will sprout from the scent of water, and it will make a harvest like a new plant: but a man when he has died, is gone; and a mortal, when he has fallen, is no more.*

Man is even more fragile than plants. For they, after being cut down, if irrigated by waters, can sprout again and send forth shoots and produce a harvest, that is, fruit; but man, once he has died, does not stand in hope like a tree, but perishes completely, and will not be recalled, nor can he return to life; for those who have lived their lives here on earth will migrate thither; but those who have arrived at that end will not return hither.

VERS. 13, 14. *Therefore, would that you had guarded me among those in the underworld, and hidden me until your wrath should rest, and you should set a time for me in which you might make mention of me! For if a man has died, he shall live, having completed the days of his life.*

He gives the reason why he desires death, and shows that emigration from here is not undeservedly to be preferred over a life filled with sorrows. Would that, he says, you had not made me alive, but had kept me dead and free from pain! Would that, in this time when you are kindled with wrath against me, you had guarded me in the underworld, and had not consigned me to oblivion entirely, but had set a time in which, deigning to show me your providence, you would free me from my afflictions; for when a man dies, having completed the days of this life, he is not reduced to nothingness, but his soul lives, awaiting the resurrection. ^B Thus you shall interpret the saying, granting that the righteous man hoped for the resurrection. But that which is said: *If a man has died, he shall live,* can also be understood as if he were saying: He is delivered from torments; for he who is not among the living senses nothing, nor does he know how to suffer.

VERS. 15. *I will wait until I am made again: then you will call, and I will obey you.*

But Aquila and Theodotion, and Symmachus; these indeed say: *I will hope until my change comes*; but the other one: *Until my holy birth comes.* And the sense is this: Although I may be guarded in the underworld, with you commanding the dead to rise, I will await regeneration, change, and transformation for the better. But I will obey; by these words he signifies that the resurrection will occur in the twinkling of an eye.

VERS. 16, 17. *But do not reject the works of your hands. You have counted my inventions, and none of my sins will pass you by; moreover you have sealed my iniquities in a bag, and you have noted if I have erred unwillingly.*

Therefore, he says, I wish to be saved, because ^C of your own hands. (*) From this, he says, I wish to be saved, from the

(*) Those things which are marked with an asterisk are anonymous in the catena of Nicetas, but since the scholia of Olympiodorus follow or are enclosed by them, we have thought that they should not be omitted here.

^A a work of your hands, but by no means because of my righteousness, nor because I hope that you can be deceived; for your knowledge is inescapable, and the steps of my life are numbered to you, and nothing of mine is hidden from you. But you have encompassed both the quality and the number of them, and thus you have numbered and searched them out, and as in a purse you have gathered and locked up my iniquities, so that none of them should perish, but that I should be required to pay the penalty for them all. And whereas you ought, because of the weakness of nature, to overlook the things wherein I have stumbled, you have not done this, but have examined everything minutely and accurately, and have demanded the penalty even for my involuntary sins, having written them down. He says these things while beseeching God not to examine our affairs strictly; and he instructs us that nothing escapes the unerring understanding of God regarding our actions, whether we do anything by choice or involuntarily. Note, however, that we shall also render an account for involuntary actions. ^B

VERS. 18, 19. And indeed a mountain falling will fail, and a rock will grow old from its place; water smoothed the stones, and water washed away the mounds of the earth, and you have destroyed the patience of man.

The wise Job speaks in riddles, since he, being wise, understood that many things spoken by his friends were said in riddles; his mind was nowhere distracted from his sufferings, but in the midst of the sufferings themselves he was philosophizing. It seems, therefore, that in these things he is beseeching God not to prolong his calamities for too long, lest he also suffer some faltering and be exhausted. For if, he says, a mountain or a rock grows old with time and falls, and the frequent flowing of waters smooths even the hardest stones, and the rising mounds of the earth and those lying flat are flooded and swept away by the force of the waters, I fear that by the frequency of temptations and the length of time, I might also suffer something against my will and succumb to my calamities. The phrase, "And you have destroyed the patience of man," for which Symmachus has instead given, "You will destroy the expectation of every man," signifies that without help from above, man is nothing, nor can he endure the storms of temptations. ^{C D}

VERS. 20. You have pushed him to the end, and he is gone; you have fixed your face upon him, and have sent him away.

Again, he laments before God concerning the nothingness of man, and puts forward the shortness of his life as a plea and supplication. For as with wind, or dust, or any of the lightest things, he says, if you only push him, or fix your face upon him threateningly and look with severity, he is immediately sent away and is gone—that is, he dies and becomes invisible; for "you have sent him away" means "you have shown him to be a stranger to yourself and have dismissed him."

VERS. 21, 22. And when his sons are many, he does not know; but if they are few, he does not understand; but

his flesh have suffered, and his soul has mourned." ^A He leads a life, he says, full of sorrows, and awaiting death from day to day, he is tormented by anxiety of soul. But what profit does a man gain from posterity, who lives in sorrows and sickness of soul? For whether his offspring be extended into a multitude, or be reduced to a few, he, having died once, knows nothing of it. Again, he quietly teaches us not to esteem a distinguished or numerous offspring as a great thing; for to a man about to die, these things are of no use, especially since each one lives for himself, and not for another.

CHAPTER XV. Protheoria.

When Job, in the beginning of his discourse, had said: "Are you then men? or will wisdom die with you? And I have a heart as well as you"; ^B Eliphaz, immediately meeting this, addresses Job thus: "A wise man never sells his own wisdom with ostentation," which is what you have done, although you have brought forward nothing necessary or relevant to the matter; so that you appear even to have cast off fear by your words. Tell me, then: "Were you born before all men, or even before the creation itself? Or have you been made an initiate of divine wisdom, that you arrogate knowledge to yourself? By what reasoning, moreover, have you dared to say, 'I am blameless,' and 'I shall appear righteous'? when neither angels, nor heaven, nor much less man who is impure, can be pure in respect of the divine purity." Learn, therefore, the ancient and true saying, that punishments are brought upon men on account of sins. Then he also relates the things that might perhaps happen to the ungodly. And indeed the account is true, that afflictions are caused by sins; but they are not always ^C brought on by way of retribution, but sometimes also for the sake of probation, so that the righteous may be tested. Wherefore Eliphaz, having spoken these things without taking the proper distinction, and numbering Job among those who suffer tribulations on account of sins, inflicted upon him a new blow. Observe, however, how the friends of Job observed decorum in their discourses, yielding turns to one another, and not interjecting their own words for the sake of ostentation; but with one of them speaking, the others remain silent, and wait until he has finished. Just so did Paul ^D command those who prophesy in the Church to do, imposing order upon them at the same time, and preserving what is unconfused in what is spoken. For this reason, therefore, Eliphaz replies again to Job, since he was the one who first stood against Job, then Baldad, and after him Sophar. According, therefore, to the proper sequence and turn of the discourse, he again stands against what has been said, and says:

"Nonne et tu repulisti timorem?" [For which Theodotion: "For you did not reject fear."] "And you have brought to an end such words before the Lord"?

^A And Symmachus: "And you have spoken impudently against God." You have dared, he says, and spoken without fear, desiring to be judged against God; and you have spoken with boldness against God, fearing nothing, and not even realizing the difference between your nature and God. But Eliphaz and his companions say these things under the guise of piety, as if on God’s behalf, perhaps because they imagined that he was blaspheming due to the bluntness and freedom of the just man’s words, which he brought forth from a pure conscience.

"You are guilty by the words of your mouth, nor did you distinguish the words of the powerful. May your own mouth refute you, and not I, and your lips will testify against you."

^B Polychronius and Olympiodorus. He speaks to him boldly, as if addressing an unjust man; and he thinks he will refute him from his own words, saying: "You shall be refuted by your own discourse, and you shall be condemned by your own words." For you did not accept our exhortation, which was so useful, but you spoke without considering or distinguishing the words of those who are powerful in wisdom—that is, of sages older than you or of us, your friends—in such a way that you are to be condemned not from elsewhere, but from your own words. Therefore, compare the things said by you with the facts themselves; for so, perhaps, as one who has dared to speak most irrationally, you will condemn yourself. He rebukes his speech in two ways, however, from time and from intelligence, saying:

"For why? Were you born the first of men? Or were you brought forth before the hills? Or have you heard the decree of the Lord? Or did God use you as a counselor? And has wisdom come to you? For what do you know that we do not know? Or what do you understand that we do not?"

^C Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Were you, he says, born before all, and before creation itself, so that you are wiser than everyone because of time? For are you surely older than all, so that the length of time might have instructed you? Or have you heard something from God? You certainly do not surpass us in knowledge. For since Job had said, "In long time is wisdom found," ^D therefore, he says, you are caught. Have you existed before all men, and extending your life until now, have you gained more experience of things than your own kind? But in fact, you do not differ from other men, nor are you constituted outside their nature, so that you have grasped something more than others; nor were you brought forth before the hills, or, as the Hebrew has it, "conceived." By hills he means the ridges, that is, the elevated, impassable, and sandy places. Nor have you heard the decree of the Lord; for which Aquila rendered "arcana," Theodotion "mystery," and Symmachus "colloquy," as if to say: Do you know the things before creation, as if you had come into existence before the hills? Or did God use you as a counselor, since...

you take such pride in your wisdom? Bring forth something unknown to us, and show that you have surpassed us. Yet what strange thing do you know that we do not understand? For you could not say anything beyond human matters and those things that lie in the middle. They say these things in order to show themselves to have attained the height of wisdom. ^A

VERS. 10. "But there is both an old man and an ancient one among us, older in days than your father."

Of Olympiodorus and Didymus. But why, he says, do you say that time has made you wiser? Perhaps there is someone among us three who is older—or, according to Symmachus, *longer-lived*—not only than you, but even than your father. Either, therefore, he says this: If you boast of time, there are ancient ones among us; or perhaps this: Although you are old and advanced in age, there is one among us who exceeds you in age, and who is older—that is, more aged—than your father, and yet you know nothing more than we do. And Eliphaz says these things arrogantly, on the basis of authority. ^B

VERS. 12, 13. "What did your heart dare? Or what did your eyes bear, that you broke out in fury against the Lord, and brought forth such words from your mouth?"

By "eyes," he means the visual and intellectual powers of the soul. How then, he says, did you dare in your mind to be so lifted up, and with anger—as if suffering unjustly—to argue with God, as if you happened to be someone without sin?

VERS. 14. "For who is a man, that he should be blameless? Or that one born of woman should be just?"

The Hebrew, however, says: "And how shall the offspring of a woman be justified?" as if to say: This very nature, subject to passions, is prone to sin. ^C

VERS. 22-26. "Let him not believe that he is turned back from darkness; for it is already decreed that he is in the hands of the sword [Symmachus, however: "For he has been foreseen for the sword"], and he is appointed as fodder for vultures. He knows within himself that he remains for ruin; a dark day shall toss him about, and anguish and tribulation shall seize him."

He calls the punishment "darkness." Let not the impious man, therefore, he says, believe that he will go unpunished; for it is provided by divine decree that he should perish by the sword and be consumed by vultures while lying unburied. Therefore, if the sinner, looking to his prosperity, expects no reversal, he deceives himself; for he has long been subject to the decree of punishment, and although God, in His long-suffering, expects a change of his way of life, he has from that time ^D stored up punishment for himself—which is signified by the iron and the vultures. Because he has not condemned himself, he shall pay the ultimate penalty, so that the honor of burial is denied him, and he, lying unburied, turns out to be food for birds; which, indeed, at that time was considered a grave punishment.

^A Yet this is even worse: when he himself, through his own conscience, presages and foretells such things. For he himself is conscious of his own coming fall, and that he is about to be under darkness, and agitation, and affliction, and necessity. For the conscience of those who sin knows that the practice of evil pursuits brings ruin, and that he will regret it once the calamity has overtaken him, when he is brought into helplessness and finds no way out of his evils, but is agitated by his punishments in the darkened day, concerning which it was said in Amos, *The day of the Lord is darkness and not light* (Amos V, 18), he will know the difference between the pious and the lawless. Observe, moreover, that the life of the sinner is [filled] with agitation, and his death is pitiful, not according to the common law of nature, but by force, and war, and battle; and after death, he lacks even burial and funeral rites; and not only does he lie unburied, but he even becomes food for vultures. We must not be surprised that he speaks in this way; for it has already been said that perhaps he brings these things forward because of ancient erroneous teachings, for he tries to demonstrate in all things that Job suffers on account of his sins.

« As a battlefield commander falling, because he lifted his hands against the Lord, and against the Lord Almighty he stiffened his neck; he ran against Him with injury in the thickness of the back of his shield. » ^B

He calls a "battlefield commander" him who leads the army in wars. As, therefore, such a one, trusting in his own power and bounding against the enemies, having received a fatal wound, has no hope of salvation; so also the impious [man], as if lifting his hands against God, and displaying his harshness against God not merely in intent but in works, and shaking off the easy yoke, that is, His care and the concern with which God pursues him, like a high-spirited heifer casting off the yoke from its neck and skipping away from the yoke-strap, and all but running to engage Him in battle; and as if engaging in hand-to-hand combat against one of his own nature, arming himself with the apparatus of war, bearing pride like a thick shield, and trusting in his defensive armaments, he is struck down and falls, as a leader of armies, being wounded by God as his antagonist; for [the phrase] "in the thickness of the back of his shield," means that [he], appearing to be protected by external defenses, thought that he would be stronger than the blow of God. ^C But some have understood "As a battlefield commander" as "as the devil," for he stiffened his neck against the Lord; as therefore that one fell, so also shall everyone who resists God fall.

« Because he covered his face in his fat, [Symmachus indeed: For he was covered] and made a muzzle over his thighs. » ^D [Again Symmachus: And he thickened the fat over his loins.]

Those who are well-fed through excessive luxury thicken their faces with fat, and create folds and fleshiness ^A over their thighs, which he calls a muzzle, as if it were holding together the thighs, and squeezing them, just as a muzzle does the neck. Therefore, he says, as these people become such, so the wicked man also grows insolent through wealth and luxury, expecting no change in his present prosperity; but, overflowing with good things on every side and relying on fleshly strength, he rises up to resist God and wars against His statutes; hence, as one fighting against God, he is cast down by Him. But according to the Hebrew, for the phrase "He covered his face," it has "the heart," as if to say: the visual power of the soul has been blinded by luxury. And for "muzzle," it has "fatness and a double-fold [diploidem]," that is, he has given himself over entirely to gluttony and the care of the skin, so that he might have double-folds over his thighs from the excess of flesh. Symmachus, however, interpreted it as "over the loins"; but the sense of all is the same. ^B

VERS. 34. « And fire shall consume the houses of those who receive gifts. »

He calls the divine wrath "fire," which consumes even the household of those who are insatiable, and greedy, and who betray justice for the sake of gifts. The saying contains useful instruction and an obvious point for anyone, namely, that those who are corrupted by gifts and bribery necessarily undergo this on account of injustice and iniquity.

VERS. 35. « He shall conceive and in his belly bring forth groans; and empty things shall turn out for him. [Aquila indeed: He conceived and brought forth a useless thing.] And his belly shall sustain deceit. »

The wicked man, he says, meditates sorrows against others, and having deceit within himself, he deliberates how he might afflict someone; for this reason, his outcome and end shall be empty and like to vanity. But the expression "shall sustain deceit" is used because he conceives evils by the choice of his will. He calls the "belly" the whole inner region of the body, and the soul itself; and "deceit" he calls all wickedness, as if his soul were carrying deceit. ^C Therefore, it says: either that the wicked man shall conceive sorrows against others, and shall be the father of wicked offspring; but the iniquity and deceit conceived and brought forth in light against others shall turn out for nothing. Or, that the man becoming rich from impiety, like a woman in labor, shall be affected by a bitter sense of pain on account of the things he possesses, and his outcome shall be empty and vain. For a calamity is wont to be heavier for those who live in abundance; for God demands from him the penalties of his robberies, and from the abundance of goods he has accumulated, he shall perceive no fruit, nor will anything remain for him beyond the calamity which he suffers on account of his appetite for others' belongings; as if to say: You, Job, who have labored much; and gathered riches from the injustice inflicted upon others, you have derived no benefit from it ^D, having paid the penalty worthy of your wickedness; for the deceit which you practiced and devised against others, that is to say, the punishment for it...

you yourself shall undergo: he calls the belly the mind or the soul. ^A

CHAPTER XVI.

Protheoria

^B VERS. 1, 2. "Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things."

"Things such as you speak of," he says, "I have often heard, namely, that punishments await the wicked; so that you have told me things that are worn out and known to everyone, and under the pretext of consolation, you have assailed me with reproaches and revilings; for words of this kind are common to all, since it is easy for those who suffer nothing bitter to exhort unfortunate men with long-winded speeches."

"All of you are comforters of evils."

"You, therefore," he says, "are evil comforters, who by your words irritate my sufferings; and, as it seems, you do the opposite of your goal; for coming to console, you cease not to plague with many torments of abuse one who has injured you in nothing." ^C

VERS. 5. "Then I would speak against you with words, and move my head against you."

It is also possible to read it with a mode of expression that captures the emotion in this way: "If you were set in my evils, would I insult you with words, or shake my head at you? By no means; but I would rather have lifted up your spirits with consolatory words." Another of the interpreters, agreeing with this sense, has rendered it thus: "If you were subject to my sufferings, I would have approached you with other words, and I would have moved my head over you, with a feeling of sorrow, that is, and I would have strengthened you in my mouth"; for which the Septuagint gives:

VERS. 6. "But may there be strength in my mouth; and I will not spare the motion of my lips."

"I wish," he says, "that it were possible for me to represent my sufferings with my words, and I would not have ceased until I had brought my calamities before your eyes; for perhaps in this way only would you have become sympathetic, if it had been possible for me to use ^D a strong tone and an open tongue toward you." Then read what follows as a question.

VERS. 7. "For if I speak, shall I not feel the pain of the wound? or if I am silent, shall I be less wounded?"

That is to say, "I shall certainly suffer pain." And of such a kind is that which

^A I say, that even if I am urged by my pains to speak, I am not only deemed unworthy of consolation, nor will my pain yield, as Symmachus renders it, but I fall into worse things, as each one judges me to be a blasphemer. If, however, I should wish to endure the reproaches in silence, I shall not only be deprived of the glory of philosophy and calmness, but, on the contrary, I shall be judged all the more as a lawbreaker, because the silence will be thought to arise from a conscience of those things which are being said. If, therefore, whether I speak or whether I am silent, I am in any case going to suffer pain, it is better to speak, so that I may not seem by my silence to agree with your accusation.

• "Now, however, he has made me weary, a fool, rotten." •

Olympiodorus and Chrysostom. It is not enough, he says, that I am being punished, but I also seem to be a fool and an idiot; for the punishment has exhausted me, cut me down, and made me rotten, so that I am very nearly considered to have lost my natural mind. Or perhaps he also says this: that God permitted my friends to suppose about me that I am without feeling in these calamities; for here he called him "fool" instead of "senseless." Hence he added to this "rotten," because limbs that have rotted are deprived of sensation.

• "And you have seized me; and it has become a testimony." •

Other copies have: "He has seized me." According then to the reading "you have seized me," which Symmachus renders as "You have bound me incessantly under a yoke," he addresses God, saying that as if some strong man you touched me, the small and weak one, and immediately I became an example to all, ^B as though I were being punished for sins. But according to the reading "He has seized me," he speaks about God to his friends, saying: "He has struck me," and he stood against me in reproach, or, "and it has become a testimony," instead of, "My fortitude has been displayed to the ears of all." But the former interpretation is truer: that since God has punished me, all take this as an occasion for accusing me, undertaking no examination of my piety. "For a testimony," therefore, means "for an accusation."

• "And my falsehood has arisen upon me, it has answered against my face." •

Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Symmachus stated this more clearly: "And one bearing false witness has arisen against me, contradicting me before my face." While I am suffering these things, he says, those who bear false witness against me have found a pretext to answer me face to face and without shame, and to say that I suffer because of sins. And the accusation against me has grown, having no truth in itself, but prevailing through the passions of each one, who brings out his verdict not from the reality of things, but from what is happening. He says, therefore, "my falsehood has arisen," ^C in reference to the false testimony against him, personifying the nature of the accusation. What he wishes to say is this: "You have risen up against me, lying, not in the least respecting the truth, but with much boldness making your contradiction against me." ^D

^A "Using wrath, he cast me down; he gnashed his teeth upon me." If he says this in reference to God, he signifies the vehemence of His wrath, meaning that, just as those who gnash their teeth from anger, so He dealt with me. If, however, he speaks of the devil and the demons, the great David also sings literally of these: "They gnashed upon me with their teeth." Since, indeed, the devil "goes about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour," it is fitting that he is also said to gnash like a lion.

"His pirate arrows fell upon me." If this is said of God, it indicates the sudden onrush of the evils that have come upon him, as if to say: "The punishments, like some pirates, have fallen upon me unexpectedly." But if it refers to the devil, he calls the demons who serve him his pirates.

^B "He rushed upon me with the keenness of his eyes." (By Olympiodorus and Polychronius). Symmachus interpreted this more clearly, saying: "My adversaries sharpened their eyes, each one against me." The meaning of the words is thus: that not only did he manifest his anger against me by gnashing his teeth—whether God was allowing it or the devil was at work—but also in that he sharpened his eyes against me and made them savage, and looked at me with a sidelong and wild gaze, and rushed upon me with such a fearsome appearance. Some, however, have understood it this way: that he delivered mortal blows against me, and wounded me as if with arrows and javelins directed at my eyes; for *akides* (barbs) are the iron parts of arrows. He mentions the eyes to signify the severity of the wound.

"He struck me sharply in the knees." He says he struck me violently, so that my knees were unstrung and I fell down.

"And they ran together upon me." That is to say, the punishments of God, or the pirates of the devil. He relates all that happened to him: the loss of his possessions and the affliction of his body.

^D "Taking me by the hair, he plucked me." By "hair," he means his adornment and prosperous condition, as if to say: "He took away my manner of life in comfort, my affluence, and my splendor, and scattered me." The Hebrew, however, says: "Taking me by the nape of the neck, he shook me," a metaphor taken from those who wrestle, incited by strife and anger, and who seize the neck of their opponent and throw him to the ground with a shaking.

"He set me as a target; they surrounded me with spears, shooting into my loins, not sparing." For when God set me up, as it were, as a target in order to receive the missiles of all, they pierced my loins with them, as if with certain javelins; as if he were to say,

that [he struck] against the most hidden and vital [parts]. By this comparison he indicated the deadliness of the wound: for "like a target" is a way of saying "so as to strike against a target," so that all might shoot their arrows at me; "and they made," for standing around me in a circle, they applied the wounds against me with diligence and zeal, and acted in all matters without mercy, sparing nothing; he said this because not even a remnant was left him. And since he said that "I have been set as a target for all, and I am being shot at," continuing with the metaphor, as if wounded in his very bowels, he says:

"They poured my gall upon the ground."

That is, they made me destitute of everything, emptying out whatever vital and living [substance] was in me.

VERS. 15. "They cast me down, ruin upon ruin."

By these words he hints at the incessant and uninterrupted torments, and that he endured one calamity after another.

VERS. 16. "They have sewn sackcloth upon my skin."

He says this either because: on account of the vehemence of my pains, my skin, like a sack woven from hair, has contracted a blackness; or, as those who wear sackcloth fret their bodies, so I am all-fretted; or, because on account of extreme destitution, in place of a splendid and royal garment, I have been clothed in sackcloth, ^B and have been reduced to a mournful state, bearing no remnant of my former prosperity.

"My strength has been extinguished in the earth."

That is, all my power and prosperity, and the dignity and honor of which I partook, have been extinguished and destroyed.

VERS. 17. "My belly is burned up with weeping, and upon my eyelids is shadow."

He calls his soul "belly," either because it is hidden and invisible, or as the distributor of the nourishment of reason. He says therefore: "My soul burns, and I pour forth tears unceasingly, such that even the visual faculty of my eyes has been harmed; or also, because of mental distress, I live as if in darkness." Other copies have "shadow of death," as if to say, "And before my eyes I have death."

VERS. 19. "Earth, do not cover my blood, and let there be no place for my cry."

Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. These words are those of one invoking mercy, although they are framed in the manner of a prayer; for he says: "Do not be silent, O earth, regarding the things that have befallen me, nor cover my blood which is unjustly poured out from my flesh, but let it cry out, like that of Abel, and let it call ^C God to vengeance, [it] having the ichor of the body; and let not the air check my cry, nor let it stand in one place and be hidden, and let not the things concerning my lamentations fall into oblivion, but let the tone of my voice reach the heavens,

^A so that God, the avenger of the evils that happen and the punisher of those who are the authors of wickedness, may manifest to all the blamelessness of my past life. It is the custom of those in dire straits not to wish for their evils to be hidden. So far am I, he says, from being conscious of evil in myself, that I desire all to behold the things I suffer. These words, blessed one, were spoken by you in the manner of both a suppliant and a prophet; for your deeds are not hidden, but your struggles, your fortitude, your invincible patience, and the rewards, crowns, and public praises for these virtues, are in the mouths of all men.

VERS. 20. « And now behold, my witness is in heaven, and my conscious one is in the highest. »

^B Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Hail to a pure soul, and extraordinary charity, and a truthful conscience, which calls the eye that beholds all things to testify! For, he says, I appeal to the judgment of God, who, having exact knowledge of all things, and passing judgment not according to appearances but according to truth, is able to be a fit witness of the things said by me.

VERS. 23. « For my numbered years have come, and I shall travel the path by which I shall not return. »

He again brings forward the shortness of life by way of petition, teaching at the same time that those who have once died cannot return to this life. He says these things, therefore, judging it to be the greatest solace for himself if his actions were examined before death.

CAP. XVII.

VERS. 1, 2. « I perish, tossed by spirit; I seek a grave, and it does not come to me; I offer prayers with labor, and what have I done? »

Because of my troubles, he says, and my pains, I have been cast into straits, and I am perturbed in soul; having no judge of these injustices, and finding neither freedom from these evils nor an end to this life, but perishing, and being tossed everywhere by my thoughts, and looking upon all that has happened to me; therefore I desire death, and I am held in perplexity, being unable to attain it. For the phrase, « I offer prayers, » he meant, « I am in doubt, » that is, « I entreat to be delivered to the grave; » but, he says, I do not attain my desire, but am deluded. ^C Observe, therefore, what we said from the beginning: how he desires death, and although it was in his power for him to be his own executioner, yet he does not take his own life, honoring Him who bound [the soul to the body].

« And strangers have stolen my possessions. »

The horsemen and enemies, he says, having plundered what belonged to me with authority, have departed; and I, like one tossed upon the ocean in the midst of evils, see no solution to my calamities.

« And my eyes have wasted away for my children. »

He tragically exaggerates his perpetual mourning for his children. ^D

^A

VERSE 7: « For my eyes have been blinded by wrath. »

VERSE 8: « Amazement seized those who are true concerning this. »

VERSE 9: « But let the faithful hold to his path, and let the pure in hand take courage. »

^A Again, he says, you are all angry at the things said by me, and you prepare yourselves for contradiction, as if drawing up in battle with words, and each one brings aid to the other, so that what is lacking in individuals might be fulfilled by all. Therefore, strengthen one another, urge on, bind fast, and having formed, as it were, a testudo, in this way make your attack; even if you think alike, even if you contradict me a thousand times, I shall prove you to be in the wrong, for I do not see that the truth favors you.

« Vers. 12. I have set night as day, the light is near before the face of darkness. » ^B I passed the whole night in sleeplessness as if it were day, he says, always expecting the light; this naturally happens to those who are sleepless in their illnesses, praying to see the day; and when the day again arrived, I continued in weeping and pains no less than in the silence of the night; in short, I joined together, he says, the nights to the days, leaving no time free from lamentations. And perhaps by saying, « The light is near before the face of darkness, » he means this: that even the light itself, by reason of my anguish, seemed to me no distant thing from darkness; according to that which is said elsewhere concerning those who are afflicted with grief: « The sun shall set for them at noon; » not indeed that that star sets then, but because those who labor under an affliction of mind deem the day to be night, and do not happily enjoy the light itself.

« Vers. 13-16. For if I wait, Hades is my house, and my bed is spread in the darkness. I have called death my father, and decay my mother and sister. Where then is my hope? Or shall I see my good things? Or shall they descend with me into Hades? Or shall we descend together into the dust? » ^C But, he says, one must endure in the tolerance of evils; what profit is there to come of it? And why should I undergo hardships and not desire death? For will it not be present even if I do not wish it? Is it not common for all men to die? Is not Hades the house for all? Do not all cease there from the toils of this life? For this is what he means: « In darkness is my bed. » In the lightless region is the rest from the toils of this life; for this reason, therefore, I have death as a father, and I justly pine for his coming; and for a mother, I have the rot and dissolution of the body, which necessarily follows after death, and I love her also as a sister, and I address and greet her with all the names of friendship; and I say this, because the body, already corrupted by putrefaction, bears the image of a dead and departed man. ^D Do not, however, think that, having despaired of things here, I expect to be rich in Hades. Is it possible for anyone to take down with him into Hades the wealth or the glory of this world? Can I go down to the dust with the good things of this life?

Verily, this can by no means come to pass. Upon what hope, then, shall I rely to endure my evils, when a short time hence I am entirely destined to die, having left all things herein? For regarding these things ^A I expect nothing else but death; and I consider the end to be one single rest, in which, once I have settled, I shall have no memory of pains. Just as those who have died have no expectation of the present, so neither do I possess any hope for those things which have been taken from me. Even if I were to hold out such hopes to myself, as it seems, I shall depart, gaping in vain at nothing certain, and I shall end my life, having attained no enjoyment of blessings. Since this is the case, I rightly yearn for the sudden coming of death as for a father. Just as children have comfort in their parents, so I, too, have no rest and tranquility in anything else than in death and the dissolution of the body.

He represents the intensity of his evils by a likeness and example: "For, as the embryo," he says, "is contained in the maternal womb and seems to live, recognizes the father who begat it, yet has not yet come forth to the light and to the day, but is surrounded by an abundance of fluid and corrupted blood, so too," he says, "it is with me. For death has not yet arrived, nor does it hold me with itself, but as a father it is rendered familiar to me ^B, and without liberation from my tribulations, or any hope of salvation proposed, it holds me as if enclosed in a womb of perturbations." At the same time, he also instructs us not to hold the goods of this life in delight, for nothing of these shall depart with us from this life; and he sets forth a suitable defense for himself that he did not rashly and without cause, exhausted by so many evils, desire death.

CHAPTER XVIII. Protheoria.

Baldad bears with an impatient spirit that Job had extended his speech: "For it is not proper," he says, "that we should sit beside you in silence, after the manner of brute beasts." Then, since it had been frequently said by Job that he desired to be freed from the body, "Why," he says, "do you carry yourself insolently, and frequently repeat that (I would gladly strip off the body), and boast magnificently about your own affairs, as if you were not some single human being, but the whole world? ^C For what? If you are extinguished, does the destruction of the universe immediately follow?" Having said these things, he turns the style of his speech toward the things that will happen to the impious, using general words, indeed, but taunting the just man on account of impiety.

VERS. 1–3. • Responding, moreover, Baldad the Sauchite says: "How long will you not cease? Restrain yourself, that we also may speak. And why have we been silent before you like quadrupeds?" ^D The tyrant of the Sauchaeans speaks tyrannically. "For how long," he says, "will you not cease? Restrain yourself; do not imagine..."

that you are conversing with beasts; do not extend your speech to great length, but rather grant us a turn to speak, and draw in and curb your own words.

VERS. 4. "For what? If you should die, will that which is under heaven be uninhabitable? Or will the mountains be overturned from their foundations?"

Do you imagine, he says, that it is by your standing and surviving that the world holds together? And do you bring forth your own affairs so magnificently, and pray for death, as if you were bringing harm to the whole universe by your death? For you utter such words as if the whole earth that lies under the sun would suffer detriment by your destruction, as if by a common ruin, and as if human affairs were stabilized by your justice, and that once you were removed from the midst, there would be no one else surviving who might render the Divine Being appeased and propitious. ^B

VERS. 7-9. "Let the lowest hunt down his substance; and let his counsel err. [For which Theodotion: His counsel shall cast him down.] And his foot is cast into a snare; let him be entangled in a net; and let snares come upon him."

By a metaphor drawn from birds or beasts which are captured by fowling and hunting, he spoke these things, aiming to show through these that there is no exit from the evils in which the impious man is caught. For just as animals, he says, once they have come under a snare or into nets, can no longer escape, so too the impious have inescapable calamities overtaking them; and, what is more grievous, because their counsel is often overturned and changed into the opposite, they frequently suffer the deprivation of their possessions not by any princes, but by the lowest ^C and most insignificant of men. It is as if he were to say: "You who boast gloriously of your justice, you have fallen because of the sins of your own house, and you are held fast by inescapable evils," which he intimated by the example of snares and nets.

"God shall strengthen those who thirst against him."

He will strengthen, he says, those who desire to have their fill of the impious man’s possessions against him; and those who desire to find some cause for accusation against him, He will render more powerful than he, and he himself will be exposed to suffering evils by the decree of God, while others will enjoy his substance.

VERS. 10. "His cord is hidden in the earth, and his capture in the path."

And this too he said by a metaphor taken from snares constructed of flax, which hunters hide in the ^D earth, and then carry off the birds that light upon them by drawing the flax together with a cord. For just as those who hunt, he says, hide the cord of the net in the ground, and sitting far off, they watch to see if the prey has come to the net, and then, pulling the cord, they capture the prey that has fallen unexpectedly into the snares (for the birds fall into them unknowingly, as if running toward food set out for them); so also the impious, while they perform evils without fear, [are unaware of] those calamities.

^A This is also signified by the words, that the "cord of the impious," that is, his portion, has been buried in the earth, and that he becomes a prisoner from those things in which he sinned, and is constrained in all his paths; according to that saying: "In the snare which they hid is their foot caught." And that which follows, "His entrapment is in the paths," signifies something of this kind: for incursions and attacks by the enemy usually take place in desolate places; but the impious man, he says, is caught not in desert places, but in the very midst of the roads, that is, while he still enjoys good fortune, he suffers a sudden change of affairs.

VERS. 11. "Let pains destroy him round about." ^B To such a man, he says, the suffering of evils has no end, but he also pays the penalty of death. "Round about" means that painful things will happen to him from every side.

"And many shall come about his feet in the straits of famine." ^C Other copies have it thus: "And let many come about his feet in the straits of famine," that is, let him be reduced to extreme poverty, so that he will fall at the feet of many and humbly beg for food. According to the former reading, however: Many, he says, shall be about his feet, that is, tripping him up in the straits of famine, as if to say, in the calamity by which he is pressed.

VERS. 15. "Let it dwell in his tabernacle in his night." Other copies instead of "in his night" have "in his body." ^D According to that reading: "in his night," that is, in gloom and dark night, shall be his whole manner of life; but according to "in his body," as if to say: he shall enter the place where he is to dwell with the utmost poverty, having nothing at all but his own body. To this sense also Theodotion agrees, having interpreted it thus: "Poverty shall dwell in his tabernacle." But the Hebrew has something more, saying: "He shall dwell in tabernacles not his own," that is to say, he shall wander and dwell in the houses of others.

"His fair things shall be sprinkled with brimstone." ^D But Theodotion says: "He shall be winnowed in his fairness." He used "brimstone" to show the vehemence of [God's] wrath; for just as, he says, when fire is sent upon the earth, all things perish; so also the apparent prosperity of the impious becomes futile, and all their affairs end in unfruitfulness, as if sown with brimstone; as happened in the Sodomite land, which God, bringing fire upon it, reduced to ashes. David said something similar about sinners: "Fire, and brimstone, and the spirit of a storm, is the portion of their cup."

VERS. 16. "His roots shall be dried up from beneath, and his crop shall fall from above." ^D But also every security of such a man—for this is what "root" means—will be refuted, since no one is able to resist the divine decree. Even

^A if there is a suspicion of growth, it will quickly be cut off, and the seeming brilliance will be destroyed along with what he possesses. The metaphor is taken from trees cut down by iron.

"Let his memorial perish from the earth." That is, the ungodly man will be consigned to oblivion by all; for his children will perish, who are the monument of their parents.

"And his name shall be out of place upon the face of the earth." His name, he says, will be so ill-omened and abominable that, as soon as anyone hears the mention of his name, or even the mere naming of it, he will turn his face away in disgust from the one speaking it.

"The last shall groan over him." [Aquila: "In his day the last ones shall be distressed and tormented."] "The first were struck with amazement." By "the first," he means the elders of the age in which he flourished; by "the last," those who came after him. Therefore, he says, both those who see the fall of the ungodly with their own eyes and those who hear of what happened to them later will be amazed; and while fear will seize the young, who are fearful for their own affairs, those who are advanced in age and who have experience of events will be struck with wonder at the things that have occurred. ^B

CHAPTER XIX.

Protheoria.

The friends rebuke Job as one uttering foolish things; but he accuses them of being burdensome and reviling, saying: "I want you to know this one thing, that it is God who has brought these incurable plagues upon me; so that, having recognized this, you may fear lest He entangle you in equal calamities." He blames them because they speak evil of him to his face. "Let it be granted," he says, "that I speak in a way that is not fitting; but you, being friends, ought not to have rubbed salt into my calamities and increased them." Having said these things to his friends, he recounts again the evils that press upon him, persuading both himself and them that his punishments are greater than human sins, and that such plagues were inflicted by an inimical demon; for he was truly a hostile being who used him so unsparingly, even though he remained ignorant of the reason for the divine permission. Then he exhorts them that, if they are not willing to revere him as a just man, they should at least pursue him with mercy as a friend; and he prays for his words to be delivered in writing, so that they might be transmitted to future generations—which indeed came to pass, and the just man's prayers were not in vain. He also rebukes his friends for studiously seeking occasion to lacerate him with reproaches, and exhorts them, having revered the divine judgment, to abstain from reproaches and insults. ^C

"Know only that the Lord has done this to me." Do not think, he says, regarding what you see me suffering, as coming from elsewhere. ^D

^A Considering therefore the magnitude of my misfortune, and noticing how the intensity of these disasters has allowed no trace of my former prosperity to remain, and reflecting that you are clothed in the same nature, fear, lest by sinning without dread through your reproaches and curses against me, you may undergo punishment and endure the same blows as I; for He who has inflicted these upon me is able to inflict them upon you also. Through these words he brings them to fear, showing that one ought not to trample upon those who are being punished by God, but rather to mourn and fear; as if he were to say: "Do not in this way trample upon me in my affliction, lacking pity and failing to sympathize with my predicament, lest you also, having the same nature, fall into the same evils."

VERSE 3. "You speak against me, not ashamed to be hostile toward me."

And according to the interpretation of Theodotion and Symmachus: "You have already shamed me ten times." It is a grave thing, he says, to slander those who are absent; but you, having cast off all shame, rail against me to my face, and trample upon me, neither pitying nor sympathizing with my plight.

VERSES 4, 5. "If indeed I have truly erred, and error dwells with me, to speak words that were not fitting, and my words go astray, and not at the proper time: but truly, since you exalt yourselves against me and insult me with reproach."

By way of hypothesis, he says, I concede to you what you imagine: that I am suffering these things because of sins. Let it be granted, according to your opinion, that I have deviated from the true path, that I wander from the truth, that I lie in the words I speak about myself, that I put on the appearance of justice while being impious, and that I do not utter my words at the proper time; that there is in me error, or (according to the other interpreters) ignorance, and that I do not speak as I ought. But even if I concede that I have uttered what was not fitting, yet, since I am someone who has long pursued piety, I ought to have enjoyed that boldness of speech that comes from one's works; this, however, I have not done, but I respond as if I were a righteous man. Ought you not, therefore, when beholding the scourges, the decay, the worms, ^D and the loss of my property, to have felt reverence, and to have granted pardon to one erupting in words of pain? Yet you do not merely lacerate me with reproaches without measure or modesty, but with a rush of violence, and as if insulting me, you trample underfoot one who is afflicted, miserable, and has suffered such grave things.

VERSE 6. "Know therefore that it is the Lord who has troubled me."

That is, who has thrown my affairs into such confusion. The Hebrew, instead of "troubled," has "struck." In order to strike fear into them and to force them to cease from their contradictions, he has again used the expression he used at the beginning: for he says, consider in your minds the blow I have received, and fear, lest you also fall into the same calamities.

^A VERS. 7. "Ecce rideo opprobrio, non loquar." This admits of a manifold meaning; for either he says this: "Because of your reproaches, I seem to laugh rather than to speak"; or: "Reporting my affairs truly as they are, you do not put faith in my words, but by your contradiction you make it so that I appear not to have spoken at all"; or: "It is better, by not answering and by treating them as false, to hold your reproaches in mockery." For what ought one to say, when it has not yet been shown by judgment which of us is speaking the truth?

VERS. 8. "In circuitu circumædificatus sum, and I shall not pass; he has placed darkness upon my face." Others, for "upon my face," have interpreted it as "upon the paths." My evils, he says, can be traversed by no speech, and they have so surrounded me with distress that I cannot find an exit. For just as those who are enclosed on all sides by a wall, or hindered by darkness, cannot see and cannot proceed further; so it is impossible for me to escape from my calamities: he has blinded me, I have no place of refuge; and as if included within a fence and bulwark, I neither see, nor am I able to see.

^B VERS. 10, 11. "He has torn me asunder on all sides, and I departed; and he has cut down my hope like a tree: yet he has used his wrath against me heavily, and has considered me as an enemy." Limb by limb, he says, he has torn me apart, he has snatched away the property I possessed, he has wiped out the entire memory of my noble children, and like a tree he has cut away every good hope. As if some enemy using wrath, so he has dismantled my affairs, and has inflicted the wound upon my body, and has punished me even more severely than an adversary. Yet he rightly said "as if," for God does not inflict punishments with passion, nor as an enemy. He says these things while persuading both his friends and himself that the punishment exceeded the measure of human offenses; for in truth, the just man was not suffering on account of sins, but for the trial of his patience.

^D VERS. 12. "On my ways, those lying in wait have surrounded me." This is said by a metaphor taken from enemies, who, setting ambushes in every place, seizing the one who is being ambushed in their midst, suddenly all attack; as if he were to say: "Those who heap new agonies upon me have surrounded me on all sides, and others succeeding others, and overwhelming my mind with the uninterrupted report of evils, the former have paved the way for those that follow." Now those "lying in wait" are the deceitful, who are intent upon evil, who set traps and harm with injury, whether they be men or demons; and "ways" are the plans which they entered upon, who had plundered his wealth.

VERS. 16. "I called my servant, and he did not obey." Deprived of the consolation of others, the service and obedience

^A for which I was begging from my servants—and indeed, with earnest prayers—I did not obtain. And this deserves a place among the bitterest things, that a person suffering from illness should implore the help of one who ought to be serving him, and yet not be heard. We, therefore, attending to the example of the blessed Job, ought not to be angry against those who serve us, whether it be a wife, or a servant, or a son, if he should be disobedient and stubborn to our word.

VERS. 18. "When I arise, they speak against me."

Perhaps they even call me a wicked, impious, and unclean man, and say that I am paying the penalty for a multitude of sins. Or if not this, at any rate that which is accustomed to happen to most people in prolonged illnesses: "How long until this man dies? Why has he become a heavy and useless burden to the earth?" And that phrase, "When I arise"—that is to say, when I shall have been separated from them, or when I have been awakened from sleep after the night—they say to one another: "Is he not dead yet? Does this living corpse still live?"

VERS. 22. "Why do you persecute me as the Lord does, and are not satisfied with my flesh?"

Why, touched by no pity for me, and indeed seeing the bitterness of the evils, do you augment my calamities? Why do you heap your own upon the divine wrath, and use an insatiable cruelty of words against me, when the divine will by no means does this? For although he himself punishes, he nevertheless wills that we should be kind and merciful; and although we are chastised by him, God demands from us kindness and mercy toward one another. That phrase, therefore, "Why do you persecute me as the Lord does?" means: "God might indeed be able to find something in me worthy of blame; but you, tell me, in what have I sinned against you?" Or is it not enough for you that my body is so consumed by wasting—for this is what he hints at when he says: "And are not satisfied with my flesh"? Especially since insulting speeches are enough of themselves to consume the flesh. Let us, therefore, dread insults and railings, knowing how we wound our brothers through them.

"For at the hand of the Lord these things have been accomplished for me, of which I am conscious to myself."

^C Polychronius and Olympiodorus: It is not, he says, a human injury and insult that I suffer; for I know that the disasters concerning the cattle and my children are a plague inflicted by God, from those things which have happened to my body. Therefore he says: "These things which happen to me sufficiently prove and teach that the plague which I endure is the greatest; for I see that my food"—as was said by him above—"has been turned into a stench." But this does not flow from a natural disease, for the body would have been broken and languished long ago: God has inflicted on me these things, which are known only to my soul; for no one feels the evils with me, nor can anyone perceive ^D them as I do, who am the sufferer...

^A and the magnitude of these sufferings; for I myself know, I who am pierced by these passions, and my very appearance is a sufficient teacher for those who have a mind.

"But if you say, What shall we say against him?" [Instead of which Symmachus says, "You say, What is it by which we shall pursue him?"] "and shall we find a root of the matter in him?" [The Hebrew says, "and a fault of the word."] "Beware, therefore, you also, of the covering." [Again Symmachus says, "Fear for yourselves the sword."] "For wrath shall come upon the ungodly, and then they shall know where their substance is."

According to the others, "That you may know that there is a judgment." The meaning of these words, however, is this: Since, he says, instead of words of consolation, each of you privately is intent on finding reasons for disputing and contradicting, and like those who seek for roots, you examine my words, wanting to find an opportunity for refuting me, and to discover some sin in them; and though the facts themselves bear witness on my behalf, you hasten, so as to condemn me by the standard of truth as if I were subject to blame. Beware, therefore, lest under the guise of wishing to support God you condemn me—for this is what "from the covering" signifies—and fear, as you so precisely accuse me, lest God, who is no respecter of persons, when He stands to judge, be angered against you and exact from you the penalty for this senseless audacity; for He does not leave such things ^B uncalled to account. And if He Himself should be moved against you, then you shall know that your substance is nothing, but your conceit regarding the knowledge of good and honest things, and your confidence in existing prosperity, will appear useless to you; for by "substance" he seems to mean either the crowd of words or an abundance of wealth. But as for me, digging into the depth of the words, I perceive something else in them. For if you say this, O friends, that I have no manifest sin that is obvious and lying in the open, but that some transgression is hidden and concealed in me, just as the root of some plant is covered in the earth, and that for this reason, as one who is in wickedness, I suffer these things; you ought also to fear the same things from the covering, that is to say, from the righteous judgment of God, when each of us shall know that there is a judgment and ^C punishment that consumes the substance.

CHAPTER XX. Protheoria.

As Zophar, having himself spoken many and excellent doctrines, and the rest of the friends having spoken, hoped that Job would have nothing further to oppose them; but when he saw him relying on the justice of his own cause, and repelling all their arguments, having fallen short of his hopes and expectations, he said: "Not so," he says, "did I suppose you would answer these things." Then, turning also to his friends, he says that they do not understand as accurately as he does what is said by us ourselves and by Job; nevertheless, I will say whatever intelligence suggests to me. Afterward he lists the things regarding the ungodly, both what they do and what they suffer. ^D

^A And that their happiness does not differ at all from a dream, and that nothing from this life accompanies them except their own impiety. Having spoken at length of what would befall the ungodly, he declared that this is the portion of the ungodly, and this the lot and inheritance assigned to them by God. Yet he did not perceive that the things that happen do not come about entirely on account of sin, but also according to other plans of the divine dispensation and providence; nor, indeed, were these things aptly spoken regarding the person of Job. For good words, if they are not spoken well—with a right disposition of mind, with proper discrimination in affairs, and with regard for the opportune time and the person suitable for what is being said—merit rebuke rather than praise.

VERS. 1-3. *But Sophar the Minaean answering, says: I did not think that you would contradict these things in this way; and you do not understand more than I. I will hear the instruction of my confusion, and the spirit out of understanding answers for me.*

^B Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Here those who have provided explanations did not grasp the meaning; rather, they strayed far from what is fitting and from the truth, and did not hit the mark. For they thought that Sophar spoke to Job saying: "I did not think that you would want to use such words against us, or consider us harsh and difficult, when we were showing you things that are to your advantage." Then, turning to the friends, he said: "You do not understand at all the things spoken by Job, as I do." Then again he turns to Job and says: "I will hear your instruction, by which you have rightly put us to shame, and the spirit of your understanding, by which you have well answered us." These things, they say, Sophar spoke in irony, as if he had said: "Nothing wise or educated has been spoken by you, nor anything capable of shaming us." Such are the interpreters. ^C But the true meaning of this passage appears to be different. For previously Job had said to Sophar: *Therefore are you men, or will wisdom die with you? And for me, a heart is with you.* And after a few words: *But let it be for you to be silent, and wisdom will turn out for you. Hear therefore the reproof of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips. Be silent that I may speak, for I will tell you while you are listening.* To these things Eliphaz made a reply and contradiction; but Sophar was laboring with and meditating upon a refutation, yet he waited for Eliphaz to cease, so that he himself might be able to respond to what he had heard. Therefore, after Eliphaz had put an end to his speech, and Job once again had set his own arguments against him, now Sophar succeeds to the turns of speaking and replies to what he had previously heard from Job, and says to him: "I thought, O Job, after many and excellent words had been spoken to you by us, that you would agree to our exhortations and would keep silence, ^D and not speak against us, your friends, and say that..."

you would contradict us, or that we were not endowed with greater intelligence and prudence than you; but I imagined that, being humbled, you would rather say: I will gladly receive you, and will listen to your admonitions, for you instruct me, and you make me blush, and I myself will confess that what you reply and say to me is truly a spirit of understanding. But you, on the contrary, have borne witness to yourself of wisdom and understanding, while you have commanded us to be silent and to listen to you while you teach, as if silence were more appropriate for us than speech.

VERSE 4. — Have you not known these things from of old, from the time when man was set upon the earth?

VERSES 6-8. — If his gifts ascend to heaven, and his sacrifice should touch the clouds; for when he seems already firmly established, then he shall perish in the end. Those who knew him shall say: Where is he? Like a dream that has flown away, it shall not be found; it has flown away like a nocturnal vision. ^A Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. Do not, he says, speak to me of the sacrifices with which you thought you were revering and honoring the divine. For even if a lawless man offers gifts that reach up to heaven by their height, and his sacrifices seem to touch the clouds, and his goods seem to be firmly possessed, yet because God does not accept the fruits of iniquity, he perishes in the end, gaining no benefit from his feigned sacrifices. For God does not value the pretense of piety, but exacts the penalty for greed and unquenchable desire; ^B and he who was formerly considered pious by all, once punished, is convicted of having had piety only on the stage. For just as those who become rich in a dream do not possess stable wealth, but their happiness ends along with their sleep: so too, for the impious man, the enjoyment of goods is not firm, but his affairs pass away and depart into non-existence like a dream and a nocturnal vision; so that those who formerly knew him say with amazement: "Where is he?" meaning: Where is his glory? Where is his dominion? Where is his honor? Where is his wealth? Everything is vanity; his pride has ended in ^C nothing. Thus his destruction comes so suddenly, so that you may not think the calamity happened according to any natural succession, but by a certain divine and miraculous power. Do not speak to me only of iniquities, but even if the unjust man should offer sacrifices, there is no profit. Let those who bring forth fruits from injustice and greed, and then think themselves pious, hear these things.

VERSE 10. — May the lesser ones destroy his sons, and let his own hands kindle sufferings.

possess them; and this is justified, because they were imitators of their father’s impiety: ^A *For the seed of the impious shall perish.* ^B But he himself kindles the pyre for himself through his own deeds; for the torch is the flame, the hands are the deeds; therefore, his deeds will kindle punishment for him, that is, for the impious man whose prayer is reckoned as sin. The prophecy speaks similarly: *Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled.*

VERS. 11. *His bones are filled with his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.* The nerves of his soul are filled with youthful desire; but he will carry away no profit from his luxury, as death obliterates all things; nor will anything of his go down with him into the grave, except this desire of his own, that is to say, his unjust deeds.

VERS. 13, 14. *He will not spare it, and will not leave it, and will gather it in the midst of his throat, and he will not be able to help himself.* He will cling to wickedness, he says, unsparingly and insatiably, and he will embrace it and, as if it were some sweet food, he will hold it fast in his throat with pleasure; that is to say, after he has designed harm and ruin for others with bitterness, he then sets his hand to the work. But for the impious man, when punishments must be endured, his wickedness will not be able to benefit him; for deceitful designs against others are so far from helping him that, on the contrary, they procure punishment for him.

VERS. 15. *Wealth gathered unjustly shall be vomited up.* That is, it shall be poured out and dissipated with pain. For the impious man does everything so as to take the property of others, and all the things done by him look toward this goal; but when he thinks he has become master of everything, then he will see the wealth being transferred to others. For even if he possesses it as securely as if he held it in his belly, he will suddenly suffer the loss of it with pain—for that is what *shall be vomited up* hints at; which is what usually happens to those who grow rich through wicked arts, who are punished by God and are driven from the possession of their goods.

VERS. 16. *He shall extract him from his house, an angel.* According to the literal sense, one of the angels appointed for ^D inflicting punishments will drive him, that is, the unjust man, out of the possession of all goods; for by the word "house" he understood everything. But the others, instead of "from his house," rendered it "from his belly," as if to say that an angel will extract the soul of the unjust man from his body as from a belly, and will destroy him with a violent death.

VERS. 16. *And he shall suck the fury of dragons, and the tongue of a serpent shall slay him.* Thus, he says, he will be, tending toward total destruction, and will be consumed by his own wickedness, just like someone bitten by a snake, or one who has drunk the poison of dragons; for through "fury" he signified the venom. And well did he say,

^A *sugat*, as if to say that the wicked man, by the purpose of his own will and with delight, just like milk, sucks in the deadly venom of wickedness, and with it he indeed grows, and according to it he turns grey; nevertheless, he shall be taken from the midst of it. And the tongue of the impious man who speaks things contrary to the truth is the tongue of a serpent.

*VERS. 21-25. "For this reason his good things shall not flourish, and when he shall think himself already full, he shall be straitened; and every necessity shall come upon him, if by any means he may fill his belly."*

Perhaps his good things shall not even flourish, but shall wither in the very blossom; but if he shall appear to be full and to abound in all good things, then every necessity and affliction shall overtake him, so that his soul may be filled with pains. These things serve for us in place of an exhortation, so that we may abstain from the goods of others; since he who possesses these things, when he seems to be enjoying prosperous fortune, shall then endure extreme want, so that he will have to seek how he might fill his belly, which is empty and indigent.

*"Let Him send upon him the fury of wrath, let Him wash over him pains."* ^B

Symmachus, indeed, says *depluet* (shall rain down), that is, God. These things, he says, the impious man shall endure, with God, in His indignation, inflicting upon him a swift and unceasing blow, which, like a driving rain, shall send pains upon him; for by afflicting him with the highest punishment, He shall overwhelm him with pains as if with a snowy downpour.

*"And let stars walk about in his dwellings."* ^C

Other copies have *do not walk about*, so as to say that no splendor shall be left for him. According to the other reading, however, *walk about*, it means that terrible specters shall terrify him; or it signifies that the houses are deserted, so as to allow the stars to shine through them, the roofs being uncovered; or he refers to lightning bolts; for thus Aquila has rendered it: *"And lightning from His face shall go into him,"* that is, from the face of God, meaning: by His command, thunderbolts and lightnings shall be sent against the impious. The words can also be understood in another way, namely, that by the name of "stars" he understands the righteous, who exist in the world like luminaries; and because it was said above that what they [the impious] have gathered, the righteous shall eat, he now expresses this same thing differently, namely, that *the stars shall walk about in the dwellings of the impious*, that is, the righteous shall receive their goods. ^D

*"Fire that is not kindled shall consume him."*

Aquila and Theodotion rendered it *not blown*, and Symmachus, *without blowing*; according to the literal sense, this is fire not kindled by design, but brought down automatically, such as that which seemed to have devoured the flocks of Job and the shepherds, regarding which it also gives a hint. But according to the hidden sense, *that which is not kindled*, [index: entries preserved]

^A is fire, that is, the fire of conscience, or that which is reserved for the future tribunals; for we learn a certain mystery concerning the punishment there, in order that we might be on our guard against suffering it, in that he said *a fire not kindled* shall consume the impious. But this material fire of ours is not "un-kindled"; for we see it. But that fire is indeed un-kindled, which comes upon sinners, which burns them inwardly. If you wish to take an image of that fire, think of a man suffering from a most severe fever, and burning with fire, who, with no one bringing this external and material fire into contact, is ablaze; you will see no fire in him with your eyes, yet it is perceived within, and it burns his inward parts: not otherwise is he who is seized by the fever of sins burned by fire.

VERS. 26. *Let an alien harm his house.* ^B Of Olympiodorus and Polychronius. That is, some guest and stranger. This is used to indicate the extreme weakness and worthlessness of the impious man. He calls the remainder and last of his family an "alien." But in the Greek text it is translated obscurely, as if to say: The punishment will reach even to the last one, so that not even a memory of him remains.

VERS. 27. *And let heaven uncover his iniquities, and let the earth rise up against him.* ^C Every nature, he says, will be hostile to one hated by God; and he will endure some of his calamities from heaven, having God as his enemy, and others from the earth, with men rising up against him; and heaven will discover his iniquities, divine justice making manifest the things concerning him, in that it sends down from above the punishment for sins; but the earth itself will wage war against him, drawing up embattled phalanxes. He said these things because, in the case of Job, the flocks and the children—some perished by fire sent from above, and others by a wind from the air, by which the house, having been shaken, fell; but the herds of oxen, of asses, and of camels were plundered below on earth by enemies. Thus Sophar ^D strives to prove that all these things were brought upon him on account of sin.

VERS. 28. *Let perdition draw his house to the end.* That is: He will perish in total destruction, and when God decides to punish, his torment will pervade everything, and will leave nothing untouched.

VERS. 29. *This is the portion of an impious man from the Lord, and the possession of his goods from the superintendent.* This, he says, the impious will receive from God, and the end of many possessions will be punishment; for since he possessed goods but did not perceive the divine beneficence, the fullness of wrath is given to him as a possession and portion by God who oversees all things. But let bishops, when they hear that God is designated by this name in holy Scripture, keeping watch over the salvation of the flock with diligent guard, and with faith, blameless life, and doctrine

^A becoming adorned: let them learn who is called bishop here, and let them study to bear his image in every way. For just as he who imitates a royal image is honored because he has rightly imitated and embellished it, so that bishop is blessed, who has perceived the true Bishop, and emulates him, and becomes as a God among men, and has as bishop him who truly made him a bishop in Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER XXI. Protheoria.

When the friends of Job had come for his consolation, and having become eye-witnesses of his incurable calamities, as pious men they conceived nothing in their minds alien to reason concerning God. ^B But ignorant that that plague was sent for the testing and proving of virtue, it seemed best in their judgment to condemn Job, as if he were suffering on account of sins, but to declare God just, as if he had not punished him undeservedly. And the most valiant athlete Job, neither did he himself think anything unjust concerning God, nor did he conceive any jarring or inept opinion regarding the Providence of God, which manages all things rightly and justly; and since he was conscious in himself of nothing worthy of such great punishment, he does not endure with a quiet mind the unjust condemnation of his friends. And when many discourses had taken place between them regarding these things, and now that Sophar had again pronounced him guilty of impiety, he speaks to them: "Hear my words, that you may know that you have not brought forward words of consolation, but ^C have ignorantly offered specious and fictitious excuses, being deceived by error." And reproving their ignorance, he says to them by way of a problem: "If you know the reasons of Providence, answer me: why do the impious prosper, and why does there flow to them on every side an abundance of goods; and why do they live in comfort, uttering words of war against God? Yet even their prosperity passes away. And why does one man end his life in wealth and all the glory that men possess, while another ends his life in bitterness of soul, having shared in none of the goods in this life?" Then he interpolated: "Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?" showing that the judgments of God are inaccessible and incomprehensible, ^D and that the reasons of the Providence that governs all things rightly are not at all known to us.

Then Job, taking it up, says: "Hear, hear my words, that this consolation may not be from you to me." Symmachus, however, says: "And let this be the change of your counsel." The duplication of the phrase, "Hear my words," either is intended to stir up attention, or it indicates the tranquility of his soul. The meaning of the verse is this: Receive what I am about to say, so that, having been instructed

^A that you are not offering consolation in a reasonable way, you may change your mind and alter the administration and conduct of your speech—for as things now stand, your consolation is not consolation, but an increment of pain; for by reproaching me for my calamities, you irritate my wounds.

VERS. 3. "Sustain me, and I will speak; then you will not laugh at me." Symmachus, however, says, "And after my words you will be silent." The meaning of the words is twofold. Either he is saying this: "Wait for me and bear with me as I speak, for I am convinced that if you pay close attention to what is said by me, you will be silent and cease to mock me." Or, "Raise me up and support me as I am bent double by disease; but after I have said what I wish, you will place me back in my former state of judgment."

VERS. 4. "For what? Is my reproof that of a man? Or why should I not be angry?" He says, "You stir me to anger by falsely accusing me of such things; for what human being can convict me of having been impious, or a plunderer, or someone who desires the goods of others, as you have asserted? Since, therefore, there is no one who can convict me, how should I not be justly angry with you, seeing that you assert as certainties things about which you are ignorant, accusing me?" ^B Or perhaps he also says that which the Apostle later expressed: "But to me it is the smallest thing that I should be judged by you; but He who judges me is the Lord" (1 Cor. iv, 3). For this reason, therefore, I am moved to anger, because, not knowing the truth of the matter, you anticipate the divine judgment with your own prejudice.

VERS. 5. "Looking into me, you will be amazed [but Aquila says: 'Be perplexed'; and Symmachus says: 'Become silent'], placing a hand upon [your] jaw." [The others: "upon the mouth."] Those who listen in silence, for the most part, support their elbow against their thigh and lean their face upon their hand, giving their attention to what is said. He says, therefore: "Listen to me with silence and attention, so that you may be amazed at what is said." And thus, indeed, some have understood the verse. But in my judgment, ^C this is what he is saying: "Reflecting with yourselves upon the state of my affairs, you will be amazed; and because you are ignorant of the cause for which I am enduring these hardships, you are cast into straits; and being hesitant and not having anything to say, you place the bond of silence upon your mouth." For in this way, the sufferings I endure surpass and exceed all speech, so that on account of the difficulty of expressing them, it is better to be silent about them out of perplexity than to pronounce upon them rashly and bring a sentence of condemnation against me.

VERS. 6. "For if I have remembered, I have been troubled, and my flesh is held by pains." ^D And here also the interpreters have erred. After

^A having said "I will be eager," he says, "and I shall briefly commemorate those things of which I am about to speak; for the pains that beset and infest my flesh do not allow me to indulge in a longer discourse." Symmachus, instead of "I have been eager," rendering it "I am troubled," seems to me to signify this: If I merely make mention of my evils, I am moved and troubled, and I cannot bear the recollection of them without pain of soul; nay, the torture of the body draws me to itself, and does not allow me to construct my words with the requisite and suitable harmony.

VERS. 7. "Why do the wicked live, and even grow old in riches?" etc.

Since you deem yourselves wise and think you know the causes for which I suffer these things, answer me, I ask you: Whence does it come to pass that many of the wicked often grow old in riches? And that the earth abundantly brings forth fruits for them? And that they delight ^B in their goodly offspring, and that good things flow to them from all sides? And that even their beast, which lacks reason, never suffers any adverse accident? And they remain in prosperity like sheep,—that is, without any care or anxiety—as if they were placed outside of human calamity and had obtained some divine and immortal lot; and their children also lead a joyful life and delight their souls with musical instruments; and, abounding in all necessary things throughout their whole life, they celebrate festive days and die with [their] goods, even though they wage open war against God and no thought of the divine commandments enters their minds? Such is the power of these verses; but it is perhaps necessary to examine each verse by itself.

"Their seed is according to the soul, and their children are in their eyes."

That is to say, none among them is sterile, but all are fruitful; they have seed and children. For this is what "[is] according to the soul" ^C signifies, instead of "is the father of each one." And for "And their children [are] in their eyes," Symmachus rendered it: "They remain before them." For it is a sweet sight for parents to see their children, and [to] be delighted by their childish and lisping talk.

"Their houses abound, and fear [is] nowhere, and the scourge from the Lord is not upon them."

They delight, he says, in their children, they abound in all things, they fear no one, they do not dread a reversal of their prosperity, they do not suffer a scourge sent by God. Some, indeed, have understood the phrase "Their seed is according to the soul" not of the male seed from which children are procreated, but of the seeds that are cast into the earth; so that what is said is as follows: Their fields are fertile in crops, there is nowhere any sterility; but "according to the soul"—that is, for each one of them—the ^D abundance of seeds is provided. But the former exposition, in my judgment, is better.

VER. 10. ^A *Their ox did not suffer a miscarriage.* [Symmachus: It did not abort; that is: The working ox did not bring forth an imperfect and dead offspring.] And their pregnant one escaped safely, and was not frustrated. Aquila, however, says, "their heifer"; as if to say again that the ox did not cast out ^B the thing conceived in its womb, nor did it bring forth an untimely embryo, but it was preserved, and gave birth to a perfect one, and did not fail. Some have supposed these things to have been said about a woman, that their wives also did not bring forth aborted fetuses.

VER. 11. *And they remain like eternal sheep.* He says this to mean either that their sheep also remain for them as if eternal, suffering from no pestilential disease or plague; or, that they themselves remain long-lived, and increase into a multitude like sheep, and by the propagation of children imitate immortality.

VER. 15. *What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what is the profit, if we shall meet him?* The discourse is as if from the person of the impious; the place is similar to that: *The fool said in his heart, There is no God.* For who, he says, is the Almighty, that is, he who is called the Almighty God? And what more will be ours from him, so that for this reason we should choose his worship and service? What shall we profit if, prostrating ourselves, we shall come to his adoration? For the phrase, *if we shall meet him*, they say is a metaphor taken from those who rise up for illustrious persons, and come to meet them for the sake of honor. Then he sets forth the cause why they say such things, ^C in order to show that they possessed the enjoyment of good things without labor.

VER. 16. *For their goods were in their hands.* They contemplate these things, he says, in as much as they are not punished, but pass their time in the abundance of the goods of this life, while God for the time being long-sufferingly bears with them, and they say: "We have all things in our hands, we possess what is pleasant from our own resources—what greater fruit will God bring us, so that we should toil by keeping his ways and commands?"

*And he does not behold the works of the impious.* It seemed to some that this saying is also from the impious, saying as is likely: "Does God behold these things? Is he occupied with these?" By no means; the actions of men are no care to him. Perhaps the words might also suit Job, who marveled at God's excessive long-suffering, in that he does not punish the impious immediately, but allows them to sin with impunity, as if he did not see the things done by them.

VER. 17-19. *Yea, and the lamp of the impious shall be extinguished.* ^D

^A And destruction shall come upon them; pains shall take them from wrath, and they shall be as chaff before the wind, or as dust which the storm has carried away. *Let his property fail his children.* ^B Though God practices forbearance, he says, yet he will certainly pursue the impious, and the splendor of their life shall be extinguished for them, just as a lamp when the wind blows or the oil fails. Bitter pains shall be distributed among them, mimicking the pangs of a woman in labor. All their possessions shall be winnowed and transferred to others, like chaff by the wind or dust by a storm, and their children shall not inherit these things. Both the reading *Let his property fail his children* according to the Septuagint, and *God shall lay up his injustices for his children* according to Theodotion, lead to the same point. For since the children of the impious often inherit the wickedness of the father, he says, it is fitting that God should punish the man himself and store up his injustices for his children—that is, the punishment for his injustices—and not allow the paternal inheritance to pass to them, according to that saying: *Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.*

*He shall recompense him, and he shall know.* Similar to the saying: *The Lord is known in the judgments he executes.* For when the impious man is tested by divine retribution, then he perceives and knows that God looks upon things done, and that there is a punishment reserved for the impious. For because he lived in abundance and insulted God, and thought that He did not look upon those who sin but allowed them to go unpunished, for this reason He demands from him an accounting of his sins, so that through the blow he may recognize both the just judgment of God and his own injustice and impiety.

*Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him not be saved by the Lord; for his desire was in his house with him, and the numbers of his months were divided.* ^C By destruction he means ruin, or, according to Symmachus, a fall. He will therefore be an eyewitness, he says, of his own destruction, having no help from God, because he preferred his own evil will, rather than the good will of God. Moreover, he will die before his time, he says, for the time of his life shall be divided, or, according to Theodotion and Aquila, it shall be halved, and he shall depart this life in a short time. Such also is that which is said in the Psalms concerning the impious: *They shall not halve their days.*

*Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?* But Symmachus says: *Shall anyone teach God knowledge?* ^D Since he had said above that some of the impious are punished immediately, while others remain unpunished throughout their whole life, and that it sometimes happens that even those who have committed no sins are allowed to suffer—for what reason, he says, God does these things is not for us to know, if

^A if the Lord Himself does not will to give understanding to someone and grant knowledge concerning these matters. For who knows the reasons for this inequality that appears among men? Who has penetrated the decrees of Providence? Absolutely no one, except the Lord of all knowledge, who has no need of a teacher, but who also makes others wise by His grace.

« But He judges the wise. »

He says that only the all-wise God knows the reasons for these things; He who judges the wise among men, both approving those who are endowed with divine wisdom and rejecting those who pursue human wisdom.

VERS. 23-26. « This one shall die in the strength of his imprudence, ^B while he is altogether well-disposed and prospering, and his bowels are filled with fat, and his marrow is spread abroad: but that one dies in the bitterness of his soul, having eaten no good thing: and they sleep together upon the earth; and corruption has covered them. »

Who, he says, except God, knows the reasons for these things? How is it that one man, being foolish and impious, dies with folly prevailing, drenched in the marrow of his bones (according to the interpretation of Symmachus), that is, full of every carnal indulgence and well-being—for this is what is signified by the fatness of the flesh and marrow—while another person, perhaps even a just man, having experienced no sweetness and having enjoyed no share of the good things among men, departs from life, and both undergo the common death and the same rotting and dissolution of the body? How do these things come to pass, and for what purpose? How does one man die having had his folly—that is, his sin—prevail, while the other does the opposite, and yet both rot in the same way? ^C It is not possible, therefore, to discern what is particular and unique from that which is common, for the things that happen here are common to both; but it belongs to God alone to judge the difference between them.

VERS. 27, 28. « Therefore I know that you boldly assail me [but Symmachus: I know your concepts and your unjust thoughts against me], for you will say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the covering of the tabernacles of the impious? »

Reflecting on these things, he says, and knowing that God alone possesses the precise grasp of all things, I know that you do not assault me out of knowledge, but out of audacity, as one who is impious and a sinner, and, anticipating the divine judgment, you say: Where is the house of him who was formerly prosperous? Where is his lineage? Where are his possessions? Where is the great wealth? Where is the construction of his buildings? ^D These things have all said farewell to the impious; they have perished, they have been wiped away; nothing remains anywhere, not a trace, not a remnant, not a memorial.

^A weigh what your lot is, and contemplate what the turn of your affairs might be.

VERS. 29, 30. — *Interrogate those who pass by the way, and you shall not estrange their signs; because the wicked man is lifted up for the day of perdition; they shall be led away to the day of his wrath.*

Although, he says, a certain inequality may be seen in this life, I do not concede that wickedness excels virtue; but I say that just as for travelers walking along the road, the indicators of the way are known, as well as the inns that will receive each after the journey is done; so too, for those who tread the way of life, it is not obscure where they will end up. For even if for a time the wicked man is puffed up ^B and exalted, he will nonetheless surely find an inn suitable and appropriate to his wickedness; for a certain day of destruction and divine wrath awaits him. Now, as for "is lifted up," Symmachus preserves it, but Aquila has translated it as "will be led away"; he indicates that he is kept and stored up for a day of punishment.

VERS. 31, 32. — *Who will announce his way to his face, and he has done it? Who will recompense him? And he was led into the sepulchres, and he kept watch over graves?*

Just as, he says, if we were to ask those who are knowledgeable about roads, where this path leads and where that one leads, and we were to hear, for example, that one ends up in resting places and pleasant inns, while the other ends in mountains, wildernesses, and chasms, we do not estrange their signs—that is, we do not reject them, nor do we disregard them, but we accept them as familiar, clear, and acknowledged, ^C and we believe that we will find such things absolutely and in every way as we have heard; so too, it was necessary for those who commit iniquity to be made aware of the end of their life and manner of conduct. Who, then, will do this? Who to his face and with frankness will announce to the one living in wickedness and faring well his way and its conclusion? And who, indeed, even if some reckless and insolent act were done against him, will take vengeance on him and requite him in kind? And who, concealing nothing, will teach him the frailty of his nature, and bring him to the realization that, having run a brief race in life, he will be carried off to the grave, and his many cares and sleepless nights will be received by the coffin, and the three cubits, a few stones, and a little dust covering the clay of the body? ^D You may also understand it in this way: Who will say to the face of the ungodly man, "Death is the end of your conduct," so that he might be pricked at heart, and, considering the coffin, might keep watch from anxiety?

VERS. 33. — *The stones of the torrent have been made sweet to him, and every man shall go away after him, and before him [there are] innumerable [people].*

What does "the torrent" mean here, and what are these "stones made sweet," and what is the sense hidden in these things, and how am I to safely store away the stones in the fold of my understanding, or this torrent itself...

so that I might walk without stumbling, needing no guide or companion on the way? Do you, therefore, O blessed one, you who have philosophized on these matters, take us up and be our guide. Do not depart before you have led us onto a level path, on which we may walk uprightly and not stray in the least from the truth. For as matters now stand, we are like those caught at a crossroads, not knowing which path of understanding we ought to follow. ^A Do you mean this, O wise and noble one: that for the impious man who delights in the license to sin, even the torrent-like pit that will receive his body after death, and the stones and gravel that will be cast upon him from above, seem to him something sweet—not unpleasant or strange, when he considers that he is not the only one who must die, but that countless numbers have drunk this cup before him, and all, without exception, will drink of it after him? Or do you not mean this, but rather say that although such a great abundance of fruits may come to the wicked man—such that even a barren land, like one that is typically rugged and stony, becomes fruitful for him—nevertheless he is none the less mortal, just like all men who have been and all who shall be? Or is it neither of these, but something else, more profound, which you are offering in a sententious manner? Is it this: that the gravel of the torrent—that is, the roughness and unevenness of this fleeting and momentary life, which flows past like a torrent—is pleasing and joyful to the impious man, and, charmed by the delights of the world, he is not even struck by the strangeness of death, which some sooner, others later, will all certainly undergo? ^B

VERS. 34. *How then do you comfort me in vain? And as for my resting from you, there is nothing.*

You have not provided, he says, comfort that is either useful or timely. You have not so much refreshed my soul as you have rubbed raw my wounds. You have presented no strong argument such that I would be constrained by shame to be silent and to refrain from answering you. On the contrary, your contradictions smacked of ignorance, so that you were unable either to alleviate my grief or to impose silence upon me by stopping my mouth with the unanswerable weight of a demonstration. ^C

CAP. XXII. *Protheoria.*

The friends held Job in derision on account of his sins, claiming that afflictions are the necessary companions of those who do wrong. But he, opposing himself to the things they had brought forward, asked them questions by way of providing a problem to be solved. If these things happen exactly and entirely as you say, he asks, how is it that we see so many of the impious abounding in wealth until the very end, and departing from this life in prosperity? ^D Eliphaz is at a loss how to respond to these things. He turns instead to other insults, and more cruelly heaps revilement upon the righteous man, charging him with crimes that are barely committed by the most wicked of men.

^A Turn he turns to exhortation, and counsels him to turn to repentance, so that, having attained the divine favor, he might recover his former happiness and gain for himself the merciful right hand of the Almighty God. These things said to Job are inappropriate, yet they are not without utility in other respects; for he teaches not only to abstain from wickedness, but also instructs him to do good, since divine justice subjects to punishments not only those who practice wickedness, but also those who do not perform good deeds. Since, therefore, the words of the friends are useful, even if they were spoken inappropriately to the righteous man, for this reason divine grace saw fit that these things should be committed to writing; for those things which are disposed by the Holy Spirit to be judged worthy of being written down are recorded for this reason: so that the one who encounters them might be benefited from reading them. If, therefore, the speeches of the three who came to Job were not useful, Providence would not have caused the words of the three to be recorded in the Book of Job. It is therefore possible to be benefited by their words if one looks closely at the doctrines, but one should also see the point of blame in this one thing: that they accuse Job, thinking him to be suffering on account of sins he has committed, not seeing that there are also many other reasons why such things happen to men. But let us see what Eliphaz says to the righteous man.

^B • And Eliphaz the Temanite, answering, says: "Is it not strictly the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?" ^C Since Job had said this, Eliphaz agrees with the statement and says: I also know that God alone, who is wise, knows the reasons why one man who is impious prospers, while another is punished; and I know this as well, that God, as you yourself have also said, is the giver of good things, but wickedness provides punishments.

• "For what does it matter to the Lord if you were blameless in your works? Or what is the profit, that you should make your way simple?" ^D Symmachus, however, says: "Does the Almighty require that you should be justified? Or will He gain anything if your way is spotless?" Since, he says, you boast greatly of yourself as being blameless, let it be granted that you are such. Tell me, then, what have you gained for God by being righteous and living in simplicity and innocence? What advantage is there from this for God? For does it contribute any benefit to Him if you are righteous? Since he had kept saying over and over that "God has done these things, and I suffer because of Him," he wants to show that it does not come from God; for He neither gains anything from it, nor is He harmed, nor does He fear anyone; for the following verse makes this clear.

• "Or will He argue with you by considering your reason, and will He enter into judgment with you?"

^A Others, reading, "What then?" and then punctuating, add the following with an affirmative emphasis: "Is it a care to the Lord if you were blameless in your works?" That is to say: God is anxious that men should be blameless; and, since He is in need of nothing, He considers it His own benefit that we should freely and abundantly pursue the good; for this reason, having much concern for you, He has rebuked you and, as if entering into judgment with you, has rendered a just sentence. Yet I think it is better to read the verses in a manner befitting the character, and by way of questioning:

• "Is not your malice great, and are your sins innumerable?" •

From the multitude of calamities, he infers the multitude of sins. Consider, therefore, he says, your own affairs, lest you be suffering less than you have earned by your injustice. These are not words of one declaring, but of one doubting, as if someone were to say: "Perhaps you have committed many sins that are hidden even from yourself, and for that reason this reward is being paid back to you."

Truly I see many sinners, yet no one of them has fallen into such great calamities as you have; therefore I rightly affirm that you are not lightly unjust, since you suffer such things as no wicked man does, but that you have been cast into such a state because you possess a malice greater than others; for it is likely that these things have come upon you because of the innumerable nature of your transgressions. He did not, however, name sin in the first place, and then malice, but first malice—the depraved habit—and then the sins which proceed from that depraved habit, which he also says are innumerable; and he sets them forth also by their species.

• "And you took your brothers as pledges for no reason." • ^B Symmachus, however, says: "The innocent ones." That is: those who owed nothing, as if they were debtors, you pointlessly demanded pledges for things they supposedly owed, and that too when they were poor. He surmises this concerning Job from this point on: He knew him to be rich, and suspected that he became wealthy from such sources; therefore he says, "You took pledges for no reason," that is, receiving no profit from it. Exaggerating his wickedness, he adds yet another of his sins:

• "And you took away the covering of the naked." • ^C But how was it possible to strip the naked? By "naked," therefore, we must understand the very poor, those who are being left bare and do not have an abundance of other clothing—that is to say: You increased their poverty by taking away the one garment they had. It is sometimes possible to take away garments not from a naked man, but from a rich man who has many stored-up clothes; if, however, someone has only one tunic, and I take away this tunic under the pretext of reclaiming what is mine, without being moved by any pity for that naked man, I have taken away the covering of the naked. And many such things happen among us. When we lend money, when we hold...

^A business with debtors, we have many who are bound to us by debt who are in such extreme poverty that they have absolutely nothing with which to pay; yet we, not at all considering that he has a wife and children to support, and that it is with difficulty that he sustains his life with the few obols provided to him, with hardened hearts and bitterness demand the debt, even at times when we ourselves are overflowing with an abundance of all things. Job’s accuser therefore says: "You have taken away the garment of the naked." Perhaps he calls the failure to provide a garment to the naked an "ablation"; for he who does not clothe the naked, and who does not feed the one in need of bread, is a defrauder and greedy for what belongs to another.

^B “Neither did you give water to the thirsty to drink.” So it is not only doing injury, but failing to do good that is culpable. Note how far we ought to extend our acts of kindness, since even the failure to give drink to the thirsty is not free from blame, just as we are rewarded for even a cup of cold water. He charges Job with the utmost inhumanity, claiming that he did not even offer water—a gift that costs nothing—and, what is a greater evil, that he denied it to the thirsty. All these are indeed accusations and truly blameworthy things, but they were not true in the case of Job, nor were they rightly said about him.

“But you have withheld bread from the hungry.” What I mean, he says, is not just that you did not provide for the needy, but that you even took away the small solace of bread from the hungry. By “morsel” (bread) he refers to a piece of bread, just as it is used in the book of Ruth: “You shall dip your morsel in the vinegar.” ^C He means, therefore, that you also deprived them of necessary food, either by taking pledges, or by not paying the wages of laborers, or by committing some other sin. Such things happen in bitter demands for payment: sometimes we strip from a man the very morsel he has, even if he does not have a whole loaf, saying, "But you owe it."

“And you have admired the person of some.” *Of Olympiodorus and Origen.* That is: You did not make your judgments justly or dispassionately, but to please men; you became a respecter of persons, and in judging, you exalted some and humbled others—oppressing the humble, while admiring and honoring those in positions of power. This is also another sin; for it is a sin to admire a person. For example: because this man is ^D rich, I admire his person, but I trample upon the poor man because he possesses no dignity.

“And you have made the poor to dwell upon the earth.” That is: You have increased poverty; for you have caused the poor and those cast down to the ground to lie upon the earth all the more. Some copies, instead of "you have made to dwell," have "you have made to lie down"; as if he were to say: Even the very [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A bed of the poor you have taken away, so that, having nothing spread beneath them, they are forced by necessity to lie upon the ground. Therefore, he says, because of these things you have fallen into these many calamities, and those who plunder and carry off the goods unjustly acquired have beset you on every side.

« And you have sent widows away empty. » You have stripped them of the goods they possessed; or rather, when they approached, you gave them nothing, but sent them away having received nothing from you. It is dangerous, therefore, to disregard those who, laboring under poverty, seek to receive something; for, observe, to fail to share with widows is reckoned as a sin. Let us be careful, therefore, that if a widow enters our house, we do not dismiss her empty; let each one, according to his means and what he possesses, fill the bosom of the widow.

« And you have afflicted orphans. » You have not refrained, he says, even from doing harm to orphans. To do evil to orphans and those who are helpless is a mark of the utmost wickedness. For one ought not to harm anyone, but especially should one show mercy to orphans; for God has commanded us to fight for souls that lack all assistance, since the poor, widows, and orphans stand in need of help more than other people. Wherefore, God also speaks through Isaiah: "Deliver the oppressed," ^B when, that is, falling in with rapacious and violent men, one is swept away by their violence as if by a torrent. "Judge for the orphan." Since, because of the contemptible nature of their age, it is not easy for orphans to bring those who do them wrong to judgment, you yourselves should, of your own accord, supply the deficiency of age to those who lack advocates. "And justify the widow." For this person suffers detriment in many of the affairs of life; for it is easy for those who wish to do wrong to attack widowhood, the care of which you should entirely undertake by rendering to her the justice that is due.

« Therefore snares have encircled you, and great war has stirred you up. » But Symmachus says: "And great fear perturbs you." ^C He calls the adversities that have befallen him "snares," and speaks in almost this manner: Hence calamities have beset you, hence the plundering of your possessions, hence the utmost poverty, and hence you are perturbed and struck down by the sudden change of your prosperity, because you have harmed others with injustice, and have been unmerciful towards them.

« Your light has been turned into darkness, and water has covered you while you were asleep. » But others say: "And may a multitude of waters cover you." For this reason, he says, the state of your affairs has passed from light into darkness, from splendid happiness into gloomy and dismal misfortune; and while you were sleeping—that is, being unconcerned, not vigilant, and not expecting—torrents of temptations flooded and perturbed you. Or he said "sleeping," to imply ^D the suddenness of the arrival of all the temptations upon him, and in a single day.

^A

VERS. 12. "Nonne is who inhabits the heights looks down? And those who are carried away by hubris he has humbled."

Do you think that God does not see what is happening? He who dwells in the heights, and looks down upon the humble, and furthermore surveys all things, brings down and humbles those who are puffed up in spirit by their arrogant disposition. Since, therefore, you practiced those arrogant things, for this reason you have suffered these things and have been humbled.

VERS. 13-14. "And you said: What does the Mighty One know? Or does He judge through darkness? Clouds are His hiding place, and He shall not be seen; and He walks about the circuit of the heavens."

Eliphaz condemns Job for great impiety and foolishness. For it is probable, he says, that you were saying to yourself while sinning in secret: "What does the Mighty One know? Can God know all things? And can He judge things done in darkness and done stealthily?" He who set the cloud as His hiding place, and for this reason, just as He is not seen, so also He does not see; and this is from above, from heaven, and from such a distance. But it is better to divide the verses into two parts, and to assign the first to Job, and to distribute the second to Eliphaz. For you indeed, O Job, suspected that you would escape God, doing absurd things in secret, and that God would not judge things done in darkness, as He had not even known them; but I would declare that God is present everywhere, but is not seen, being covered by a cloud. And ^B that He encompasses all things, and nothing escapes Him, is clear from this: for He walks about the circuit of the heavens, and from an invisible place He surveys all things, and there is no one who will be hidden from Him.

VERS. 15-16. "Will you watch the ancient path, which righteous men have trodden, who were taken away prematurely? Whose foundation is a flowing river—those who say: What will the Lord do to us? Or what will the Almighty bring upon us? And yet He filled their houses with good things."

Symmachus, instead of "were taken away prematurely," rendered it "will be captured before the time"; and Theodotion, instead of "will bring upon us," said "will perform"; and instead of "and yet," "He himself." This passage is also difficult, and arduous for the men of our time to traverse. For who those righteous men are who trod the ancient path, and what kind of path this is, for whom the foundation is a river, and whose taking away was premature, we are not able to grasp and declare with accurate judgment. As far, however, as one may conjecture, Eliphaz testifies that Job was not endowed with virtue, but with the mere appearance and simulation of virtue, by speaking almost as follows: "Did you, O Job, guard the ancient path of virtue in this way, just as some who, being covered with an external appearance of piety, seem to pursue the path of justice, but in reality [are not walking in it]—who even because of this tent..." ^{C D}

^A and their feigned piety were cut off before their time, and their life was reaped, and the prosperity which seemed to them to be firmly fixed, and as it were founded, was swept away as if by floods. And they have suffered these things because they all but said that God is not able to bring punishments upon them, nor to reward them with good things, since they were ill-informed; for from Him were to them [or: from their own] the good things in which they hoped, and which they believed they held securely. If, therefore, you also, like them, were of such an opinion, you have reasonably suffered these things. Perhaps Eliphaz calls the divine dispensation "the path of the age," and says: Can you keep the path of divine Providence, and the reasons according to which even the just often pass their lives unhappily, and are taken away before their time? Then he conjectures that they perhaps suffer this because they do not think that their good things come from God. ^B

VERS. 18. « And the counsel of the ungodly is far from him. » The counsels which the ungodly take are far from God; for they meditate nothing sound or sincere, but all things that are repugnant to honesty and truth.

VERS. 19, 20. « The just saw and laughed, and the blameless mocked: if their substance has not been destroyed, and the fire shall consume their remnant. » The pious, noticing the wicked counsel of the ungodly, exposed them to mockery. They indeed thought their fortunes to be stable and fixed, but the exact opposite happened to them; for their substance has been destroyed, and they themselves have perished utterly: and if any one of them remained, even he has become fuel for the fire. ^C

VERS. 21. « Be therefore hard if you will endure: then your fruit shall be in good things. » Having spoken generally concerning the ungodly, that because they follow wicked counsels they are utterly destroyed, turning to Job, he says: If you also harden your heart, and devise hard and refractory counsels against God, you will learn by experience that the divine judgment is insufferable; and neither shall your fruit be in good things, that is to say, your children, who might perhaps be understood as the remnant. If therefore they, the ungodly clearly, resisting God, have suffered ^D and have not perished, both they and their remnant, that is, their children, then try it yourself, and persist in your hardness, if indeed you can endure it.

VERS. 22. « Do you, however, receive an interpretation from his mouth, and take his words into your heart. » Either he says this: Change your manners and character, and receive the divine commands; or, Confess your sins, and for the future observe the divine oracles. The occasion for this twofold meaning is offered to me from here: I was inquiring with myself what "interpretation" might mean; and I found in Symmachus, instead of it, "confession," but in Aquila, "law." He says, therefore, according to the one meaning, "Confess your sins," but learn the mode of confession from God; and according to the other interpreter...

"Receive the law from God, and lay up his sayings in your heart."

VERS. 23. "If you turn back, and humble yourself before the Lord, you have removed iniquity far from your tent." Deservedly, he says, you suffer things that are of the impious; but if you turn and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, nothing amiss will befall you. ^B

VERS. 24. "You shall be placed upon the ridge in the rock, and as a rock of the torrent of Sophir." For which Symmachus: "And on a flint as if streams of prime gold." And this is what he wishes to say: if you do penance, and remove all injustice far from your way of life, you shall be placed on the earth on a rock, that is, you shall not be shaken from happiness, but shall dwell on the earth securely and firmly, and from Sophir (where the most excellent gold and precious stones are produced), like a torrent, gold will come upon you unexpectedly. Some interpreters, however, say that Sophir, which if translated signifies "the best," is Africa; and Scripture uses this word when it treats of riches.

CHAPTER XXIII. Protheoria.

VERS. 1, 2. "Responding, Job says: And indeed I know that my rebuke is from his hand, and his hand has become heavy upon my groaning." I know, he says, that you seem to bring forward accusations from those things that are in your hands, that is, from the blow, and not from what I have done; for God has heavily pursued me, so that I have uttered a groan. But some have received these verses in this way, and wished this to be their meaning: "I make no account," he says, "of your accusations; for not from what you have falsely [said]...

but from what I have done shall I be judged; although God has laid a heavy penalty upon me." ^A

VERS. 9. "If he should act on the left, I shall not apprehend him; he shall wrap himself in the right, and I shall not see."

Symmachus, clarifying the sense of these words, rendered them thus: "Behold, if I go before him, he is invisible; and if I follow, I shall have no perception." The meaning is this: "I gladly submit the judgment of my actions to the divine eyes, but what is this that has befallen me? God is by nature invisible; what then shall I do? Shall I seek him in the things before me? He is invisible. He happens to be before me, yet I do not perceive him. If he turns to the left, I am unable to lay hold of him, and if he is on the right, I see him not at all." He said these things, not as though God walks about bodily or moves from place to place, but wishing to show that while God is everywhere present, he is inaccessible and incomprehensible to us. But regarding that which is also said, "I am no more" [or "not yet"], you may understand it according to the former interpretation, namely: "If I proceed with my thought to previous times and reflect upon the time that has passed, I find myself not to be, but that I have lost such existence, in so far as it has passed by and flowed away." Or you may take it thus: "If I extend the scrutiny and curious anxiety of my mind further, and seek the first things and the beginning of God, I am carried outside myself, and I am set in a dizziness of thoughts, striving to comprehend the incomprehensible," ^C and the discourse of reason is clouded with a tenebrous mist.

VERS. 10-12. "For he already knows my way; and he has tried me like gold. But I shall go forth in his commands; for I have kept his ways, and I shall not turn aside from his commands, and I shall not pass beyond."

Therefore, he says, I demand with confidence that God be my judge, because my actions are known to him before I utter a word, and because I have kept his law and his commandments. By commandments here he does not mean those that fall under hearing or are committed to writing (for this saint lived before the law was given), but those that are unwritten, which were sown together with nature itself, those spoken by God to the mind. The phrase, "I shall not turn aside," has a marvelous emphasis. Even if I suffer countless things, he says, I shall not be turned away from the straight path, nor shall I transgress the things that seem good to God; similar to that [scripture]: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" ^D

"But I have hidden his words in my bosom."

That is, in the intellectual part of the soul, in the inner recesses of the mind, I have kept the divine commandments stored away, I have cherished them in my bosom, and I have thus fulfilled the divine will with pleasure, a tranquil soul, and full intention, not forced by any necessity, just as if I had been formed and made together with them, and united to them, I have so joyfully accomplished—at rest, in purpose, not by necessity fulfilling the divine will. Such is the...

^A Psalm-word, "In my heart I have hidden your words," and again, "And your law in the midst of my belly." Then, as if someone were replying, "For what reason, then, have you fallen into such dire straits?" he immediately adds: "Therefore I have been anxious concerning him; and being admonished, I took thought for him."

Regarding my own affairs, he says, considering them, I have been anxious; that is, I was troubled, not knowing the cause of the blow, but ignorant of the matters for which God struck me. Nevertheless, having been admonished and reproved by the present blow, I did not lose heart, but bore it thankfully, and took care to think or speak nothing blasphemous about God. "For this reason, I shall be troubled before his face; I shall consider, and I shall be afraid of him."

Again, he repeats the same word and the same thought, saying that, being conscious of such things within myself, and then being struck, I am at a loss and troubled, not understanding the cause of the calamity. But I do not wish to be excessively curious either; rather, I am startled from the face of God, and from the mere appearance of him; and [even] if I only contemplate him, I am afraid, and I hesitate to inquire why I am being scourged.

"But the Lord softened my heart, and the Almighty caused me to be anxious; for I did not know that darkness would come upon me, and mist covered my face before me." "Softened" means, he relaxed the tensions of the soul; "caused me to be anxious" means, he troubled me; "I did not know" means, I did not expect. He calls the uncertainty or the inextricability of the calamities "darkness and mist before my face." For, he says, since there is darkness before my eyes, I cannot overcome these terrible things, which also cause me agony and relax the tensions of the soul, having come upon me unexpectedly.

Chapter XXIV

"Why then have the hours escaped the Lord? But the ungodly have transgressed the boundary, having snatched a flock with its shepherd; they have led away the orphan's beast of burden, and have taken the widow's ox as a pledge; they have turned aside the needy from the righteous path."

Since Job was saying the aforementioned things, it was likely that his friends would reply, "You suffer these things not because you are pure, as you say, but to pay the penalty for certain transgressions." Therefore, promptly resolving what was objected to, he adds: "How is it that the ungodly seize the property of their neighbors, encroaching upon and harming those near their borders, and overstepping boundaries, or as Aquila says, occupying them; [how is it that they] inhumanly snatch the shepherd together with the flocks, taking away from orphans and the widow the means of life—I mean the ox and the beast of burden—condemning the weak, and, as far as it lies within them, subverting the just and righteous judgments among them?" For "they have subverted the way of the needy," according to Symmachus,

that is, they persuade those ^A weaker in judgment to abandon the just way of life, seeing iniquity prospering and enjoying good fortune, and because of this being scandalized and turned away from an excellent and praiseworthy life to one that is shameful and disreputable. But God, as if oblivious to the times, delays the punishments. And yet, if punishments must absolutely follow sins, it would be opportune for the penalty to be inflicted at the same time as the transgression; but now some commit grave crimes, while God, as if oblivious to the times, suspends the retributions. This "why," therefore, is said not by way of etiology, but problematically, as among friends.

"And at the same time the meek of the earth were hidden." ^B That is, fleeing from the unjust ones, and preferring to live among wild beasts rather than with them; or, what is more true, driven from their homes and killed by the impious. This is also what Symmachus's version suggests: "For they made the meek of the earth disappear together," implying those acting, as well as those suffering. This is also what the wicked assembly says in Solomon: "Let us lie in wait," he says, "for the righteous man, to hide him in the ground unjustly."

VER. 5. "And they went out like wild asses in the field." Having cast off all fear, trampling men underfoot, despising all, mocking all, and plundering whatever they encounter at will; but God has not yet visited them.

"They have exceeded their own order against me." But Aquila: "They go out into their work, rising early for plunder." The sense, however, is this: They, he says, did concerning me that which is customary for them. "They have gone out against me," that is, to take my goods and claim them for themselves; for this is what they are accustomed to do.

"Bread has become sweet to him for the sake of the youths." ^C Symmachus: "Bread is sweet to each of them for the sake of young men." It is pleasant, he says, for the impious to feed certain young men, so that they may be able through them to inflict injuries and attack those who are weaker.

VER. 6. "They have harvested a field not their own before the time." They committed two sins simultaneously: harvesting fruits before the time, and those fruits belonging to others. But this is what robbers are accustomed to do; for since at harvest time crops are guarded, or rather, the owners of the fields harvest them at the opportune time, robbers anticipate them and make an untimely ^D harvest, so that in case they wait until the fruits mature fully, they might not find them already harvested by the owners of the land.

"The powerless have worked the vineyards of the impious without wages and without food." This also is the height of iniquity, that the poor...

^A must hire out their labor to the rich; and not only without wages, but even without food. He therefore openly exposes this double iniquity: the untimely reaping of another's fields, and the defrauding of poor laborers of their wages, who, yielding to power, have worked the vineyards of the impious even without food; although the laborer is worthy of his food.

"They made many sleep naked, without clothing, and they took away the covering of their soul." ^B In my judgment, they took away the last garment by which they covered the shame of their body, and forced certain ones to sleep [naked]. According to the opinion of others, however, it means: "Stripping many, they made them sleep," that is, they rendered them quiet; for the stripped ones, through fear, spoke not a word against them.

"They are moistened by the drippings of the mountains, because they have no covering; they have wrapped themselves in a rock."

It seems to me that here he has turned his discourse from those who perpetrate evils to those who suffer them, and says that those who have been stripped [naked] and driven from their homes, suffering miserably under the open sky, received the drops of dew falling from the air upon their naked bodies; and because they lacked a roof and shelter, they used, in place of houses, rocks naturally roofed and caves.

Certain people understand these things to be said about those who offer violence and force to others, and they say ^C that men of this kind, having taken to the wilderness and adopted a robber's life, for the most part live under the open sky; and if they ever need to be covered, caves, rocks, and chasms serve them for a roof.

"They snatched the orphan from the breast."

They snatched the orphan miserably and pitilessly while still pulling on the maternal nipple, for the purpose of selling him to others. It is the greatest cruelty not to spare even those at the breast.

"And they took away the morsel from the hungry."

Having reduced them to the utmost poverty and lack of food—which intensifies and increases inhumanity, and is a sign of the highest cruelty and ^D greatest injustice.

"They have lain in wait wickedly in narrow places."

Lying in wait in precipitous places, so that those against whom the traps are laid might not be able to flee; for in the squares and wider streets, those attacked by such snares might perhaps have been able to escape.

"And they have not known the just way."

That is, they have not loved it. For that phrase, "they have not known," does not bear witness to ignorance on their part, but confirms that they were not favorably disposed toward the way of life of the just.

^A "They were cast out from the city and their own homes." Again, having left those who perpetrate evil, he turns toward those who suffer; for these were being driven out by the lawless from their own homes and cities. "And the soul of the little ones groaned greatly." The infants of the just who have suffered persecutions, being orphaned of parents, groaned greatly from the depths of the heart due to the destitution of those who begat them, or because their parents were unable to provide them with sustenance. "But why has He not made a visitation of these, while they were upon the earth, and they did not know?" He speaks again to his friends, as if in doubt: If afflictions occur entirely because of sins, why does God often leave those who have committed these things without visitation in this life? Indeed, because they were not afflicted with punishment for the crimes they dared to commit, they did not recognize God as a visitor. "And they did not know the way of justice, nor did they walk in its paths." By experience, he says, they did not learn what justice is, inasmuch as they did not walk in it, nor did they conduct their lives according to its rule; for we are ignorant of that way in which we have not spent any time at all. "But He who knows their works, has delivered them into darkness." He represents future judgment, and says that God, having investigated and examined the actions ^B of the ungodly, will deliver them into darkness. For it is customary for Holy Scripture often to set before our eyes as present those things which do not yet exist, but which are nevertheless certain to happen; just as here, "He delivered" (he says) instead of "He will deliver." Perhaps, however, by saying that they were to be delivered into darkness, he does not indicate the punishment that will be there, but rather hints at the blindness of mind which they suffer here. And he said "he delivered" not as though God compulsorily does this—may it never be!—but because He permits them, by reason of their free will, to walk as they choose. Such also is the, "He delivered them into a reprobate mind," and the, "He blinded their eyes and their thoughts"—not that He Himself did these things, but that He permitted them. ^C "And at night he shall be as a thief; and the eye of the adulterer has watched for darkness, saying: 'No eye will see me,' and he put a covering over his face. He digs through houses in the dark." He returns again to the wicked, and says that everyone who does evil things hates the light, and has the night as a helper for what he is eager to do, since he acts in a way worthy of darkness and is eager to remain hidden. Therefore, both the thief and the adulterer, covering their face—by which recognition is made—with darkness as if with a veil, the one digs through walls, and the other ^D through alien marriages, the covering of the face,

according to Symmachus, ^A putting it about him, that is, watching for darkness, as if he were to be covered and hidden within it. But why does he not say "a thief," but "as a thief"? Because he hid himself from men, but he did not escape God; for with respect to Him he is as a thief, but with respect to us, he is to be truly judged a thief. For it is possible that with men you might remain hidden, having committed some absurdity or something contrary to reason, but you will not remain hidden from God, not even by conceiving Him in your thoughts.

• "Through the day they have sealed themselves, they have not known the light, because the morning is to them altogether the shadow of death, because he shall recognize the tumult of the shadow of death." [VERS. 17]

• Symmachus interpreted these things more clearly: "As in a seal, they will hide themselves. If the dawn shines upon them, it is the shadow of death; for being detected, they will be overshadowed by death, and they will be brought to nothing." ^B It seems that he wishes to say this: that both a thief and an adulterer dare to undertake shameful and absurd things by night, but by day they hide themselves and flee the light; for if they should be detected, death is immediately inflicted upon them as a penalty; and he who is caught will recognize and endure such perturbations of soul, and will be so disturbed that even before death, he almost expires from fear. For in the Holy Scriptures, dangers are often called the shadow of death, which bring one near to death. Therefore, the wicked and impious, keeping themselves locked within, fear to come out in public during the day, lest, being detected, they be overwhelmed by death.

• "He is light upon the face of the water." ^C

• But Symmachus says, "floating upon the water." Just as, he says, light bodies that drift and float upon the surface of the waters are easily swept away by the force of the waters, so too is every evildoer dragged hither and thither by temptations, and easily disappears and vanishes; for wickedness and injustice will not be able to save anyone. Then Job, who loves God, because of God’s patience and tolerance, does not allow wickedness to be preferred over virtue, but he curses the portion of the wicked, and narrates what will happen to them, as in the form of a curse, saying:

• "Let their portion be cursed upon the earth, and let their plants appear dry upon the earth." [VERS. 18, 19]

• What he says is of this kind: since they reaped the fields of others, and others worked their vineyards without wages, let them receive no fruit from their own, but let them find their crops and their plants dry and unfruitful, bringing upon themselves the curse of Cain, which says: "Cursed is the ground in thy works," ^D not rewarding the labors of agriculture with an abundance of fruit.

• "For they have snatched the sheaf of the orphans."

• Orphans often follow the reapers, and gathering the ears of grain which fall, they bind them into sheaves; he says, therefore, that the inhumanity of some has extended to such a point that they...

seize even the moderate portion of orphans who, due to poverty, are gleaning.

^A VERS. 20. ‹ Then his sin is remembered, and he has become as the mist of the dew that does not appear. But might what he has done be repaid to him. › That is, the sins of the impious are written down for future remembrance; therefore, their punishment cannot be escaped by any means, even though God, in His present clemency, postpones the chastisements. For, just as the mist that is generated from the dew, he says, becomes invisible when the sun’s ray shines upon it, heating the air, drawing up the moisture with heat, and consuming the vapor, so too, when divine judgment arrives, the impious man is consumed and destroyed, receiving the bitter rewards for his wicked deeds. David also chants something similar concerning the impious in the Psalms: *For*, he says, *his sin shall be sought, and it shall not be found*, ^B because, evidently, it is being utterly destroyed.

‹ And may every unrighteous person be crushed like an incurable tree. › He calls it an "incurable tree" because, once it has been broken, it admits no care such that it might be healed, but remains useless henceforth. To this, he says, the one who persists in injustice will likewise be crushed; for by saying, "Let it be repaid to him," and "Let him be crushed," the righteous man is not uttering a curse, but is declaring what must certainly come to pass; for each person shall receive according to what he has done.

‹ For he has not done good to the barren woman, and has not shown mercy to the little woman; but in his fury he has overturned the powerless. › He mentioned the "barren woman" and the "little woman" so as to signify those to whom mercy is owed: the barren woman, destitute of help due to childlessness; the little woman, needing assistance due to the imbecility of nature—for the female sex is weak and contemptible. He added to these an even greater evil: the crushing and affliction of the weak in fury. ^C For he says that not for any reasonable cause, but by an irrational movement of the soul, using fury, he has overturned and reduced to utter destitution those who are powerless and without help.

‹ Therefore, when he rises, let him not trust in his own life. › He indicates here the bad conscience of him who works impiety. For so, he says, his conscience condemns him that every day he is so disposed as if he were about to die; for rising daily, he does not hope to live, but remains fearful and terrified—for fear is nothing other than the desertion and frustration of the helps that proceed from reason.

‹ When he begins to be infirm, let him not hope to be healed, but let him fall into disease; for his loftiness has harmed many. ›

› ^A If the wicked man, he says, recovers from illness, he considers it an incredible and strange occurrence; for because of his deeds, he expects death with anguish of soul. Indeed, if he is seized by illness, he casts away all hope and expects nothing good, but, struck by his own conscience, he thinks that he must die out and out. The cause of his being thus disposed and imagining such things is that, having been raised up and possessing glory and power, he used his strength for the affliction of others.

‹ Emarcuit autem sicut malva in æstu, aut sicut de stipula spica decidens sponte sua. ›

That word, *emarcuit* (has withered), is used for *marcescet* (will wither). Other manuscripts, instead of "like a mallow," have "like grass," according to the saying: "As the herbs of the field they shall quickly fall." A ^B stalk that has been shaken off from the straw that was supporting it, no longer receiving the moisture and richness by which it was nourished, withers; the wicked man likewise perishes, once he has fallen from the prosperity that acted as his irrigation and made him flourish. Most aptly is it said, "falling of its own accord," for to everyone his own sin becomes an avenger and executioner.

VERS. 25. ‹ Alioquin quis est qui loquatur mendacium me dicere, et ponet in nihilum verba mea? ›

I, he says, hold this opinion regarding the destruction of the wicked and unjust and the just retribution of God; but if what is said is false, and I stray from the truth, let him who ^C wishes come forward, refute my argument, and make it void. What does he infer from the things said? That, leaving aside the examination of deeds, his friends had superfluously condemned him for impiety based on his calamities.

CHAPTER XXV. Protheoria.

Just as Eliphaz, when unable to respond to the issues raised by Job in a problematical manner, did not contend with him in a right and uncorrupted judgment, but turned his speech to abuse and accusations against the just man; so also Baldad, when he could not refute the words of Job, ^D while philosophizing admirably concerning God and vilifying human nature—asserting that nothing of the things that are most pure is pure if compared with the divine purity—transfers the defense elsewhere, and attacks Job, as if he were insolently lifting himself up against God and boasting too proudly of his own piety toward God.

VERS. 1, 2. ‹ Respondens autem Baldad Sauchites, ait, Quid enim exordium quam timor ab eo? ›

Perhaps he also hints at something like this: Since, he says, you boast and take pride in your piety toward God, learn that as a beginning

of all virtue is the divine fear; but you speak without fear. Therefore, he who has not attained the beginning of piety, how can he boast of its other parts? Observe, however, that he did not say, "His fear," but, "fear from Him," for his fear is our own work, springing from our free will; but that which is from Him is His gift and grace, which supplies what is lacking in us.

^A • ‘Who makes the totality in the highest.’ That is, in the hidden place, having no fellow-worker. But in order to strike Job with terror, as he supposes, he relates the power of God, and says that God, existing above all things, fashioned everything in the highest places. Or that phrase, ‘in the Highest,’ means, in the Son; for all things were made through Him.

VERS. 3. • ‘For let no one think there is delay for pirates.’ Pirates, strictly speaking, are those who sail the sea to inflict harm on others and to plunder. In summary, he says this: Let no one think that God, although He bears with patience for a long time, will postpone the punishment of the impious forever; but rather that He will attack them like those lying in wait, so that it is not possible for any of them to escape divine vengeance. Whence he adds:

‘Upon whom, then, will not His snares come?’ Symmachus, however, instead of, ‘Is there delay for pirates,’ translated it: ‘Is there a number of His armies?’ and instead of ‘snares from Him,’ he rendered it, ‘commands,’ in order to declare more fully the power and authority of God; as if to say: He has countless armies serving Him and acting as His ministers, who receive commands from Him and are sent to exact punishment from the impious.

VERS. 4. • ‘For how will a mortal be just before the Lord? Or who could cleanse himself, born of a woman?’ ^B Symmachus, however: ‘By what means shall he who is born of a woman be without filth?’ Although, he says, many may be judged just by human standards, yet in the eye of God, who beholds all things, no one is just, no one is able to say, ‘I am pure.’ For it is impossible, since we cannot hide anything from God who sees all things with His eyes, that we should not be caught as guilty of certain offenses; ^C indeed, we are to render an account of thoughts, words, and actions.

VERS. 5, 6. • ‘If He commands the moon, and it does not shine; and the stars are not pure before Him; much more man is corruption, and the son of man a worm.’ He says these things, not to show that our nature is vile, but to extol God and demonstrate His power. For if, he says, He can command the moon so that it does not shine with its own light, ^D and if the stars, though they are radiant, are not pure before the divine purity, not by reason of their conduct, but...

^A Since creatures, even if they be brilliant, are not pure when compared to the divine purity; nor can any creature, if compared with the dignity of the Creator—nor indeed by way of conduct—boast and pride itself in its purity; how much less can man, who is no better than putrefaction and worms? For if the radiance of the stars, being much purer than the fire which is among us and is made from charcoal, is not pure when compared with the divine purity, it is utterly pointless to entertain thoughts about man: for he is wholly putrefaction, and like a worm wallowing in that putrefaction; for from his youth the mind of man is set with all diligence upon evil things. This he said to construct his argument more copiously and to prick Job more sharply, on the grounds that he was boasting of his own purity.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Protheoria.

^B Since Baldad, as one who wished to take up the defense of God, had discoursed on the wisdom and power of God; the blessed Job, meeting this, says: Why do you strive to patronize God, as if He were in need of any apparatus of words to manifest His wisdom and power? Then, to show that he thinks more soundly and sublimely about God, he discourses more extensively on the wisdom of God, praises His incomprehensible power, prophesies concerning His only-begotten Son, and foretells the tyrannical and cruel destruction of the devil. Having prefaced these things, he asserts that it is impossible for him, whatever he may suffer, to utter anything wicked concerning God as long as he lives; and he confirms with an oath what he promises. ^C Then, relying on a pure and undefiled conscience, he speaks freely, that he was conscious to himself of no wickedness committed by him, and that divine retribution is to intercept and apprehend the impious. And again, he discourses regarding the divine wisdom which shines forth in His works and is implanted in those endowed with reason; and he shows that to be endowed with wisdom is more excellent and honorable than all other things. And since he had spoken at length concerning this wisdom divinely granted, and had shown that nothing can be compared with it, he adds this also, that while the glory of wisdom is widely spread and has reached all, it is nevertheless impossible to find its principles; ^D and he hands down the best instruction, that it suffices for a man to become wise if he does not pry into the unsearchable, but worships God religiously and abstains from every kind of wickedness; and this he defines as the perception of wisdom and knowledge. He pursued these things in his discourse, partly to show that he felt rightly concerning God, and partly to persuade his friends not to think that he suffered adversities entirely on account of his sins, but rather to leave the causes of such matters to the inscrutable judgments of God.

VERS. 1–4. But Job answering, says: To whom are you offering your services, or whom are you about to help? Is it not he who has great strength,

^A and whose arm is mighty? To whom have you given counsel? Is it not to him who is all wisdom? Whom will you follow? Is it not he who has the greatest power? To whom have you announced words? And whose breath is it that came out of you?

To whom, he says, are you contributing your own strength, and why do you align yourself with his side? Or whom are you eager to defend, as if he stood in need of your assistance? Away with you, O man; we all know that God is self-sufficient and omnipotent, and indeed also all-wise. Why, therefore, as if you had shared your counsels with him, have you been eager to make arguments in his defense? To whom have you given counsel? Can you be capable of teaching him when he is ignorant? Whom are you hastening to follow, as if you were about to bring him some sort of alliance; is it not the omnipotent and all-powerful One? Before whom have you displayed your own wisdom, and poured out so many words? Do you not know that even the ability to speak and to breathe has been granted to you by the benefit of God? But air and spirit are the cause of both respiration and voice; for by drawing in the air we breathe, and when we wish to speak, the same air, being struck, becomes a voice. Job therefore said to Baldad, appropriately and appositely: Namely, that you might take a stand on the side of him who bestowed the spirit upon you, and who gave you life, and that you might undertake his defense, to him you have lent your words.

VERS. 5. Shall the giants be formed from under the water, and his neighbors?

When God of old was purifying the earth with the flood, ^B as if it were corrupt and defiled, he submerged those men by the waters who were waging war against him, and who were called giants. He says, therefore, that those giants, or their neighbors—that is, those similar to them in wickedness—cannot, once destroyed, see the light again by the work of a midwife, and raise themselves up again by their own strength. Did their great power, which resisted and stood against the unassailable power and counsel of God, profit them anything? For they could neither deliver others nor themselves from death, nor restore themselves to life; but God powerfully raises the dead.

VERS. 6. Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for perdition.

God, he says, merely commands, and hell vomits forth the dead; and with his invincible power bringing into the midst all things that have been corrupted from every age, nothing of those things which have perished can remain hidden. ^C These things are said prophetically regarding the incarnation of the Only-Begotten through the flesh; for the dark and gloomy hell is naked before his face, and perdition, which is neighbor to hell—namely death—has no covering by which it might be hidden: For there is no created thing which is not manifest in his sight. He, having become man, despoiled hell, and brought out those who were there with strength and power, ^D saying to those who are in bonds: Go forth, and

no covering stood against the divine command, but they were revealed immediately. It is said also in the Proverbs: "Hell and destruction are manifest before the Lord." For the place in which souls were detained before his coming in the flesh was not hidden from him, nor did those who seemed to have perished by reason of corruption and death remain so; but he even descended into hell, and set free all the souls that had existed from all eternity from everlasting bonds. ^A

V. 7. Extending the north upon nothing.

V. 8. Binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not rent under it.

^A VERSE 9. "Who holds the face of the throne, spreading His cloud over it." The heaven is often called the throne of God in the Scriptures; and the air is situated before the face of the heaven. He says, therefore, that by holding the air and spreading out the clouds, He does not permit the rain to drip, except in such ways as He himself knows to be profitable. Then He descends to the earth, and says:

VERSE 10. "He has surrounded the face of the water with a precept." [Symmachus, however, says: "He has circumscribed a boundary."] For by His own precept, surrounding the waters on all sides, and putting a bridle upon them as it were, He does not permit them to transgress their limits and inundate the neighboring earth. Divine providence ^B further extends this mandate, as long as this whole universe shall endure; whence he adds:

"Until the consummation of light with darkness."

That is, this divine mandate holds sway while day and night complete their own course, succeeding one another in turn.

VERSE 11. "The pillars of heaven were stretched out [Aquila: were moved], and they were amazed at His rebuke." [Symmachus, however: "they are afraid."]

These also, he says, the supports of heaven, and its bases and foundations, as it were, are moved and shaken when He commands—He who stretched out the heavens, who spread them out, who extended them like a curtain. This earthquake and change happens at the consummation; for as it is written: "As a covering thou shall roll them up, ^C and they shall be changed."

VERSE 12. "By His power He has calmed the sea, and by His wisdom the sea monster has been laid low."

Symmachus, however, says: "He breaks down arrogance." Passing on to the discourse concerning the sea, which by nature is humid, and, as it were, essentially raging, lifting up waves like mountains and foaming, yet is again compressed and calmed, he establishes a most luminous argument for divine power; furthermore, he considers it a matter worthy of no less admiration that the greatest sea monsters are made subject and subservient to His command. David also did the same; for when he had said, "This sea, great and spacious," he also made mention of the sea monster, adding, "This dragon which You have formed to play in it." ^D More sublimely, however, understood as referring to the Only-Begotten, He calmed the salt sea of infidelity and sin by His divine power, and laid the sea monster—that is, the devil—prostrate under the feet of the faithful to be trampled upon.

VERSE 13. "And the bars of heaven fear Him."

He has called the air by this name more tropically and metaphorically; for God contracts it, and again dissolves it, and closes it, and opens it, just as it pleases Him. More sublimely, however, these are the Powers who stand at the heavenly gates, to whom it has also been said: "Lift up the gates."

^A seeing them as God returning in the flesh, they shuddered. "By a decree, He put to death the apostate dragon."

Symmachus: "The serpent that encloses." The Lord will destroy the Antichrist with the word of His mouth, according to the Apostle; and the serpent, the author of evil, that beast warring against God, who himself fell away from God and encloses those who obey him in destruction, He will cast into the fire prepared for him.

"Behold, these are parts of His way, and we shall hear a drop of a word in Him; but the strength of His thunder, who knows when He will produce it?" ^B To which Symmachus: "What whisper of His words shall we hear, when no one comprehends the thunder of His power?" The meaning here is: We are struck, he says, with amazement at the things already spoken: how the winds are carried through the void; how the earth, fixed on no foundation, remains stable and firm; how water is contained in the clouds; how the clouds are stretched out in the air; how the raging sea does not overstep the sand, and the other things which we have mentioned. But these constitute a moderate portion of the works of God, and we have heard only a small drop of the word concerning these matters, and have expounded a small part of God's wisdom and power, by which He, patrolling and traversing the world, governs it—and the things enumerated are, as it were, a brief drop. For it is impossible for created nature to contain the whole flood of His wisdom; since, to omit other things, who is capable of explaining the reason for the sound of thunder that is carried through the air and the clouds? ^C

According to the translation of Symmachus, I understand this to mean: that if we cannot endure the sound of thunder falling unexpectedly upon our ears, but are disturbed and struck in our soul, how shall we be able to endure it if God speaks—and that, not with a loud voice, but as a whisper? Or, alternatively, if we cannot understand how the thunder comes to be, what can we say about His ways and the designs of His Providence? For those things which we have just spoken of are a small drop and a dew, which we have drawn from that great and inexhaustible spring. ^D

CHAPTER XXVII.

For when these things were finished, and he himself having replied briefly, because Baldad had also spoken but little, and none of the friends contradicted him, but all three maintained silence; he again adds to his discourse and attaches what follows to the things said before: the things spoken previously serving as a prelude to what is brought forward below. And Aquila has rendered it thus: "And Job added to take up..."

his ^A parable." But "parable" in Scripture is said not only of speech that contains a likeness within itself, but also of any wise utterance. Thus, for example, Balaam also, "taking up his parable," spoke; and David: "I will open my mouth in parables," not going through likenesses, but wise discourses. But let us see what Job answers after the prelude spoken by him; let us pay attention to the wording. ^B

"As the Lord lives, who has judged me thus [Symmachus: "who has disregarded my judgment"], and the Almighty, who has embittered my soul. If the breath is still in me, and the divine spirit which is about me is in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak iniquity, nor shall my soul meditate on injustice."

I know, he says, by what you have been moved to provoke me; but I swear by the living God, He who judged me to suffer these things according to His unsearchable decrees, He who delivered me into these circumstances, He who ordained that I should be embittered by such severe trials, that as long as my breath is in me, and as long as I live and breathe, having received this from God, even if I were to be tortured for a longer time, and even if I were to suffer things much worse than these, I would not utter or conceive ^C anything untoward or blasphemous against God, standing firm against sin until death. For that which is said, "Nor shall my soul meditate on injustice," means: I will remain in the same conviction; no one will be able to pervert me, no one to move me, no one to draw me away from my purpose. Some, however, wish to say that Job makes mention of the Trinity in this place, for he says: "As the Lord lives, and the Almighty, and the divine Spirit." For indeed, concerning that which is in the Septuagint, "God breathed into the face of man the breath of life," those who interpret it as concerning the Holy Spirit, while the rest of the translators have rendered it, "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life"; so that here, the phrase "if the breath is still in me" is to be taken as concerning respiration, but the phrase "the divine spirit which is about me in my nostrils" is to be understood as concerning the Holy Spirit. But Methodius takes "divine spirit," which is given to all men by God, and concerning which Solomon spoke, "For your incorruptible Spirit is in all," to mean the conscience, which condemns the sinful soul. ^D

"Far be it from me to pronounce you just until I die."

That is to say: I will not condemn myself, nor will I change or abandon my opinion and my purpose, even if you bring thousands of arguments. For far be it from me, fleeing from your gaze out of shame, to adulterate the truth and say that I have been justly condemned by you; for if I agree with what you say...

that you have understood why I have suffered these things, I would be declaring you righteous. ^A

• "For I will not separate my innocence from me." •

But Symmachus says: "I will not depart from my simplicity; and I would indeed depart from it and betray it, if I thought one thing but spoke another."

• "And adhering to justice, I will not let it go." •

What he says is of this sort: He who wrongs others, he says, has no freedom of speech, nor can he speak or say what I now say; rather, being deprived of this and having his mouth stopped, he is silent. But I have not suffered this, but I speak and I contradict.

• "For I am not conscious to myself of having done absurd things." •

This Paul also later uttered, and added: "But I am not justified by this." Great was the confidence of the just man, because of the innocence of his past life and the things he had done during the time of his calamity, such that he said, "I am conscious of nothing against myself." ^B

• "Nevertheless, let my enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they who rise up against me as the destruction of the wicked." •

Let my enemies perish, he says, for they slander me. Or also thus: I for my part am not conscious that I have done absurd things; but may those things for which you impiously condemn me fall upon the heads of my enemies; for those who reproach and trample upon a man of this kind are themselves impious, and are to be reckoned among the ungodly. ^C

• "And what, indeed, is the hope of the ungodly that he should endure? [Some say: Because he is greedy.] Shall he, trusting in the Lord, be saved? Or will God hear his supplication? Or, if necessity comes upon him, does he have any freedom of speech before Him? Or, if he calls upon Him, will He hear him?" •

What hope, he says, has the ungodly man, even if he endures for a time? With what confidence does he look for salvation from God, in the way that I expect to be saved? And how, when he has fallen into necessity, will he call upon God with freedom of speech, as though his prayer were going to be heard? These things, he says, I know better than you. ^D

• "But come, I will announce to you what is in the hand of the Lord; those things which are with the Almighty I will not deny." •

I will tell you, he says, what kind of opinion I hold concerning God, and I will announce with truth what things are brought upon the ungodly from the hand of the Lord.

• "Behold, you all know that you add vain things to vain things. This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord, and the possession of the powerful shall come from the Almighty upon them." •

But Theodotion and Symmachus say: And the inheritance

which the inflexible shall receive from the Almighty. ^A You know that you heap up futile words for futile words, accusing me of impiety. But I say, what is the portion of the ungodly man, and what is the property, and what is the inheritance of those who are powerful in wickedness, and what will come upon them from the all-powerful God? Then he adds the undertakings regarding the ungodly.

VERS. 14, 15. "If his children become many, they shall be for the slaughter; and if they even become men, they shall beg; and those who survive him shall die in death, and no one shall pity their widows."

He enumerates the things that are likely to happen to the ungodly; for sometimes (as he taught the friends in the matters discussed above through doubt) they prolong their happiness even until the end of life; but now he calls "slaughter" that which occurs by enemies, and "death" that which is sudden and premature; as if to say: The children of the ungodly man will not have a good end of life, but will beg for alms, and will undergo a violent and premature death; and not even a pitiable thing, widowhood, will obtain mercy here. ^B

VERS. 16, 17. "If he should gather silver as earth, and prepare gold like mud, all these things the righteous shall take, and the truthful shall possess his money."

This is also said in Proverbs, that the wealth of the ungodly is stored up for the righteous; just as the Hebrew people once inherited the property of the nations in Palestine, on account of their sins. And here he asserts that even if the ungodly man gathers money like dust or like mud, it will pass over to the innocent, and the faultless, and those who will use it rightly and for salvation. For perhaps the word "will take" (or "possess") signifies not "ownership," but that they "will use [it] for a necessary purpose." ^C

VERS. 18. "But his house shall depart like moths, and like a spider."

That is, they will be consumed by their own selves; for impiety, like rust, eats away those who are possessed of it, just as moths eat wool. And just as spider webs require no labor or trouble to be destroyed, but pass away and perish with easy effort; so too the things preserved by the ungodly mimic the fragile and easily dissolved nature of a spider's web, as if consumed by rust and the moth. ^D

VERS. 19. "The rich man shall sleep, and shall not add."

The rich man, he says, who lived an ungodly life, having slept, rose up a pauper; as if to say, he who becomes rich unjustly will enjoy prosperity for a short time, just like one who has possessed wealth in dreams, but at the very dawn is found to have nothing.

"He opened his eyes, and he is not."

^A "The wealth of the wicked is a dream," he says. For just as some poor men, having fallen asleep, have seen themselves enjoying a royal table, but what appeared to them was nothing but sleep and the deception of dreams, and when they awoke and opened their eyes they found nothing; so also it fares with the wicked man. For just as one who is happy in dreams is nonetheless a wretch—for having opened his eyes to see what he has gathered, he sees nothing; for those things are not there, but have departed and perished—so also is the enjoyment of wealth fleeting and rapid for him.

• "Pains shall meet him like water." ^B That is to say, pains enclosing and suffocating him from every side, and reaching even to his inward parts. Symmachus, instead of "pains," said "non-existence," thus calling by this name the deprivation of his possessions, from which pain is born.

• "And in the night darkness shall take him away."

• Just as, he says, the darkness of night renders everything invisible, so also the wicked man, hidden by calamity as if by night, is not seen, nor does he seem to exist.

• "And burning heat shall take him up, and he shall depart, and it shall blow him out of his place." ^C He describes the destruction and disappearance of the wicked man with various images. For he perishes, he says, like wool eaten by a moth, he is dissolved like a spider's web, he does not stand firm like the phantasms that appear in dreams, darkness takes him from sight, he departs and vanishes like one scattered by the heat and blast of the wind, and by a certain avenging power invading, snatching, and removing him from his place, he is blown away like dust by a whirlwind, and like chaff shifted by the gentle breezes of the spirit; so that this holds true in this place: "And you shall seek his place, and it shall not be found."

• "And he will cast upon him, and will not spare."

• Suddenly, he says, he will come upon the wicked man and fall upon him, like a robber; the one who punishes and exacts vengeance will not spare, inflicting upon him the things related to wrath.

• "From his hand he shall flee in flight; he shall clap his hands over them, and shall hiss him out of his place." ^D

Scripture is accustomed to portray God as an enemy when it wishes to manifest the divine impulse against the wicked. For instance, David immediately clothes Him with armor and provides him with a javelin, where he says in the psalms, "Take hold of shield and buckler," and again, "Draw out the sword, and shut [the way]," and elsewhere, "He has bent his bow, and made it ready." He does the same here, introducing God as an enemy pursuing, and the wicked one as having taken to flight.

^A [The text describes him fleeing] from an enemy, pursuing, while the wicked one flees, and the other as one who has conquered and rejoices in the victory, clapping his hands, and pulling the wicked one out of his place—that is, deturbing him from his former happiness, his dwelling, and his living. Observe, however, that the righteous man cries out to God in a manner befitting holiness: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" but the impious man flees, as if he could escape God and avoid the hand that reaches to all things; nevertheless, he is apprehended, captured, and overcome. And that which they are accustomed to do who testify to victory with a loud shout, let it come upon him—that is, the clapping of hands, the hissing, and the expulsion from his ancient dwelling.

CHAP. XXVIII

^B VERS. 1-5. "For there is a place for silver whence it is formed, and a place for gold whence it is refined. [Others, however, whence it is melted.] For iron is taken from the earth, and copper is likewise hewn like stone. [The Hebrew, however, says, 'It is melted from stones.'] He has set an order for darkness, and he himself searches out every end."

For this, Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus have interpreted it as "end," "limit," and "prescription" respectively. He wishes to say by this that he who has prescribed an order for even the most trivial things does so much more in human affairs, and that he provides for and cares for all things, and nothing happens simply or by chance. Or rather, he says this: that while other things are manifest, the divine dispensation far surpasses all conjecture and understanding; and at the same time he teaches the wisdom of the creative Word, and the harmony which he implanted in all things, fashioning them in a supernatural and wise manner, and giving an order to each one. At the same time, he also teaches how he has honored us, having adorned us with reason and rational knowledge, and that nothing has been made by him without discernment, ^C but he has assigned to each its proper place. For the gold mine does not bring forth silver, nor does the silver mine, in turn, produce gold; iron is dug from one earth, and copper is hewn from another. He said this not because there are mountains of copper, but because, when hewn according to the metallurgical art which God has granted to men, they bring forth copper and iron, for the aforementioned materials are found beneath the earth. And the darkness of night indeed yields to the approaching light, and day succeeds night in turn by divine arrangement, and there comes about a mutual assumption and subtraction of these—and, to speak a paradox, a certain equality of inequality.

"Stone, darkness, and the shadow of death, [VERS. 4] the breaking off of the torrent from the dust."

The stones, he says, which are dug up by stonemasons, lie ^D somewhere in the deep, and under the very shadow of death—as if to say, in the lowest parts of the earth and in deep obscurity; but the dust of the earth, from which iron or some other metallic matter is made through refinement, is by a torrent and...

grit ^A hidden. Or, to speak more plainly, the material that is useful for the generation of iron, for example, is very often found in waters, and the grit broken off by a mountain torrent nourishes the iron. Perhaps these words also contain another meaning, namely, that the impetus of the torrent, cutting into the earth beneath and sweeping away the unstable grit, brings into the open the stones which lie in the depths and are, as it were, fixed by their roots.

« And they who forget the just way have become weak: they have been moved from among men. »

What happens in the ravines of rivers is made an image and example of the destruction of the ungodly. Just as, he says, the grit is broken off and swept away by the torrent, so too those who are not established in what is good, nor mindful of the way that leads to virtue so as to walk ^B in it, are both weak and fall from the happiness in which they stood, and are snatched away from the sight of men.

« Earth, from it shall come forth bread, beneath it has been turned as if by fire. »

Having said that one earth produces gold, another silver, another copper, and another iron, he now adds that another type of earth is sown, and receives the seeds in its own furrows, and then, as if with fire, by its native heat dissolves what has been cast in, and through the multiplication of the seminal power inherent in it, sends forth the ear for the making of bread. But the verse can also be divided into two meanings and understood thus: that one earth is suitable for the reception of seeds, while another is sulphurous. For the phrase, « As if by fire it has been turned beneath it, » means: It so nourishes the ^C sulphur that it seems as if fire were laid under it.

« The place of sapphire are its stones, and its dust is gold. »

This earth, he says, indeed brings forth precious stones, but part of another earth, being cast out and baked in a furnace, contributes to the generation of gold.

« A path which the bird has not known, and the eye of the vulture has not seen, and the sons of the proud have not trodden it, nor has the lion passed over it. »

This, he says, the way of the metallic art, God has not granted either to vultures, which are very sharp of sight and behold from on high things that are placed in the depths, nor to the other birds; ^D nor have lions or the other great beasts (for these he calls sons of the proud) received this wisdom from God, but only man.

« He has extended his hand over the sharp rock, and has overturned mountains from their roots, and has cleft the dunes of rivers. »

Instead of « dunes, » Theodotion rendered « fortifications, » but Symmachus rendered « streams. » However, the meaning of the words according to some is that the work of God

^A a man taught by God, did not leave even the summits of the mountains untouched; but rather, laying open and breaking through very hard rocks, he called forth from there springs of water flowing with great force, and leveled certain mountains that stood high above the rest of the land. But in my opinion and according to my view, it is not in searching for springs of water that man applies his iron tool to the jagged rocks, overthrows mountains, and breaks the banks of rivers; but rather, it is that, by carefully inquiring into certain veins of gold or silver, or some other metallic material, he scrutinizes stones with excessive curiosity, digs through mountains, and searches the depths of rivers.

VERS. 10. « And his eye has seen every precious thing. » He said that man alone has become wise in such things. Since he who says these things is himself a man, he takes what is common to the human race and applies it to himself, saying that nothing held to be excellent and precious in the judgment of men has escaped my discovery and comprehension, but having searched out all things, I have seen and grasped them.

VERS. 11. « And he has uncovered the depths of rivers. » Theodotion, however, rendered it « he has searched out, » as if to say: He left nothing uninvestigated, but on account of his great and assiduous diligence, or rather the wisdom granted to him by God, even those things which remain hidden beneath the water were known to him. ^B

« And he has brought his power to light. » That is, he brought into the open and displayed clearly to all the ability and grace granted to him by God.

VERS. 12, 13. « But where has wisdom been found? [The others, however, say: For where shall it be found?] And what is the place of knowledge? Man does not know its way, nor has it been found among men. » Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus rendered it, respectively, as « order, » « intelligence, » and « value. » By « wisdom » in this place, as some maintain, he refers to the creative causes and reasons of things, by which all things were created and are governed. For this wisdom, he says, which men born of the earth cannot grasp, cannot be found in any place, as can the aforementioned materials; but specifically, so that we may at least arrive at some part of it ^C without error and by a straight path, we need God as our teacher; for perfection does not exist in this life, but « we see in a riddle »; therefore, he says, a mortal does not know its way, in the manner in which it ought to be known.

VERS. 15, 16. « It shall not be given in exchange for it, nor shall silver be weighed as its price, nor shall it be compared to the gold of Ophir. » Symmachus said « shall not be cast aside » instead of « shall not be compared »; and Aquila translated « Ophir » as « first » or « of the first rank. » Now Ophir, as has been said above, is a region of India, around which precious stones and most excellent gold are produced. Wisdom, moreover, with all ^D

^A that is found by human discourse and intellect, ^B he compares, and he shows that it is far more excellent, such that it can neither be acquired by any price, as other things are, nor can it come at all into comparison with the most precious things: for if a person were to expend all his treasures, he could not purchase it (for he calls money "that which is shut up," because we diligently shut it up and keep it in safety), nor shall anything be weighed against it as in a balance, for that is the meaning of "it shall be compared"; the finest gold shall not be equal to it, nor shall a great mass of silver be weighed against it; for he says that nothing is equal to this possession, and nothing is to be compared to wisdom.

« In precious onyx and sapphire; [VERS. 17] gold and glass shall not be compared to it. » Wisdom shall not be compared with the precious stone which is called onyx or sardonyx, nor with sapphire, nor with gold, nor with the transparent crystal, which he called glass; for because the matter of wisdom is rare and god-given, it is therefore beyond every precious material.

« And its exchange shall be golden vessels. » For which Symmachus [has rendered], "Nor shall it be exchanged for golden vessels." For these cannot be an exchange for wisdom.

VERS. 18. « Sublimia (High things) and Gabis shall not be kept in memory. » ^C *Gabis* seems to signify those things which are raised on high; for thus the part of the container which protrudes from the measure is called; and Symmachus has interpreted it thus: "High and elevated things shall not be kept in memory"; as if he were to say: Whatever things seem high and precious in the estimation of men, if they are compared with wisdom, they are not worthy even of memory.

« And draw wisdom above the inmost things. » By "inmost things" he says those goods which are kept stored away inside in treasuries; whence Aquila has rendered it thus: "Wisdom is sweet beyond things that are seen," indicating that he understood the "inmost things" as precious goods; for we do not store what is most precious in open access, but in inner and hidden recesses. "Above these," he says, "draw wisdom and hold it fast."

VERS. 19. « The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be compared to it; it shall not be equated with pure gold. » ^D Topaz is a most transparent stone. Moreover, "shall not be equated," that is, it shall not be weighed against it in a balance; for things that are weighed against one another, being placed in either scale, are carried together: or, because he who possesses this would not deign to carry it along with gold, but would carry it alone.

VERS. 20-22. « But where is wisdom found? and what is the place of intelligence? It has been hidden from every man, and has been obscured from the birds of the air. Destruction and death have said, We have heard its fame. » The metallic materials, he says, and all the things that have been enumerated, are found in certain places, but the fame of wisdom has reached even to the lower

^A regions; but wisdom itself, a divine and invisible thing, and given to men by the gift of God alone, cannot be comprehended in any place, neither by men, nor much less by the irrational nature, which is signified by the birds. Some say, however, that he is not discoursing about the same wisdom; but that above he spoke of the knowledge of beings, while here he speaks of the conduct of life according to God, which he also rightly calls understanding, inasmuch as it concerns what is to be chosen or not. This, he says, both men and the angels who fell from heaven have forgotten, whence they have been held by death and destruction suitable to their natures.

« The Lord well understood its way [Symmachus, however, understood, interpreted], and He Himself knows its place. » That is, its root, and how, and from whence it bubbles up and springs forth as a fountain.

« For He Himself beholds everything under heaven, knowing all things which are on the earth, all that He made. » He who knows all things, he says, inasmuch as He created them, He also knows the way of wisdom.

« The weighting of the winds, the measures of the waters when He made them. [For which Symmachus, *He made the water level by measure*; Aquila, *And He balanced the water in commensuration*.] Thus, seeing, He numbered, and the way for voices in the concussion. » [Symmachus, *to the noise of voices*.] What he says is of this kind: He prepared the thunders, which air when struck produces; for these he calls voices in concussion. The sense of the words taken together is this: He, seeing the voices in concussion, also numbered their way—that is, He knows the reasons, causes, progress, and motion of ^C those sounds which are stirred up by thunder.

« Then He saw it, and declared it; having prepared it, He searched it out. » For which Theodotion, *He ordained it, and searched it out*. He who made all His works with fitting measure and proportion, so that neither the winds should injure the inhabitants of the earth with immoderate violence, nor the rushing of the waters should destroy or flood the earth from excess; who, after He had fashioned the thunders not without utility, and, to speak concisely, when He had prudently prepared all things, and diligently searched them out, or rather known them, and then brought them into the midst, and had contemplated and seen that they were very good; then He also declared His wisdom to us, having set forth as it were a tablet by means of ^D the works, that from their beauty and magnitude we might comprehend the invisible things of His wisdom. But the phrase, *Having prepared it, He searched it out*, does not mean that He deliberated about His works; for God does not need prior consultation to produce a work, but at the same moment He wills, He brings it forth; but He knew what He was about to do, and all things were prepared and made permanent and searched out with all proportion, from the

^A nothing into light He brought them. But those who understand "wisdom" as piety, say that he taught politely and elegantly how one must think about God and how one must approach one’s kin.

CHAPTER XXIX. Protheoria.

After Job had spoken admirably concerning the power and wisdom of God, and had taught that wisdom is more precious than all precious things, and that he who worships God piously and lives an innocent life is wise, the friends fell silent once again, having nothing to object. Therefore, Job takes up his speech again from a different starting point, longing for the first happiness and to be under the oversight ^B of God. Since many of his friends had slandered him for impiety and injustice, he makes a catalog of his own noble deeds, speaking almost as the Apostle later said: "I have become a fool in boasting; you forced me." For even if it is written: "Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own lips," yet necessity often compels even perfect men, when they speak about themselves, to use this kind of language without any arrogance or disturbance of soul.

But God, in His providence, ordains that these things come to pass for our edification, so that having the lives of holy men as finely polished images of virtue, and gazing upon them, we may regulate our own life. He makes a tragic lament of his own circumstances so that we, set in tribulations, might look upon his sufferings and find comfort. He also teaches a most excellent dogma: that one must not remove oneself from the body, because of Him who bound it to the soul. Again, he does not count himself among the lot of the impious just because he suffers while being righteous, but he actually laments their misery, and for our instruction and benefit, he proceeds with a catalog of his own virtuous deeds.

Having said these things, Job ended his speech; and the friends were silent, for they were at a loss for a rebuttal; for they themselves were conscious that the righteous man had accomplished noble and excellent things. "For," he says, "Job was righteous before them."

"And Job, continuing, said in his prologue: Who would seat me as in the months of former days, in which God watched over me?"

He speaks of divine protection and assistance, not just of having fine children and a surplus of wealth, but that, being fortified by divine visitation and help, he had preserved righteousness with the utmost accuracy in the midst of such great splendor; therefore, as a lover of God, and longing to be covered by His protection and shield, he prays that he might recover his former state.

"As when His lamp shone above my head, when by his light I walked in darkness."

The divine law and word in the mind of Job, spoken by God, prepared him ^D

^A to tread the paths of this life as if in the light, and to perform works of virtue, like a lamp above one’s head—that is, shining from above. He says, therefore, that he was full of all human goods and safely walked the paths of piety, being illuminated by the divine light. For those who in the darkness of life’s turbulence travel by the true light, seeing the divine commandments as if they were ever-shining stars, are irradiated by them and follow their guidance.

VERS. 4. "When I was heavy with ways." Symmachus says, "As I was in the days of my youth." That is, when on all sides, like fruit-bearing trees, I was weighed down with goods, with an abundance of riches, and with actions according to the rule of piety, following every path. I was not light and unstable like the Euripus, but heavy ^B and solid in character, steadfastly pursuing what was beautiful and honorable.

"When God watched over my house." Symmachus says, "When God fenced in my tabernacle." You see that his desire was to make the visitation and providence of God manifest.

VERS. 5. "When I was very full of material, and my children were around me." That is, when God deigned to visit me, I had abundant material for prosperity, and I made my riches and my illustrious offspring the material for virtue; distributing my riches to the poor and sharing them, while rearing my children according to the divine will, so that they followed my guidance and, as if toward a center, looked ^C and turned toward me.

VERS. 6. "When my ways flowed with butter, and my mountains flowed with milk." By these he signifies the multitude of livestock that grazed everywhere, both in the mountains and in the plains; for through the butter and milk he indicated the multitude of the herds and the flocks of animals. The meaning, however, is: the ways of Job in which he walked were virtues, through which he also nourished the infants; but the mountains were his lofty and sublime thoughts.

VERS. 7. "When I went out early in the city, and my seat was set in the squares." He speaks of his previous rank and dignity, then his glory, and the fact that he devoted his efforts to the instruction and benefit of others—not as one led by self-love, but as one endowed with charity that seeks the public ^D good. For like some prince and teacher of virtue, he did not waste time in sleep and drunkenness, but as a law and example to those in the city, enflamed with love, he would sit in the squares early in the morning.

VERS. 8. "The young men saw me and hid themselves, but the old men all stood up."

VARIE LECTIONES.

^A Those who were young in age, or possessed a youthful character, revering the virtue of the Just man, would withdraw themselves and hide; but those who were older in age, or possessed the prudence of elders, would stand, and stand by, honoring the Just man and listening to his words; so reverend was he to all who were able to understand, to youths, I say, and to elders. To me, it seems he stings and strikes even his friends who insulted him with these words, showing that prior to this he had been formidable to them and honored by them.

VERS. 9. « And the powerful ceased to speak, putting their finger upon their mouth. » The wealthy, the thick, and the opulent are called 'the powerful' here; or, according to the version of others, the princes: these, yielding the power of speaking to the Just one, kept silence in his presence.

VERS. 10. « And those who heard, beatified me, and their tongue cleaved to their throat. » By these words he sets before our eyes both their silence, and their fear, and their astonishment. For those who heard, and who had ears bored to the mind to transmit the things said to the soul, praised that blessed man on account of his words full of grace, nor did they contradict him in anything; but, with their tongue as if sticking to the roof of their mouth, so that they could not move it to form and labor over words, they marveled with such astonishment at how he knew, and grasped, and spoke such highly paradoxical things, which were able to benefit his hearers.

VERS. 11. « Because the ear heard, and beatified me; and the seeing eye turned aside. » ^B Because, of course, it was not possible to gainsay him. Now Aquila and Symmachus have translated [this as]: « It bore witness concerning me. » And what did it bear witness to? That the progress of Job in wisdom was to such an exceeding degree that his hearers, unable to gaze upon the radiance of his thoughts, inclined their eyes, not following the depth of his understanding. Then, showing for what cause they beatified him, he adds:

VERS. 13. « The blessing of the perishing came upon me, [Symmachus, descended], and he blessed me with the mouth of the widow. » For which Theodotion [writes]: « And I gladdened the heart of the widow. » The sense of the verses is this: « One who was in danger, » he says, « of perishing, but did not perish because he met with my help, and the widow destitute of protection, finding me as her patron, compensated me with blessings and praises: » not that I did these things for that hope, but because by bringing aid to such persons, I expected a long old age joined with a good conscience and good hopes.

VERS. 14. « And I have put on justice, and I have clothed myself in judgment as with a cloak. » He was adorned with justice and the equity of judgment instead of any precious garment; and these indeed are the ^C Job's admirable...

^A vestments, but the garments of the impious are far different. For they put on cursing like a garment, and are covered with their confusion as with a cloak.

VERS. 16. « And the judgment which I knew not, I searched out. »

He teaches us in this place how we ought to judge, if ever we are called to arbitration for our brothers, so that we may correctly resolve their disputes. For when judging, he says, by not lending an ear to either party beforehand, nor allowing oneself to be corrupted by gifts, but by inquiring and investigating with accurate diligence, I have perceived what was just. This saying of Job, *The judgment which I knew not, I searched out*, is to be used against those who pronounce judgment rashly and pass a sentence of condemnation. You have seen a vigilant and solicitous soul; observe now also the fortitude and the diligence. ^B

VERS. 17. « And I broke the jaws of the wicked. »

Their power, he says, which had the strength to bite, I crushed and dissipated, in such a way that they were henceforth rendered unfit to inflict new injury. Therefore, it was beneficial to both: preventing and removing those [from harm], lest they suffer, and the others, lest they inflict evil, and rendering them more moderate, and fulfilling that apostolic word: *He that ruleth, with diligence*. Then, observe the intensity and the fortitude of it.

VERS. 18. « And I said : My age shall grow old like the trunk of a palm tree; I shall live a long time. » ^C

For which Symmachus says, *I said, I shall grow old with my nest; my glory shall be renewed, present with me*. These things, he says, I turned over in my mind, and I cherished that hope, that by practicing justice I would perpetually flourish and lead a long life; for this is what the palm signifies. As if he were to say: By doing such things, I hoped that until the final breath of life I would enjoy good things by the benefit of divine aid.

VERS. 19. « My root is opened by the waters, and the dew shall abide in my harvest. » ^D

He used metaphorical speech, drawing a metaphor from a plant which drinks moisture through its roots, is nourished, and produces abundant fruit from the irrigation, and brings it to maturity for the harvest. Like trees, he says, which have their roots fixed by the waters, and are planted alongside their courses, I hoped to flourish and to abound in fruit: and just as fruits irrigated by dew and rain, and having attained fullness, are reaped and gathered at the proper time; so I expected that I, growing old in good things, would exchange life with death.

VERS. 20. « My glory is vain with me. »

^A But, he says, my hope has become vain, and my affairs have been turned to the contrary.

« And my bow is directed in his hand. » This must be understood in two ways: either that the bow set against me is held, as it were, by the hand of God, and through it the shafts and darts of temptations are launched at me; or that I supposed my affairs were directed by the divine hand, and that thus all things were turning out and prospering for me according to a goal, just as an arrow sent by a skilled archer is carried straight to the mark; but I was frustrated in my hope. Having spoken these things in the midst, he returns again to the previous discourse, and, showing that he was revered and affable when speaking to all, he says:

VERS. 21, 22. « They that heard me, waited, and kept silence at my counsel; and to my word they did not add. » ^B They attended to the things that were being said, manifesting that they listened gladly; they kept silence, because they had nothing to oppose or contradict. And they did not add, considering my words as law, and a rule, and a plumb line; and for this reason, being able neither to add anything to them nor to take anything away, they were all thus overcome by my reasoning; for my heart was held, like a bow, by the divine hand, and for this reason it did not miss the right mark of thoughts.

« And they were over-joyful when I spoke; as the parched earth receiving rain, so these [received] my speech. » For his words were fruitful, and possessed an active power in the souls of the hearers; for he first performed, then taught. And there is praise for the speaker, when he has words that are put into action; and for the hearer, when he listens with thirst and longing.

« If I laughed at them, they did not believe. » ^C But Symmachus [says]: « I smiled upon them, but they did not believe. » But why did they not believe? Because of the gravity of [his] character, thinking the matter to be a test. In these [words] he sketched the character of a teacher; for it is fitting that a divine teacher be so grave in manners that, [even] when he smiles and speaks with charm, he is not believed.

« And the light of my face did not fall. » ^D But also divine grace, he says, shone from my face, revealing the beauty of the peace that was in my soul through my cheeks. Or he also says this, that none of my words was dark and lightless, but all were filled with light, and whitened by clarity; for the face of teachers is their teaching; for words are images of souls, and through the character of the speech we recognize the father of the speech, no less than we recognize parents from the form of their children. Perhaps, however, since he showed his own gravity and his tendency to rebuke the wicked—and such people are accustomed to be somber and to abstain from laughter—for this reason he added...

^A *The cheerfulness of my countenance did not fall, but my brightness was, as it were, joined with gravity.*

VERS. 25. *I chose their way, and sat as chief; and I dwelt as a king in the army.*

Symmachus truly, for that, *I chose their way*, translated: *If I had determined to go to them*; and for that, *in the army*, he interpreted: *in the host*. But the sense here is: I, he says, wished to appear as one of their number, and I proceeded toward them as one of the many; but they chose me as their chief. For I did not seize leadership over them by force, nor tyrannically; but because, after making a choice, I explained to them what was useful, and pointed out the way of virtue, they proclaimed me their chief, and thus submitted to me, just as soldiers to an emperor; ^B so as to say: Even strangers and guests treated me with royal honor. Those who are "girded" (*accincti*) are called soldiers who excel others in honor, and who wear a different belt from others: or those who are contained by no order, and are as it were robbers.

VERS. 25. *As one comforting the sad.*

But also, he says, those who were laboring under perturbations of soul or of body, I comforted and refreshed with words and deeds. But Symmachus, perhaps hinting at something else, rendered it: *As he who is the leader of the journey leads them away.* I was exhorting them, namely, and gently and placidly urging them with instructions toward the things which were to be done, as if carrying them on my shoulders, and favoring their weakness, just as a man who shows the way to miserable and ^C sickly people. For those who are not well disposed in soul, but are corrupt and labor under the odious disease of vice, need no less provident care and appropriate handling than those who are sick in body.

CHAP. XXX

VERS. 1. *But now the least have derided me.*

Theodotian and Aquila, the one translated: *Younger than I in days*; the other: *Short before me in days*. But it is a grave and bitter thing for an old man, who had formerly reminded many of their duty, to be reminded by those younger in age.

*Now they admonish me in part, whose parents I despised; whom I did not deem worthy of the dogs of my flocks.*

The others, however: *With the dogs of my sheep.* But that which is indicated by the words is this: My affairs, he says, formerly proceeded rightly, and to me speaking, all would rise, and they were subjected as to a king: but now, such a change has come to pass regarding me, that those who—on account of poverty, ignobility of birth, and younger age—were least and vile, and on account of wickedness were altogether useless and of no account, should admonish me in certain things; for it was not right, as it seems, for me to always admonish someone else, but it was proper for me also to be instructed in certain things, so that by this reason I might receive as it were the reward of the instruction given to others.

^A That he does not deign to compare them even to dogs is not a word of arrogance, but a proof of their utter worthlessness; as if to say, If I were to weigh my own honor and dignity in my mind, I would not have deemed worthy even of a glance the fathers of those who now mock me, who did not have as much abundance as the dogs of my flock.

« And indeed, why should the strength of their hands be to me? » That is, I never had need of their help, such that for that reason they should use such words toward me.

« Upon them has perished the fulfillment. » ^B Or he signifies this, that they had long owed penalties for their wickedness, but the punishment had somehow flown away from them; or that, desiring death on account of their extreme poverty, they did not even obtain this; or that they never performed any good. I, however, agreeing with the interpretation of Symmachus, who rendered it: *Perished for them all that makes for life*, understand by "fulfillment" all things that contribute to life, of which those who were making a hostile attack upon Job were in need. For, "Upon them has perished the fulfillment," that is, the abundance of such things as contribute to life; and this is manifest from what follows, for he adds:

« In want and famine, barren. » ^C What he says is of this kind: Each of them was so barren, that is, destitute and having no yield of fruits, so that they were very needy and were starving. Or, "barren," instead of saying that they could neither discover nor invent any way of making a living.

« Who fled yesterday from inaqueous straits and misery. » Those who yesterday, he says, and but lately were in straits and misery, and had abandoned their motherland as if it were parched, uncultivated, and desolate. He seems, moreover, to cast a slur upon them as being base-born, stemming from obscure places and needy parents. But the blessed man recounts these things so that, if we too are insulted by certain mean and dishonorable men, we may not be indignant as if we alone were suffering this, inasmuch as he who stood out as so great in virtue, and so great in the abundance of his possessions and splendor, is recorded as having suffered the same as we, or even worse. ^D

« Who were wandering about for *alima* in a resonant place. » But Symmachus [says], *Who were plucking the barks of plants*. *Alima* is a certain herb, as they say, which quickly fills the one who eats it and brings satiety. In the "resonant" [place], that is, in ravines and rocky places; for such places are sonorous and vocal, and they echo and respond to those who speak. Or, he calls "resonant" a woody place, in which the breath of the winds, shaking the forest, produces a sound. He says, therefore, that these men were wandering about the forests, the ravines, and the places by which flowing waters...

emit a sound and murmur, searching out herbs and gnawing at the roots of trees for some solace of food.

• "Whose food was naught; ^A they were dishonored and abject, lacking every good, who even gnawed upon roots of wood because of great hunger." [But Symmachus: "And the root of wild trees was their food."]

Both things bear witness against them: extreme poverty, and the greatest wickedness. The former is in the fact that it says, "They fed upon the bark of trees and roots," and the latter in his calling them "lacking every good," unless one wishes to understand "good" in this place as referring to food. For the fact that men of this sort experienced such poverty was another trouble and misery.

Verses 5-8. "Thieves have risen up ^B against me, whose homes were the caverns of rocks; they were shouting among the sonorous." [But Symmachus: "Among the sonorous wild plants they cry out something famished";] "who remained under wild brush, sons of fools and base men: their name and glory have been extinguished from the earth."

These men, he says, even took to robbery, having the hollows of the rocks for homes, dwelling in the deserts, and remaining hidden under dry brushwood so as to avoid being seen by passers-by; being foolish from fools, dishonored from the dishonored, obscure and inglorious upon the earth.

Verses 9. "But now I am their harp, and they have me as a fable."

I have become a song, he says, and a mocking tune to them, and they keep my calamities in their mouths instead of any other conversation. You see what things cause him the greatest pain: the fact that he was held in mockery by such people, to their own destruction.

Verses 10. "And they looked upon me with abhorrence, departing far away; and they did not spare to spit into my face."

After they have approached, he says, and defiled my mouth with spittle, deeming me a thing of abhorrence and loathing, they depart far away.

Verses 11. "For having opened his quiver, he afflicted me; and they cast off the bridle of my face." ^D

In this point, too, the just man strikes and wounds the devil, by saying that he can do nothing against him, but rather it is God who has brought these blows upon him. He says that he "cast off a bridle," as if binding my face, as if to say: while all are reproaching me with calamities as proof of my impiety, he has stopped my mouth and taken away my freedom of speech.

Verses 12. "Upon the right [hand] of the ^C shoot they have risen up."

^A Or he says this, that "they have attacked me, who once flourished in prosperity," or that "they have trampled upon my good works and my righteous acts, saying that I did not pursue piety with a pure mind."

"They have extended their foot, and have made the paths of their destruction for me."

Since God has excited Himself against me, he says, they also found a way of approach, He having permitted it and, as it were, having cut out a path for their attack upon me. Aquila, however, for "destruction," rendered "inundation," as if to say: Against the impulse and ferocity of the crowd, which [assails me] with the petulance of the tongue and with insults, like water that is carried along by a violent tide and cannot be restrained, God has smoothed out the way as if paving it.

"My paths have been destroyed, for they have stripped me of my robe."

God having stripped me of the garment of beauty and decorum—that is, having withheld His aid—all the paths of my prosperity have vanished.

"He has struck me with His darts; [Verse 14] and He has judged me as He wills." ^B

By these words, he shows the intensity of the examination and the torture. And the phrase "as He wills" is as if he would say: "I do not know the cause."

"In pains I am macerated, my pains return upon me; my hope has departed like a spirit, and my salvation like a cloud."

"I am encircled," he says, "by disasters, and I am embroiled in painful things, and my pains are renewed"—that is, I feel pains again with recurring force, or with intensification and increase—"and every better hope of mine has flown away like a wind that has passed, or like a cloud that has dissolved," or, according to Symmachus, "my desires." ^C

"And now my soul shall be poured out upon me, and the days of pains possess me; and by night my bones are confounded, and my nerves are dissolved."

"My soul shall be poured out"—that is, it is confounded—as if to say: I am in doubt and suspended in mind, since I can neither pronounce God unjust nor am I conscious of any absurdity in myself, yet I struggle with pains both day and night, so that from the exceeding intensity of the pain and the vehemence of the sufferings that press upon and burn me, my bones are, as it were, roasted in a pan, and the powers of my soul and my nerves are dissolved. ^D

"In great power He has taken hold of my robe, and has encircled me as the collar of my tunic."

The expression is metaphorical, for those who tighten the collar of a garment around someone's neck suffocate and strangle him. He says, therefore, that having laid hold of me mightily, He presses and chokes me, like the narrow neck of a tunic that squeezes and constricts the throat.

"And You have accounted me like clay, and I am in earth and ashes."

^A

He laments his lot before God as a son before a parent, and brings forward the vileness of his nature as a plea. Consider, O Lord, he says, that I am earth, and to earth I am to be resolved, and do not turn away from my supplication. That expression, "You do not hear me," shows an exceptional and singular love toward God; for he speaks as one who believes that he is being heard. In my judgment, Job, in saying "You have accounted me like clay," and what follows, is not bringing forward the vileness of his nature, but, as if powerfully moved in his soul, he says that he is contemptible like clay, that he is held in no estimation, and that his lot before God is counted not among precious things, but among the vilest things—namely, in ash and dust, which are trodden underfoot—and that for this reason he is not heard.

"They stood and looked at me," either mocking me or admiring the magnitude of my calamity.

VERS. 21, 22. "They have insulted me mercilessly: with a powerful hand You have scourged me, and You have set me in pains, and have cast me away from salvation."

The great and ineffable mercy of God is known to the saints, just as David asks that mercy be shown to him; and Job also, looking toward this, says to God, "You have insulted me mercilessly." For if I were experiencing Your great mercy, I would not be struggling with my present calamities. These words, therefore, are not those of one resisting with stubborn pride, nor of one bearing them impatiently, but of one suppliantly beseeching and imploring mercy. ^B

VERS. 23, 24. "For I know that death will wear me down; for the house of every mortal is the earth. And would that I could lay hands on myself, or ask another, and he would do this for me!"

I know, he says, that since I have become mortal, I must absolutely die; for the earth, prepared and dug for burial, is the house of every man. Wherefore I would gladly, with no delay intervening, either by laying hands on myself—if that were permitted without sin—or by soliciting another with prayers for my slaughter, deliver myself from these calamities. And would that this were permitted to me! I certainly would have done it; but now I cannot, for it is forbidden for anyone to bring death upon himself. You see that he says "that I could" not because of weakness, but because of the prohibition; for it is impious and wicked to take one's own life. ^C From these things, therefore, both the heaviness of the plague was shown, and a cautious and provident circumspection was maintained, that he should not plot against himself; for those who bring violent death upon themselves are to be judged as guilty of homicide.

VERS. 25, 26. "But I wept over every helpless one; I groaned when I saw a man in straits. But I was clinging to good things, and lo, days of evil have overtaken me." ^D

^A After having enumerated many things done by him in an excellent manner, and how he accommodated himself to the variety of those who were laboring under infirmity—consoling those who were oppressed by indigence with the provision of necessities, assisting those who were suffering injustice, and healing the infirm according to his ability—because he further saw some suffering from incurable diseases, and such as exceeded all human aid, in order to show that his affect of sorrow and compassion extended even to these, he says: "In instances where I could not provide assistance, and the effect and happy outcome had to be hoped for from the hand of God alone, I sympathized, I mourned, I groaned, and I contributed similar things to those who were afflicted, although I myself was clinging to good things," that is, was in prosperity. It is as if he were saying: "Not indulging in delicacies and pleasures, nor fascinated and deceived by riches, did I pass by those who were in calamities with neglect; but preferring their miseries to the goods which I had in my hands, I do not find equal compassion; for now that I am afflicted with evils, being established in straits, I have no one to sympathize with me." ^B

VERS. 27. "My interior has boiled, and will not be silent."

That is, a flame burns my vitals, and I am unable to maintain silence; for the excess of my pains compels me to cry out and wail, and does not permit me, even if I wish, to be silent. He adds the cause for why he lamentably portrays his calamities and recounts his own noble deeds, because his soul—which he calls the "interior"—was filled with evils. *To effervesce* is for water heated by fire to boil and make a noise; so to me, he says, my heart burns and seethes within, and I cannot keep silence. Symmachus, indeed, for that which is "will not be silent," by saying "it has not ceased," ^C requires of us another acceptance and interpretation of the phrase, namely, that the pain is perpetual and uninterrupted; for since it was likely that a boiling soul would be able to return to a calm state, in order to show that the heat and fervor of his heart has persisted, he added that "it has not ceased."

"Days of poverty have anticipated me; I went about groaning without a rein, and I stood in the assembly crying out." [VERS. 28]

He assigns the cause why the heat of his heart did not cease. Poverty, he says, the most extreme, has overtaken me, therefore I groan without a rein—that is, I cannot restrain with patience, as it were with a bridle, the intensity and frequency of my groaning; but uncontrollably, unrestrainedly, and altogether unbridled, I groan, not feeling shame even before a multitude of the assembly, but crying out even when many are standing around. ^D

VERS. 29. "I have become a brother of sirens, and a companion of ostriches."

He calls sirens certain singing birds, halcyons, or owls; for both are plaintive. But by ostriches, he means the struthiocameli, as also Symmachus rendered it.

^A For they are desert animals. He says these things, as one lying outside the city in the open air, I fell into the lamentation of the birds, I forgot my own nature, I am in no way better off than they.

VER. 30. ‹And my skin has been darkened greatly.› The others say, "has been blackened in the deep." But he has suffered this, not so much from the sun, as from the disease and the wound; for putrefied flesh grows black.

‹And my bones from the heat.› For sitting on a dunghill in the open air, he was scorched by the heat of the day, and even more by the unnatural heat and boiling from the wound.

VER. 31. ‹And my lyre has been turned into mourning, and my psalm into weeping for me.› The things that brought me joy have been turned into mourning. He says these things to provoke and entice God to mercy. Then again, he enumerates and recounts the deeds he has performed excellently.

CHAPTER XXXI.

VER. 2. ‹And what portion has God allotted from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from the highest?› Why, he says, has the powerful and most high God allotted to me such a portion and such an inheritance after so accurate and exquisite a conduct of my life? I know not the reasons. For no one can say, he says, that I am suffering this punishment (God applying a medicine suitable and appropriate for me) because I abused the riches and goods which I previously enjoyed for sloth, play, and effeminacy; for with good reason, having been placed in the opposite lot, a man who has given himself over to laughter, play, and luxury ought to be given over to a bitter and mournful life. But for what reason should one who, in the past course of his life, avoided revelries and cast away from himself the jocular and those who move others to laughter, fall into a sad and gloomy life?

VER. 3. ‹Woe, destruction to the unjust, and alienation to those who work iniquity.› Job thought that he was not suffering adversities on account of sins; and his opinion was true, for it was a testing of virtue, not a retribution for evils. However, he does not for this reason join himself to the lot of the impious; rather, he laments them, adding "woe" to them, and alienation from God. Perhaps this verse also has a connection with the preceding one; for he had said, "What did God allot?" implying that he suffers contrary to what he deserves, and that pains, troubles, groans, and poverty were not wages owed to virtue; ^D whence he adds that to the lawless, both woe and destruction and being alienated, and as it were being cast away, is what is fitting.

VER. 4. ‹Will he not himself see my way, and count all my steps?› For indeed God has ignored nothing regarding me,

[VARIAE LECTIONES. * i.e. lovers of laughter.]

^A nor even the mere impulses; how then He struck me, I say, I know not. For one cannot say that I fled from sloth, and dissipation, and this fluid life, because I was callous and fixed upon the vices pertaining to that life—I mean wickedness, and I declined deceit—but rather I have stood far distant from both kinds of wickedness alike.

‹If I have walked with mockers.› ^B Symmachus, *with vanity*. That is to say, I did not even pursue these associations, those of buffoons. And note that he calls it a sin to be with mockers; wherefore the divine Apostle also exhorts us to remove scurrility from among us, so that not even witty remarks are to be admitted.

‹And if my foot has hastened to deceit.› The foot, that is, of the soul. He says that I never moved to use deceit against anyone.

‹For I shall stand in a just balance.› ^C And Aquila, *He shall weigh me in a just balance*; that he might say, I have stood in the good and in the mean of virtue, fleeing the deviations toward either side, and inclining neither to excess nor to deficiency, but honoring equality. According to Aquila, *He shall weigh me*, clearly meaning God; for the righteous man is inclined to attribute his own virtue to God.

‹But the Lord knows my innocence.› Of these things, he says, I call as witness not a man, who can show favor, and who also is ignorant of many things; but rather Him who understands even secrets with accuracy, who has also weighed my righteousness, and knows my innocence. These things divine Scripture also testified concerning Job, that he was innocent, just, and God-fearing.

‹If my foot has turned from the way.› Of piety and virtue, clearly: which is what he said, *I have stood in a just balance, and have not turned from the straight path*. Still, this is a small thing, albeit great in those times, and perhaps even in our own; for to not even covet is great; and this is no less, to have received the cupidity but not to have added the action; ^D but proceeding in his discourse, he mentions something even greater than this, that not even his eyes suffered such a thing; for he adds:

‹And if my heart has followed my eye.› That is, I did not covet what I saw, nor was I affected by them with passion. He did not say, *my eye*, but, *not even my heart*. I did not allow even my mind, he says, to be corrupted at any time, much less the body. The divine John says that *all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life*. Job says, therefore, that never...

having paid attention, and praised, did he desire. ^A

Or if I have touched gifts with my hands; [VERS. 8] then let me sow, and let others eat, and let me be without root upon the earth.

Symmachus says more clearly: *And my descendants may be rooted out.* Job cannot say these things now, being poor and bereaved of his children. What therefore must be said? That he said these things before the calamity? Or that, as a just man, he was again hoping in some way for prosperity? By divine dispensation, he was moved to speak thus for our instruction, so that we, as we read, might call down curses upon ourselves, saying: "If we have accepted gifts, if we have done this, may we suffer such things!" ^B

VERS. 9, 10. If my heart has followed the wife of another man, or if I have lain in wait at her doors; may my wife also please another, and may my children be humbled.

The others, instead of *obsedi*, said *insidiatus sum* (I have laid an ambush). Since *concupiscence, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin*, he says that he was rooting out concupiscence itself from his heart so that no way might be opened for sin. As for the phrase, *Let my wife also please another*, he speaks for the sake of equality and the law of retaliation: I kept counseling myself, he says, before the calamity, that if I were feeling ill-disposed toward another, I should fall into the same things I desired for him, and receive back what I had perpetrated. That these things refer to the time before his illness is evident from what he says: *And my ^C children be humbled*; for his children were already dead. But how are children humbled? It is evident, clearly, by being called the offspring of an adulterous mother, and therefore hiding themselves; for a child is enslaved when he looks upon the shame of his mother.

VERS. 11. For the untamed fury of wrath defiles a man's wife.

For adultery, he says, kindles the wrath of God and brings inevitable punishment upon the one who has committed it. But in this place, he does not mean the punishment that will be hereafter so much as the jealousy of the husband, which is wont to happen in this life, and which Solomon in Proverbs ^D hints at, saying that a man who has been wronged in his wife, whose marriage bed another has defiled, cannot be persuaded to dissolve his enmity, not even with gifts. The things that follow immediately also make this manifest.

VERS. 12. For it is a fire burning upon all parts.

^A This is a detestable wickedness, this is total iniquity. For he who violates another man's bed kindles a great flame of evils; he injures the husband, defiles the wife, renders the children suspect and illegitimate, fights against Providence, severs the bond of affection, and plots against the husband. Such is the swarm of evils that springs from unbridled adultery. « Wheresoever it enters, it destroys from the roots. » I knew, he says, the magnitude of the iniquity; for the house into which this passion enters, it uproots. You have seen his temperance; see also his humility, and consider diligently how great it was. ^B VERS. 13. « Quod si et despexi judicium famuli mei, aut ancillae, cum ipsi litigarent mecum. Quid enim faciam, si inquisitionem mei faciat Dominus? Quod si et visitationem aliquam, responsum dabo? Nonne sicut ego factus sum in utero, et illi facti sunt? facti autem sumus in eodem ventre. » You have seen a contrite mind, one that has accurately examined the nature of men, and has perfectly understood what a slave is and what a free man is, a matter frequently discussed by many. Seeking, therefore, to cast aside this inequality, he introduces a sermon on philosophy and fairness of mind, based upon that equal dignity commonly observed in birth. And what is truly admirable in him is that, while doing these things, he did not believe he was exercising humility, but rather fulfilling a duty. Therefore, he provides a rationale intended to persuade all people not to think of themselves as more than their servants, even if they were masters a thousand times over; for these names, "slave" and "free," are mere empty titles, devoid of reality; for servitude ^C consists in sin, while freedom is defined by justice. Observe, however, how he cuts short his own praises everywhere, and diminishes his noble deeds. "I have done nothing great," he says; "nature itself requires this of me; we are bound to others by the bond of communion; for all there is the same generation, the same entry into life, all things are common; I am not, by nature, more noble or more worthy of veneration than they." "We were made in the same womb," that is, according to Symmachus, in the same manner; and therefore, neither slave nor free man has been injured by me. And I even gave my servants the freedom to contend with me in judgment if they suspected that anything unjust was being done to them by me; and I did not despise, or, according to Aquila, discard, or ^D hold in contempt their judgment—that is, the defense of their cause. And I was moved to act in this way by nature itself, reflecting within myself that all men, whether slaves or masters, have one principle of generation and one Lord in heaven, who, since He is no respecter of persons, requires each one to show himself equal to his neighbor. If He should then conduct an examination, or, according to Symmachus, if He should inquire, what shall I answer Him? For he calls the examination "scrutiny," and divine visitation he calls "reproofs." Moved by this equality, he desired to be judged by God, trusting in His righteous judgment. You have seen his other equality and his wonderful justice; see, too, his sympathy and his love for the poor.

^A [Ver. 16. And I did not cause the eye of the widow to pine away.]

The Psalmist remembers God in the Psalms as the "Father of orphans and judge of the widows" (Ps. LXVII, 6). And elsewhere: "You were a helper to the orphan" (Ps. IX, 31). Therefore, Job, as one who preserves the image intact and unblemished, imitated the archetype. Now, the phrase "I did not cause to pine away" implies that I did not allow them, through poverty, or through tears, or through constant staring without any result, and with contempt, to be caused to pine away or be overlooked.

Ver. 17. But if I ate my morsel alone, and did not share it with the orphan: for from my youth I nurtured him as a father, and from my mother’s womb I was a guide to them.

Observe the abundance of his mercy, in that he distributed even a morsel of bread to the needy. The phrase, "I was a guide from the womb," is as if to say: receiving infants orphaned of their parents, while they were still very tender, I nurtured them until they grew up, and I reared them, and trained them in arts, until they were not in great need of my assistance, leading them by the hand until that time. You will understand, too, that even before they were touched by vice, he guided the youths to virtue; for thus will the words "I was a guide from the womb" be true. ^B And we must note what we said above, that to refrain from doing good is classed with doing harm; and one must not only abstain from vice, but also hold fast to virtue. For he did not only say, "I did not do harm to the orphans"—which is an abstaining from evil—but that I took upon myself their care after the manner of a father, which is the taking up of the good.

Ver. 19, 20. Or if I despised the naked perishing, and did not clothe him; and if the powerless did not bless me.

Not only, he says, did I feed the needy, but I also clothed the naked, and those who were in danger of perishing from the cold. And I received the favorable acclamation and blessing of the powerless, whose proper care I undertook.

[Ver. 20. And their shoulders were warmed from the shearing of my lambs.]

By the shoulders he signified the whole body, for the whole garment hangs from them; and the shoulders also seem to be somewhat more easily affected by the cold, and for this reason he mentioned them. ^C And showing the earnestness and the labor involved in his beneficence, and that he did not perform it incidentally or perfunctorily, he said that the garments of the naked were fashioned from the wool of his own flocks, so that their whole body might be warmed.

Ver. 21, 22. If I raised my hand against the orphan [Symmachus, however, says, "against the orphans"], trusting that there was much help for me, let my shoulder fall away from the collarbone, and my arm be broken from the elbow.

^A He calls the juncture of the shoulder with the neck the "collarbone." Theodotion and Symmachus, however, in place of the collarbone, have interpreted it—the one as the "neck," the other as the "extremity of the shoulder blades." If therefore, he says, I have laid violent hands on an orphan, trusting in the power I possessed, let the hand that dared this crime fall away from the juncture of the neck.

VERS. 23. "For the fear of the Lord restrained me, and because of his weight I could not endure."

These things, he says, I did, being restrained by divine fear, reflecting that if God were to lay hold of me as one acting unjustly or not doing good, I would undergo an insufferable punishment. Symmachus, instead of "constraint" (prehensione), rendered it "weight."

VERS. 24, 25. "If I have set gold as my refuge [but Symmachus: my confidence], if I have trusted in a precious stone, or if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great."

Therefore, when his riches were taken away, he bore it with great equanimity; and when they were present, he practiced abundant mercy (for he pursued every virtue); and he who was surrounded by such an abundance of things was more just and orderly in his affections than those who possessed nothing, for he who had nothing was not as detached from riches in spirit as he who possessed so much—for it is the mind that is crowned everywhere and in all things.

VERS. 26. "Do we not see the sun which was shining, failing, and the moon waning? For it is not in them."

Job pondered these things ^C within himself: I reasoned, he says, that if these great and splendid luminaries fail according to divine command, what profit will it be to me if I should become very wealthy? For riches must by all means depart from us, either by the wealth itself abandoning us while we are still living, or by us changing our life for death. For just as the sun suffers eclipse, and night succeeds day, and the moon ceases to shine according to divine command, and simply put, these great luminaries are subject to corruptions and changes and are led by the nod of the Creator (for they are not of their own will, but obey the command of Him who ordered them); so also have I thought concerning wealth, as a ^D transient thing, and I have been instructed not to set my mind upon its uncertainty, but to spend it as is fitting.

VERS. 27. "And if my heart has been led astray in secret."

Symmachus, however, has: "it has been dilated." The sense is this: Neither did my heart, he says, fashion for itself broadness and an abundance of wealth, and the pleasure flowing from it, nor did my soul let loose the reins for such a desire. By the word "in secret," he seems to signify that not even by a sudden impulse of the mind has such a thing happened to him. Or, since many pretend the contempt of riches in public, while in secret they nourish and hide the love of them in their mind.

and for this reason he said, "I did not carry this absurd and vicious passion even in secret."

VERS. 27, 28. "If I have kissed my hand, placing it to my mouth. [Symmachus indeed, And my hand worshipped around my mouth.] And let this therefore be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity, because I have lied against the Lord Most High." ^B Many people, when extolling their own actions, kiss their own hand. He says, therefore: If I have placed my confidence in my own power and in my own actions, and not in God, I have lied against the truth; for our help does not come from ourselves, but flows from divine grace. If, therefore, I have suffered such a thing being deceived, let it be reckoned to me as a great iniquity. Others, however, explained the passage in this way: If, he says, I worshipped the sun and the moon, being deceived by their splendor, and did not consider that they also fail and obey the commands of the Lord, but out of admiration for them I kissed my hand, let it be ascribed to me as a great sin. And in this way some think this is said regarding idolatry; but I am not persuaded, for he would not have placed this among his chief and most eminent actions. But to me it seems to be such a thing as they are wont to suffer who are affectionately disposed—namely, that when those whom they love are absent, they kiss their own hands with their mouths, or in regard to wealth, or in regard to things they might admire.

VERS. 29, 30. "If I have even rejoiced over the ruin of my enemies, and my heart said, Euge [Well done]; let my ear hear my curse, and let me be talked about by my people while suffering." We are taught this also elsewhere: "If your enemy falls, do not rejoice over him, and at his subversion do not be puffed up." Symmachus, indeed, for "Euge," rendered: "And I rose up when affliction seized him." "Euge," however, is an exclamation of one insulting and mocking, according to the passage: "Euge, euge, our eyes have seen." But I, he says, if I ever rejoiced at the ruin of my enemies, may I myself also hear others cursing me, and, afflicted by troubles, let me be spoken of by all, as though paying the earned penalties for what I have done.

VERS. 31, 32. "If my handmaidens have not often said, Who would give us to be filled with his flesh? when I was very good." The others have rendered it thus: "If the men of my tabernacle have not often said, Who would give us of his flesh, and we shall be filled?" so that the one is an indication of inhuman cruelty, and the other of a certain helpless and insatiable love. And above he also mentioned his servants, when he said: "I did not despise the judgment of my servant or maidservant"; and he added the reason: "For just as they were made, so was I made," and he showed his own unsurpassable humility.

^A Others have interpreted it thus: "Nor have I been burdensome," he says, "to my maidservants, so that, embittered by my cruelty, they would desire to taste my flesh; rather, on the contrary, I showed myself very kind to them." But the second interpretation, according to the version of the Seventy, pleases me, for they translated: "If my maidservants have spoken." According to the edition of the others, however, which reads: "If they have not spoken," the former explanation is this: "May such things," he says, "befall me, if my maidservants have spoken in anger against me: let us share him among us, and let us consume his flesh. But since I was very clement and kind to them, they did not say this; on the contrary, if they were not burning with the desire of fervent love, they said, 'Let us devour him,' [imploring] that the imprecations against him might prevail, and reach their certain effect, by their prayers."

VERS. 33, 34. "If, moreover, while I did not sin voluntarily, I hid my sin; for I did not fear the great multitude, so as not to confess before them." He was conscious of no voluntary transgression, so accurately did he pursue the path of virtue. But since it was impossible for a human being not to fall into a fault even against his will, he remedied the sin once known by repentance and confession, not blushing to declare what had been done contrary to right reason.

"Or if I have allowed the weary to leave my door with an empty bosom; [VERS. 35] who will grant me a listener?" Perhaps he seems to seek prudent listeners, who could grasp what was said by him, through which the perfection of his conduct ^B was demonstrated; for he did not say these things while acting haughtily regarding his own achievements, but was leaving us an example of how one ought to live, the Holy Spirit having arranged for them to be written down for our instruction.

"And if I did not fear the hand of the Lord." That is, I also followed the things pertaining to God with reverence; and I did not do these things simply and negligently, but, looking toward God and struck with fear lest I might commit anything that was not fitting.

"If I had a bond against anyone, I would treat it as a crown, placing it upon my shoulders, and I would read it, and if I did not return it having torn it up, receiving nothing from the debtor." "Every unjust bond," he says, "I tore to pieces, and I did not adorn myself with it, but I rent it asunder." But the phrase, "placing it upon my shoulders," hints at those who boast in the misfortunes of others. And he did not simply return it, but first made it weak and invalid by tearing it; for when he had torn it and broken it into pieces, thus he returned it. For not like one who proudly boasts of loans did he read the bonds publicly, holding them with both hands, but, tearing them apart and forgiving the debts, he handed them over to the debtors.

^A VERS. 38. « If my land ever groaned against me, or if its furrows have wept together. » The statement is incomplete and suspended; you will find the sense of the thought given in what follows. He says: "May these things happen to me, and may I suffer such things, if for my sake the land was made to groan by its master, or if the furrows were made to weep by those who cut and plowed them; for I have neither seized the possessions of anyone, so that they should groan, nor have I joined furrows to my own and added them to my own furrows, so as to cause those who were deprived [of them] to mourn; but not even has anyone worked and cut my own land and my own furrows without payment, so that, cheated of the price of his labor, they should have cause for groaning and weeping."

VERS. 39. « Or if I have consumed its strength alone without payment. » The strength of the land is the procreation of fruits and the yield of the seasons. He shows that he never gathered the fruits of the land without first paying money for them; for he could not bear to eat the fruit of another’s land without silver. Perhaps he indicates two things here: that he paid the price for the fruits, and that he did not eat them alone, but shared the food with those in need.

« Or if I have grieved the soul of the owner of the land. » Symmachus on the other hand says, "I have deprived of hope," as one who by force and power seizes something from the owner of the land.

^C VERS. 40. « Let a nettle sprout for me instead of wheat, and a thorn instead of barley. » Theodotian and Symmachus, the former rendered "thorn" instead of "nettle"; whereas the latter rendered "imperfect and useless growths" instead of "thorn." Now the nettle and the thorn are spiny plants; he says, therefore: "If there is no truth in what I have said, and if, indeed, by taking away land ^D I have grieved its master, or if, by cutting off furrows, I have added them to my own small field, and have caused him from whom they were snatched to groan and wail, or if I have plundered the fruits for free, or even if, having paid the price, I have gorged myself on them alone, may I never again see a harvest, and may the land itself bring forth for me useless thorns instead of cultivated and nourishing fruits." Symmachus, however, rendered it thus: "Let a thorn sprout instead of wheat," and in the books of Kings I read of a plant that is called "acanus." If, therefore, he says, I have committed any of the things I have enumerated and denied—either by taking away another’s land, or by pulling fruits without silver, or by committing anything similar against right and law—may the land not bear for me the fruits that are customary and with which I might be sustained, but rather wild things that no one can eat.

« And Job ceased from these words. »

^A He did not cease completely, but only from his words; for his heart, meditating on divine things, did not cease. He knew indeed that there is a time for every matter under heaven, a time to be silent and a time to speak. When it was the time to answer, he spoke to the three; when it was the time for silence, having first stopped their mouths, he held his peace. And I think that "Job ceased" is said in his praise.

CHAP. XXXII.

his friends, affirmed that he suffered because of sins; which indeed was the reason why they were rebuked by God.

^A VERS. 1. *Cessaverunt autem et tres amici ejus ultra contradicere Job; erat enim Job justus coram eis.* Symmachus, however, says: "In that he appeared righteous before them." Job was silent, having granted them leave to speak; but after he had invoked God as his witness and had pronounced curses upon himself, the mouths of his friends were stopped. They did not fall silent of their own accord and out of their own free will, but because every defense for their own cause had been snatched away, and they could not reply to what was said; for they were witnesses and conscious of the things done well by the righteous man, and knew that he pursued evil with hatred by his own intent, and followed what was good with sincere affection. For Job, in that he observed equity toward men and religious worship toward God with the greatest humility—which, besides countless other things, his confession of sins clearly shows—had been testified to most absolutely.

^B VERS. 2. *Iratus est autem Elius, filius Barachiel, Buzites, de cognatione Ram, Ausitidis regionis.* Elihu is called a Buzite, either from the kinship of Buz, from whence also Ram drew his origin, or from some city in the land of Ausitis. We find in the Scriptures that Nahor, the brother of Abraham, begat Buz as his second son by Milcah; from him, therefore, Elihu perhaps drew his lineage, and for that reason is called a Buzite. *Iratus est autem in Job valde, eo quod pronuntiaverat seipsum justum coram Domino.* Elihu was indeed moved by what he thought was a just cause; for he was not angry that Job affirmed himself to be righteous—as he was himself conscious of this—but because he did so before the Lord and invoked Him as a witness; or because, by entering into judgment with God, he was defending the equity of his own cause. For while it is no great thing to justify oneself, it is absurd and impious to do so as if litigating with God. "Do not," he says, "justify yourself before the Lord." And his friends, too, were angry for this very reason, and said: "Shall a mortal be just before the Lord?" In what respect, then, did Elihu show himself superior to them, if even they had reproached Job because he thought himself more righteous than God? Yet Job was not of the mind to affirm himself to be more righteous than God, but that these things had been done by Him, and he said that he desired to undergo the judgment of God, but did not accuse Him of injustice. This, however, Elihu suspected, having failed to grasp the pious intent of the righteous man; but he had rightfully and deservedly accused the friends, as those who had betrayed and denied the cause of God.

^C VERS. 3. *Et vero adversus tres amicos iratus est valde, eo quod non potuerant respondere opposita ipsi Job, et posuerant ipsum esse impium.*

^A Elius was angry with the friends for a twofold reason: because they had condemned the just man for impiety, and because, having undertaken the defense of God, they had been vanquished and kept silent, as if they had betrayed the God whom they were defending, and by their silence had yielded the palm of victory to Job against God. One might say that Elius was angry with the friends all the more because they had been unable to counter Job's arguments with appropriate responses, so as to convict him of being impious and of insolently raging against God.

VERS. 4, 5. *Elius autem sustinuerat dare responsionem Job, quoniam seniores eo erant diebus. Et vidit Elius quod non est responsio in ore trium virorum, et indignatus est ira sua.* ^B Laudable is the disposition of Elius, who kept silence at the proper time; for it was fitting that the elders should speak first; yet he gave his response when the occasion called for it, after the more ancient ones had been gripped by perplexity. Therefore "he had sustained" means "he had waited"; and "he was indignant" means "he was moved by zeal." And he rightly said "he had sustained," to show that though he was angry, he did not dare to say anything until Job had emptied himself and set forth all his arguments. Observe also his prudence, how from the very opening he begins, and how he keeps the proper order.

VERS. 6. *Suscipiens autem Elius, filius Barachiel, Buzites, dixit: Junior quidem sum tempore, vos autem estis seniores; quare silui, timens in vobis annuntiare meam ipsius scientiam.* ^C Rightly he added, "I am junior in time." For there is someone who is junior in age but endowed with hoary prudence, and another who is advanced in time but junior in intelligence. See, moreover, how he waited for the elders to finish their discourse, not only out of modesty but also out of fear and a certain religious awe, and that if they had not first ceased to speak, he would not have brought forward those things which he deemed to be right and useful.

VERS. 7-9. *Dixi autem, Quod non est tempus quod loquitur, et in multis annis noverunt sapientiam: sed spiritus est in hominibus. [Symmachus autem, Vere autem Spiritus Dei est in hominibus.] Spiratio autem Omnipotentis est quæ docet: Non longævi sunt sapientes, neque senes noverunt iudicium.* ^D I was sitting, he says, and listening to what was being said, and not seeing the arguments to be worthy of their age, I said to myself: "Those who are advanced in years are not necessarily wise, but it is the work of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which does not wait for time but suddenly renders a man wise." And it is evident that this grace does not teach indiscriminately and at random, but when it finds a pure soul. It is not necessary, he says, that only those of advanced age be wise, but it is possible even from youth

^A to hear something noble; for if time makes men wise, God does so much more. But time of itself, apart from grace, is unable to confer wisdom. Whence no one, even having become wise by time, can attain to any part of God’s judgments, unless divine grace be joined to it.

Vers. 10-12. « Therefore I said, Hearken to me, and I will declare to you what I know; receive my words with your ears. For I will speak to you who are listening, until you search out words, and I reach unto you. »

Other copies, after "I will speak to you who are listening," have these verses also: "Behold, I have heard your words, I have hearkened to your understanding." But other interpreters have rendered it thus: "Behold, I have received your words, I have listened as long as you were searching out words, and I was considering until I reached you." According to this version, therefore, and the rest of the manuscripts, the meaning is, as he says: "Just as I listened to all things that you said, and waited until the conclusion of your words, and until you had exhausted all your wisdom, so you also, in like manner, lend an ear to my words." According, however, to the copies which we use, the sense is this: "Hearken to me," he says, "for I will utter nothing tumid or puffed up, but things that you yourselves will be able to examine. And I will reach unto you," that is to say, "I will use no empty babbling, but I will speak what you are able to grasp." Or it means this: "I will not make an end of speaking before you also have examined my words, to see if I too am able to reach unto you," that is, "until you also understand, or even until I surpass your understanding."

Vers. 12-14. « And, behold, there was no one among you who could refute Job, or answer back to his words: that you might not say: We have found wisdom by attributing it to the Lord; but you have allowed a man to speak such words. »

Since no one of you, he says, could censure the words of Job, for this reason I broke forth into speech; for the greater part of your argument was concerned with defending God and undertaking his patronage: but, being unable to contradict Job, by your silence you in a manner allowed him, being a man, to boast of such things, and to speak against God in this way.

Protheoria

Having exposed the cause which had impelled him to speak, a profound silence having been made, he continues and completes his discourse, and censures the words of Job, as though he were justifying himself and wishing to contend with God in judgment; he ^D himself not understanding with what mind the just man spoke, and that these things were said by him in answer to the things brought forward by the friends; [index: entries preserved]

yet Elihu neither touched upon the proposition of Job, nor did he know the cause of the plague which was inflicted upon him; but he begins in this way:

^A VER. 17, 18. "But Elihu answering, saith: I will speak again, for I am full of words."

"I am full," he says, "of words, namely, those which are to be said for God and against Job, who desires to be made equal by comparison with God, and is so lifted up by arrogance that he wishes to descend into judgment with God and hopes to carry off the palm of victory."

"For the spirit of my belly straineth me." But Symmachus says: *It burns me*. "Burning in my spirit," he says, "and as if suffocated if I do not speak, I cannot be silent, nor can I remain mute any longer." He calls the soul, or the irascible part of it, which is reasonably moved for the cause of God, the "spirit of the belly" periphrastically. But that, "The spirit of the belly straineth me," seems to me to be said more figuratively. For just as a breath conceived in the inward parts, and finding no way out, grieves and pains a man; so, he says, the spirit of the belly strains me, that is, the words which I carry in my mind, being kept in without way of exit.

^B VER. 19. "And my belly is as a new wine-skin ready to burst" [but Symmachus, *as new wine which cannot breathe*], "or as the bellows of a smith that is burst."

"I am almost," he says, "bursting, being straitened by the multitude of thoughts that have come to me for argumentation, just as some skin filled with new and hot wine, which by the boiling and the fermentation threatens to break, I am ready to burst in the middle." From this it seems to me that it was also said in the Gospel: "No man putteth new wine into old bottles." But he said "a bellows," and added "burst," because he had begun to speak, and as it were to let out the spirit within; for a burst smith's bellows lets out the spirit.

^C VER. 21, 22. "For I will not be afraid of man, nor will I be ashamed of a mortal; for I do not know how to accept persons; otherwise the moths shall eat me."

"I will speak," he says, "without shame, and without any striving to please men; but if I say anything contrary to justice and equity, and do not prefer this to every human reverence and modesty, let even me, like Job, be eaten by moths, or like those who are respecters of persons; and especially when God is in the midst, and we honor men more than Him."

"I, however," he says, "do not know how to accept a person," that is, "I do not have this art, that I should stand in awe of [someone] or grant a favor to anyone, but I despise men and the shame [which comes] from them." By saying these things, he hints at those [friends], because they kept silent for this reason, having been shamed by Job. ^D

CHAPTER XXXIII.

^A VERS. 1-3. "Verumtamen audi, Job, verba mea, et auribus percipe locutionem meam. Ecce enim aperui os meum, et locuta est lingua mea. Mundum est cor meum verbis, et intellectus labiorum meorum munda cogitabit."

Hear then, O Job. I begin finally to address words to you, bringing a soul that is pure and free from all passion—or, according to others, upright and simple, speaking nothing out of a preconceived opinion—and endowed with prudent knowledge, which is devoid of error and purged of every stain. He calls that knowledge "pure" which is for God, and against the man who, with equal right, desires to descend into judgment with God.

VERS. 4. "Spiritus divinus est qui me fecit; spiratio autem Omnipotentis est quæ docet me."

At the beginning of his speech, Elihu celebrates with a hymn of thanksgiving God, the cause and author of his creation, of the intelligence and knowledge in which, relying, he was prompted to speak. "I know," he says, "that I do not possess this prudence from myself, but from divine grace; for He who granted me to exist has also bestowed the knowledge of what is necessary to be done."

VERS. 5. "Si poteris, da mihi responsionem; ad hæc sustine."

Wait, he says, and when you have heard what I have brought forward, if you have any word of contradiction, answer me.

"Sta juxta me, et ego juxta te. [VERS. 6.] De luto formatus es tu, sicut ego; ex eodem formati sumus."

^B Do not be afraid, he says, to give an answer, for the contest is equal. For we are both of the same nature, which is of clay and earth, and has nothing magnificent or exceptional in it. He says these things to fill him with shame because he wished to descend into judgment with God—as if he were saying: "Why do you wish to contend in judgment against God, in whose sight no one is justified? Contend with me, who in nothing differ from you."

VERS. 7. "Non timor meus te turbabit, neque manus mea gravis erit super te."

Since Job had said: "And let not his fear terrify me"; behold, he says, there is nothing in me, as there is in God, that is formidable, so that you should be perturbed and shattered in your mind by fear, and consequently dare not speak the words that you perhaps have to say to me; nor, if you were indeed to contradict, should you suspect that I would inflict a blow with a heavy hand. For I remember having heard you say that, if you did not fear these things, you would contend with God. Elihu explains these things, having not at all grasped the intent of mind with which Job had spoken those words.

VERS. 8-11. "Verumtamen dixisti in auribus meis, Vocem verborum tuorum audivi; quandoquidem dicis: Mundus sum, non peccans, sine crimine..."

^A For He has found, he says, that I am like an adversary; and He has put my foot in the wood, and has guarded all my paths. » He says: I heard you with my own ears saying: I am pure and blameless. But God, like an enemy, having diligently explored my affairs, if I transgressed in anything unwillingly or through ignorance, found a ground of complaint against me, so as to punish me, and shut up all my goings, just as those who fasten the feet in the stocks ^B. By this, He signifies that the punishment here is inevitable.

VERS. 12. "For how do you say: I am righteous, and He has not heard me?" This, he says, is what you complain of: that He has not heard your cause. Tell me, how is it clear that He has not heard? Is it because He punishes and causes to suffer? This is His work, so that He might make men better. How, then, did you dare to say this: "I am righteous, and God does not hear me?"

"For He who is above mortals is eternal." That is to say, God, who is over all, shall not be tested first by you.

"But you say: Why has He not heard my every word concerning my cause? For the Lord speaks once."

^C For which Aquila and Symmachus say: the one, "Why then have you contended with Him in judgment? For to all His words one will not be able to reply"; the other, "Why then do you bring Him into judgment? For all His words are irrefutable." That is to say, does He not hear and instruct one by one? But it is the nature of God to do something once and for all, and not little by little. He has often given warning through dreams and visions; yet you have determined to drag Him into court. And yet you ought to have considered that what He has ordained, He did not ordain as a man who repents or considers something better; but all things which He has determined are blameless. For it is characteristic of men to repent of what they say or do. But God does not endure this; it is enough for Him to have pronounced once.

^D VERS. 16-18. "In such forms of fear He has terrified them, so as to turn a man away from injustice; and He has delivered his body from ruin, and has spared his soul from death, and that he may not fall in war."

He says: God speaks once and establishes a law; but after establishing the law, if He finds anyone who despises it, He turns and counsels him through nocturnal terrors. And so this pedagogical fear, which is brought about through phantoms and images, is useful, because even the future...

^A judgment is restrained and hindered; and he who has become better through this terror may remain unharmed in both body and soul, and be snatched away from the hands of enemies. For perhaps, if he had not turned before the punishment, he would have paid the penalty for the things in which he sinned, either by a divinely sent blow or by the incursion of enemies. But He who delays punishment calls one to repentance through fears, and through the threat checks the expected punishment.

VERS. 19-22. *Again, He reproves him for languor upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones grew numb; and he cannot take any food of corn, and his soul desires food, until his flesh rots, and he shows his bones to be empty. And his soul drew near to death, and his life to Hades.*

If, he says, the sinner does not return to a better state through nocturnal terrors, nor wishes to repent, He binds him in illness to his bed, sends shivering and numbness into his bones, and afflicts him in such a miserable way that he desires to take food, but his appetite fails him, and he cannot consume nutriment; so that for this reason his flesh is consumed by wasting, the strength of the bones fails, with the marrow almost sucked out and dried up, and then his soul is near to death, and he imagines he sees what is in Hades.

VERS. 23. *If there should be a thousand death-dealing angels, one of them will not wound him, if he has thought with his heart to return to the Lord; but he shall declare to man his own crime, and show his own folly.*

If, he says, one who is suffering these final things, discerning sin as the cause of his disease, turns to God, and through confession declares his own reproaches and sins, he halts the death that is hanging over him, even if countless things are inciting the end. For repentance wipes away sin and persuades God to revoke the sentence.

VERS. 24, 25. *He shall restrain him from falling into death, and shall renew his body like plaster on a wall, and shall fill his bones with marrow, and shall soften his flesh like that of a little child, and shall restore him as a man made whole among men.*

Consider the fruits of repentance, and how it not only prevents death, but also bestows robust health. For God, he says, assists the penitent and does not allow him to fall into death; but just as those who renovate a wall that is broken and threatening collapse by coating it with lime; so He repairs his corrupted body, makes it seemly, and as if fashioning it anew, He fills the bones with marrow, bestows upon him newly formed flesh, and in the end makes him a man—that is, strengthens him and, providing him with manly vigor, restores him to live again among men; or, according to others' interpretation: He brings him back to the day of his youth. ^D

^A * "He shall pray to the Lord, and he shall be acceptable to him." Theodotio says: "He shall pray to the Lord, and he shall bless him." The meaning is either that his vows and prayers sent up to God shall not be cast aside, but shall be acceptable; or that his prayers shall find a place before God, and shall bring him the blessing from above.

"He shall enter with a pure countenance with a profession." The others say, "with a joyful [countenance]." For "with a profession," both Aquila and Theodotio gave "in jubilation," while Symmachus rendered it "in hymn-singing." Then, he says, he who has been delivered from disease and the expected death will offer to God a prayer of thanksgiving and an acceptable confession, and will approach Him with boldness; for the "pure," or rather "joyful," countenance signifies this: he will hymn God, having been purified through the discipline. ^B

"He shall return justice to men." Or, the man himself who has been benefited by God will return to each of his kin what is due, henceforth honoring what is just, having become better through the discipline. Or, God will justify those who have been so disposed, and will grant them forgiveness for the things in which they had previously transgressed.

"Then the man himself shall blame himself, saying: 'What things did I commit? And it did not exact from me according to what I sinned.'" ^C

Having understood the gain of the wisdom of God's wisdom, the one who has been saved will condemn himself, but giving thanks will say: "I have been disciplined less than the things in which I transgressed, and I have not suffered things worthy of what I have done."

"Save my soul, that it might not come into corruption, and my life shall see light."

These are the words of the prayer and the hymn; for he will say, "I give thanks because You rescued me from death and from the corruption and dissolution that flow from it, and allowed me to live and see this light; and I beg that this may befall me in the future as well." Some have understood it thus: that he will pray to God that, after this life is finished, the lot of the impious, which is in corruption, may not befall him, but that of the righteous, which is in light. ^D

"Behold, all these things the Strong One works in three ways with a man; and He rescued my soul from death, that my life might praise Him in the light."

Symmachus, however, says: "Twice, thrice to each one, so as to call back my soul from death." The sense of the words is as follows: These are the works of the wise and strong God, turning back those who sin through these three ways: by speaking, by terrifying through dreams, and by bringing on diseases. The omnipotent One works these three ways and dispensations with every man; so that whoever has sinned, being corrected by one of these three ways, may flee from death and, being alive, may celebrate with praises God, who...

so governs human affairs, provides existence, teaches what is necessary, and either bestows a reward for deeds done well or exacts a penalty for those transgressed, by reproving, admonishing, exhorting, teaching while speaking, threatening with nocturnal terrors, or tormenting with sickness. ^A

VERS. 31-33. "Give ear, Job, and hear me; be silent, and I will speak. If thou hast words, answer me: speak, for I would have thee justified: but if not, do thou hear me, hold thy peace, and I will teach thee."

Why, he says, do you call God, the invisible One, to judgment with you? Behold, I who am human, and seen by you as you are seen by me, am here: if you keep silence, I will speak to you; and if you have anything to counter, I shall not be loath to hear. But if you can answer nothing, then be silent again, and give ear to what shall be said by me. ^B

CAP. XXXIV. Protheoria.

When Elihu had explained the solicitous and accurate manner of divine instruction—that is, by terrifying with dreams and chastising with diseases, He leads us back to a better way of life—he makes another start to his discourse, and immediately at the beginning, he exhorts his hearers to understand what is to be said. He proposes that he will discourse upon the punishment by which the unjust are extirpated; and he asks his hearers to judge whether it was rightly said by Job that he was just, and that he was suffering unjust things from God. Then he asserts that God, rendering to each according to their merits, punishes the unjust; and he brings forward the reasons for this matter: for the Creator, he says, could not bear to injure the works of His own hands. ^C Correctly, indeed, has Elihu spoken of the just judgment of God; but by applying his mind to what was being set forth, yet failing to understand that the just man had desired to enter into judgment with God not in order to accuse God, but in order to censure his friends, he blames Job as if he had wished to contend in judgment with God on equal terms.

VERS. 1-6. "Then Elihu answered, and said: Hear me, ye wise men, and ye that have knowledge, give ear: for the ear tries words, and the throat tastes meat. Let us choose to ourselves judgment, and let us know among ourselves what is good: for Job has said, I am just; the Lord has taken away my judgment, and He has lied in my judgment; my weapon is violent without injustice." ^D

[The interpretation] of Julian and Olympiodorus. Because of the prior accusations which he had brought against his hearers, Elihu soothes them with softer words, calling them wise and those who know what is right and honorable: The ear, he says, O friends, in distinguishing the true from the false and discerning the good from the evil, passes judgment on discourses, just as in food the throat or palate proves their qualities, and loves to judge of sweetness and bitterness. Let, therefore, the investigation into the truth be set out in the midst, as to whether it has been rightly said by Job, "I am indeed just, but God"

^A has not kept strict judgment." But according to Symmachus and Aquila: "He perverted and took away from me judgment, and concerning my judgment, a lie; for He did not judge my affairs according to their worth, but removed His justice from me, and, showing Himself a being more powerful than just, He inflicted the blow without cause upon one who had done nothing unjustly." Elius, for his part, thus accepted what had been said: but Job spoke this, that "God has deferred judging my affairs; for if, being just, He had wished to hear me, He would have rescued me from these necessities." For this is what "I will cry out, and there is no judgment anywhere" signifies. Elius, however, is mistaken, and twists the words of Job, having been ignorant of the love with which he offered those words.

"Who is a man like Job, drinking mockery like water? who neither sinned, nor committed impiety, nor associated with those who do lawless things, so as to walk with the impious."

I also, he says, understand the virtue of Job, in that he receives insults by design, just as those who drink water; and this, without his having sinned either against men or acted impiously against God, or having embraced the association and life with lawless or impious men. And this is a proof of the greatest virtue, to bear insult without pain.

"Do not, for instance, say, that 'There shall be no visitation ^B by a man, and visitation for him from the Lord.'"

Having spoken to the friends the things concerning Job, he now turns the discourse to him and says: I do not blame you as an unjust man, but as one who thinks that the things that happen to us come to pass without any inspection or providence. But Elius has again fallen into error from the fact that the just man had said: "Why do the impious live?" and, "Why have the times escaped the Lord?" which he had put forth problematically to his friends. Theodotian and Symmachus—the one put forth: "For he said, The man will not be in danger when he is well-pleasing to God"; the other: "Will a man not be saved?" But the reading of Theodotian ought to be read as a statement, and that of Symmachus in the manner and by way of interrogation.

"Wherefore, you intelligent of heart, hear me. Far be it from me to act impiously before the Lord, and before the Almighty to disturb justice; but He will repay a man according to what each of them does, and he will find him in the path of a man."

Since, therefore, he says, our investigation is not about trivial things, do not listen perfunctorily, O friends, because you are also able to understand what is being said; and far be it from me to fall into impious ^C words, or, when speaking concerning the Almighty God, to utter anything contrary to justice; for I know that God, distributing to each according to his worth, as He finds each one walking, so does He judge him ^D

Symmachus, however, rendered it: "Far be iniquity from God, and injustice from the Almighty." He wishes to suggest this: "Far be it from me to say that anything is done by God without deliberate judgment; for to each it shall happen according to his way, and in the very act of committing a crime He will convict him."

VERS. 12, 13. "But do you think the Lord will do absurd things? Or will the Almighty disturb judgment, He who made the earth? And who is it who makes that which is under heaven, and all things that are therein?"

The Lord is God, and omnipotent, and the artificer of all things that exist; for He Himself made the heaven, ^B and the earth, and the things between them. The Lord, therefore, would not do anything absurd regarding His subjects; nor would He who holds power over all allow a confusion of justice; nor would He who constructed the fabric of the universe out of His own goodness—not compelled by anyone—do injustice to His own handiwork; for His works are not alien to Him, that He should act unjustly toward us, but rather He spares His own creatures.

VERS. 14, 15. "For if He wished to restrain, and to keep the spirit to Himself, all flesh would perish together, and every mortal would go away into the earth, whence it was also formed."

For if God, he says, were to wish to restrain the breath, and the life which He granted to the living, all men would be destroyed utterly, and would be resolved into the earth from which they were taken.

VERS. 17, 18. "But if you are not admonished, hear these things, receive with your ears the voice of my words. You, see Him who hates iniquitous things, and destroys the wicked, to be the eternal just one."

The others: "If you do not understand, listen. Does He who hates judgment bind for healing?" The sense here is this: If these things, he says, have turned your mind and you return to a saner state of mind, it is well; if not, hear what follows; and consider in your mind that God, being always just, hates iniquitous things, and inflicts punishment upon the wicked. He uses this syllogism: If, while hating wickedness, He brings punishments, He is just, and will do nothing beyond what is just; for He would not, if He hated judgment (or justice), have bound and restrained anyone with bonds, so that his wickedness might be healed; but He would have left the wicked free and masters of themselves, and would not have inhibited their impulse to greater crimes ^C and their progress by diseases, or terrors, or similar things: but now, by cutting off vice and healing the one laboring under the disease of vice, He shows that He does not hate judgment, but loves it.

VERS. 18. "Ungodly is he who says to a king: You act unjustly; most ungodly, to those in power."

If by human reasoning, he says, one who says to a king, "You act unjustly," is judged by those in power as most ungodly, in that he contemplates shaking off the yoke of dominion and the evil of rebellion; what, then, would those suffer who dare to say to God...

^A “You do wrong”? For even if you do not know, you still ought to concede much to Him, and to His glory, so as not to seek to understand everything. Well did he say that he is judged ungodly by rulers who reproaches the king on earth with iniquity; is he not then judged so, and even more so, by God?

• “Who has not felt shame before the face of the favored [the rest, of rulers], nor known how to show honor to the mighty, to admire their faces? Vainly will it turn out for them to have cried out and begged a man.”

The ungodly man, he says, is judged even as one who has not honored the rich, nor been struck with awe at the power he possesses; although those who call upon help from men, and trust in rulers, are vain, and have gained nothing from that source.

• “For they used power lawlessly, while the weak were locked away.”

They abused their power, he says, because in order to gain the favor of men they despised justice, and caused the weak and needy—to whom the justice of the case belonged—to be imprisoned.

• “For He is an inspector of the works of men; and nothing of what they do has escaped Him, nor will there be a place for those who practice lawlessness to hide.” ^B

They cannot, he says, be hidden from God, or escape Him, or fail to be seen by Him, those who commit wickedness. But do you observe for me how Elihu does not at all, like those others, attack Job with reproaches, and how, while he criticizes him, he does not accuse him: for he does not say to him, “You have plundered the goods of orphans and widows,” but rather, “God is just.”

• “For He will not set it upon man any more.”

It seems this means: now, indeed, the good and the evil lie within our power, but in the world to come, this is no longer the case; for then there is no time for activity, nor will God any longer set upon man the choice of things to be done. Others understand it thus, that it is not that He will not see justice in each man. According to Symmachus: “For it is not set above any more.” Since, therefore, he said that nothing escapes the all-seeing eye of God, he added logically that there is no veil laid over it to obstruct ^C His vision.

• “For the Lord looks upon all, who comprehends the unsearchable, the glorious and the extraordinary, of which there is no number; who knows their works, and will overturn night, and they shall be humbled.”

Being all-seeing, he says, God comprehends things that are incomprehensible to all; and He performs wonders, knowing all things that are done by men; on account of this, also, the light of the ungodly, that is to say, ^D

of the impious, or their splendor and prosperous fortune, he changes into night and sorrow, and humbles them. ^A

VERS. 28. *And [he has] extinguished the impious; but they are visible before him.*

The workers of iniquity, he says, are visible to him; wherefore, after they have shone for a short time in prosperous circumstances, they are extinguished. For God contemplates the impious, not in accordance with his helping visitation, but so as to afflict them with punishment, according to that which is in the Psalms: *The countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil, to root them out.*

VERS. 27, 28. *Because they have declined from the law of God, and have not known his justifications, that the cry of the poor might be brought to him; and he will hear the cry of the beggars.*

He sets forth the causes on account of which the impious are afflicted with punishments: that they have not known the mandates of God, nor have they executed them, but have declined from the divine law. And he says that the cry of the poor is borne to God, because they who suffer injury raise a cry, and win for themselves help from above; so that those who inflict the injury bring the cry of the impoverished person, who has been affected by injury, unto God. ^B

VERS. 29. *And he himself will give quiet, and who shall condemn?*

Symmachus, however, [renders it]: *But when he gives quiet, who shall condemn?* Therefore he says either this: If God should neglect to vindicate the cause of those who suffer injury, who else can condemn the powerful and the unjust? Or, If God should neglect to take punishment from an unjust man, who will dare to condemn him, or to accuse him as unjust?

*And he will hide his face, and who shall see him? and against a nation, and against a man together.*

He says this because God, being invisible, executes invisible judgments. But by reasons and ways which are known to him alone, he brings punishments not only upon individuals, but also upon whole nations. ^C

VERS. 30. *Who makes the hypocrite to reign on account of the perversity of the people.*

And this is of the divine disposition and providence, that on account of the wickedness of the people, which stands in need of chastisement, he often allows a king to be proclaimed who appears good in external appearance, just as he said: *And I gave them a king in the anger of my fury.* ^D

VERS. 31, 32. *Because to the strong one who says: I have received, I will not take away in place of a pledge, I shall see without me; do thou show me.*

Some have interpreted it thus: That no one dares to say to a stronger man: Thou hast taken my goods unjustly, not by way of a pledge as though they were debts, and thou hast snatched them away against my will; show that this was done by thee justly and according to reason. If, however, no one dares to say these things to a powerful man, with what audacity, he says, dost thou act thus against God?

^A Symmachus offered this version: "Since I have taken up speech toward God, I shall not have it without hindrance; do thou make it manifest to me." His meaning is perhaps this: "Since," says Elihu, "I have begun to speak on behalf of God, I do not restrain myself, but I continue to weave my discourse without hindrance; but if I am not speaking rightly, do thou show this and rebuke my speech." I think, however, that the text is better understood thus: that it is not because I have chosen to speak for God that thou oughtest simply to agree with these things, as if I were demanding payment as a debt; but I wish to see, even apart from my own speech, if thou hast anything to say in opposition. I, therefore, shall remain silent; do thou take up the argument if thou canst, and if I have erred in anything, instruct me.

"If I have wrought injustice, I shall not add to it." Show me, he says, O Job, that I am speaking these things unjustly, and I shall cease.

"Will He exact it from thee, because thou didst reject it? For thou shalt choose, and not I; and what thou hast learned, speak." Will the penalties, he says, which are owed for my words, be paid by thee? Do not, therefore, reject them, but refute what has been said; for it is thine to choose and to judge whether I have spoken well or ill, and not mine, who have spoken; if, therefore, thou knowest anything more, answer.

^B "Wherefore, men who are understanding in heart shall say these things, and a wise man has heard my word." As if Job were silent, Elihu confirms his own words and says that these things which I have said to thee, other prudent men will also say to thee, and if any man gifted with wisdom hears my words, he will give his assent to them.

"But Job has not spoken in understanding, and his words are not in knowledge." I, indeed, he says, have spoken prudently; but thou, O Job, who art famous for thy prudence, in wishing to contend in judgment with God, hast not spoken skilfully and with knowledge. This, however, silently implies forgiveness; for he blames and accuses him not for his deeds, but for his words, just as they too said: "How long shall the multiloquent spirit of thy mouth be?"

^C "Nevertheless, learn, Job, do not give further response, like the foolish, that we may not add to our sins." But since these things, he says, are so, accept my counsel, and no longer use the same words like some fool, so that we may not, through further words, increase our transgressions; for I am afraid in these matters, that we might have to render an account for even mere words to the just Judge. By the plural... ^D

number, he makes the discourse common, introducing an exhortation acceptable to both.

*And iniquity shall be imputed to us, while many words are spoken against the Lord.*

He did not say "wicked" nor "impious," but absolutely "many," showing that one ought not make many replies to God. For if no one would dare to speak much in the presence of a king, much more must this be observed in the presence of God; and indeed, to speak much is reckoned as a sin before God, according to that which is written: *In the multitude of words you shall not escape sin.*

CHAPTER XXXV. Protheoria.

When Elihu had finished discoursing on the discipline of God, he now moves the discourse regarding patience and long-suffering, rebuking Job for that which he said: *If I have sinned, what can I do unto thee?* and for that he wished to enter into judgment with God.

VERS. 1, 2. *But Elihu answering, saith: Why hast thou thought this to be the judgment?*

He says this: What is this that you have conceived in your mind regarding the judgments of God? Is it that you think you can comprehend them? Or, what has come into your mind that you would wish to enter into judgment with God?

*Who art thou that hast said: I am righteous before the Lord?*

How, he says, have you dared to pronounce yourself righteous in comparison with God? For that Job was righteous is true; but that he was righteous with the addition "before the Lord," is false. We have learned that, in comparison with God, all human righteousness is not righteousness. For *in thy sight shall no man living be justified.* It is therefore an argument of the greatest arrogance and pride if anyone thinks himself righteous before God.

*Or wilt thou say: What shall I do when I have sinned?*

But you ought not even to say that: "What shall I do when I have sinned?" For you know what ought to be done: namely, to abstain from sin, and to call upon God. Elihu, indeed, according to his own judgment, was counseling well; but Job spoke with a better and more pious mind: *But if I have sinned, what can I do unto thee?* That is, "I am able to offer nothing of that sort which might avail to blot out sin, unless Thou shouldst deem me worthy of Thy kindness." Others, however, have understood these words thus: "If I am punished while acting righteously, what ought I to have suffered had I sinned?" Symmachus, indeed, instead of the words, *Or wilt thou say: What shall I do when I have sinned?* gave: "For you have said, that it shall profit you nothing."

VERS. 4. *I will give thee an answer, and to thy three friends.*

As if Job had spoken imprudently, and the three friends had not yet found a response, he himself promises to bring forward words better than all their arguments. He justly associates him with the friends, because by yielding and giving their assent, they were equals, and might be united by a certain bonding.

^A "Look toward the heaven, and see; and consider the clouds, how high they are from you." That is, even if not by arguments, yet from the things that are seen, learn how far God is off from you, and how much higher He is than you; consider before whom you have attempted to justify yourself, and how far above you He is.

He looks toward the heaven, not by raising his bodily eyes and seeing the sky; for this looking up, even dogs and donkeys possess; no one who loves the world looks to heaven, but he who does not love the world, nor the things in the world. Again, these clouds are not so high from us that, if I behold the life of Moses and his pleasing life before God, and my own insignificance and humility, I would not see this cloud as higher and more remote from me; if I come to Joshua the son of Nun, to the lives of the prophets, if I examine their deeds, then I do what is written, and I learn how high the clouds are from me.

^B "If you have sinned, what will you perform? And if you have committed many transgressions, what can you do? But since you are righteous, what will you give Him? Or what will He receive from your hand? Your wickedness is for a man like you, and your righteousness for a son of man."

Olympiodorus and Origen: This means, you will not injure Him by sinning, nor will you benefit Him by being righteous; what damage or profit does He derive from this, whether you have sinned somewhere, or whether you are righteous? For a man can indeed both injure and benefit one of his own kind, but neither of these can happen with regard to God; therefore, do not be puffed up by your own righteousness. For since he was saying, "If I have sinned, what can I do to You?" "Why," he says, "did you say this? Does He, as if He were being injured, care for you when you sin, or as if He were suffering any damage? Do you then know," he says, "if you have sinned, what you will do to resolve what has been sinned? If you have sinned by words, be cured by better words; if you have sinned in deeds, be cured by yourself through differing deeds; but if the iniquities are many and incurable, for this reason, ^C because of those iniquities which we cannot cure ourselves, Jesus Christ came down from the heavens, that He might heal the incurable, and that this might be accomplished: 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven.'"

"Many will cry out, oppressed by a multitude of calumnies, they will shout because of the arm of many. And he did not say, 'Where is God, my Maker, who sets the night watches?'"

Oppressed by calumnies, he says, men, because of the multitude of calumnies which they suffer, cry out to God, on account of the violence from the arm and the power of the unjust, who do not reckon that God is also their maker, He who has established measures for the night; for it is divided into four watches.

^D "But judge before Him, if you are able to praise Him, as it is even now."

^A Olympiodorus and Chrysostom: Consider, he says, the excellence of God, and whether your understanding can grasp the praising of Him. Why, then, do you desire to descend into judgment with one so great and of such stature, when you are not even able to praise Him as He deserves? And this, too, in regard to those things for which He now chastises you. For if He were sitting in judgment, he says, and were to set forth the grounds of His law, would you not praise Him, would you not glorify Him according to His merit for those things which have now happened to you, when you think that you are being wronged and punished? For not being able to praise God in accordance with His worth is no great thing; but to be unable, when one is about to be judged before Him in matters concerning us, to praise Him as He deserves, this is a great matter. ^B "For He is not visiting His anger, nor has He known any sin vehemently." Or this is what he says: That the reason why God, when contending in judgment with us, cannot be praised as He deserves, is that He does not visit His own anger in such a way as to measure it against our offenses, nor does He strictly keep watch over our iniquities. He says concerning Job that he was not considering the magnitude of the divine anger, nor the multitude of our transgressions; for if he had known these, he would have known that God does not pour out all His anger upon us who sin. "And Job in vain opens his mouth; in ignorance he weighs down words." Symmachus, however, says: "Like a foolish man, he speaks heavy words." Job, he says, not discerning the majesty of God, and His long-suffering, and His incomprehensible judgments, and [knowing] that a man cannot even praise God according to His desert, much less descend into judgment with Him, utters bitter and indecorous words. ^C

CHAPTER XXXVI. Protheoria.

^A God, however, approved his words by His own judgment; which can be understood from His divine words that follow hereafter.

VERS. 1-3. "Adding yet more, Elius says: Wait for me a little longer, that I may teach you, for there is still speech in me, taking up my knowledge from afar."

Since I still have things to say about God, and I wish to take up the discourse from a higher point and discuss it with knowledge and understanding, receive with a favorable mind the things that are now to be said by me.

VERS. 4. "But I will speak what is just in my works in truth, and you shall not understand unjust words unjustly."

He is showing, he says, that what I know, I understand truly, and I do not conceive anything unjust in my mind, nor do I express it in voice; for the defense of my cause, which I am now about to bring into the middle, I establish by the works of God. That is to say, I affirm those things to be just which are proven by their outcome; these are not naked words and empty discourses. But beware lest you perform iniquitous things, and that you understand not the things which are devoid of blame; for as things now stand, you think unjustly. He did not say, "You have acted unjustly," but, "You thought unjustly." But incline your ear to me, because in truth my words are neither false nor unjust.

VERS. 5, 6. "But know that the Lord will not reject the innocent; being strong in the strength of his heart, he will not give life to the impious, and he will give judgment to the poor." ^B

Know, therefore, that God never leaves the one living in innocence destitute of His own protection and providence, nor does He repudiate the man who lives an innocent life, even if, for his benefit in calamities, He may sometimes seem to desert him; but He who is powerful is the avenger of the poor, when He takes punishment upon the impious according to His just judgments.

VERS. 7. "He will not take away his eyes from the just: [For the eyes of the Lord are upon the just] and with kings on the throne, and He will make them sit in victory, and they shall be exalted."

The just, he says, God sometimes deems worthy of such honor among men, that He places them on a throne with kings, and finally exalts them, adorned with trophies.

VERS. 8, 9. "And they that are bound in fetters shall be taken in the cords of poverty: and he shall declare to them their works, and their faults, because they shall prevail." ^C

Symmachus, however, says: "Because they were exercising tyranny." God, he says, who also takes care of the unjust, constrains them with chains and poverty, so that, having acknowledged their own sins, they may turn their minds away from injustice and tyranny.

VERS. 10. "But he will hear the just."

This is joined with what was said above, that the sense may be: He will not take away His eyes from the just—that is, His power, which is observant and governing—but He will hear him. ^D

^A

And he said, Because they shall return from iniquity. If they hear and serve, they shall complete their days in good things, and their years in delights.

He calls the discipline of God that which works conversion through deeds, like a certain audible admonition, bringing those who are being instructed to consciousness. If, therefore, he says, having heard, they serve God, they shall live in prosperity and abundance of good things, and will wear out their life with glory.

But the impious he does not save, because they did not wish to know the Lord, and because when they were admonished they were disobedient.

But God, he says, does not save the impious—not that He Himself is the cause of their destruction, but they are to themselves, since they neither wished to know God through innate and natural reason, nor wished to become obedient to God through the discipline and admonition that has the power to convert.

And hypocrites in heart shall set up wrath.

But those who are hypocrites in heart, he says, those who are clothed in the mere appearance of piety, they themselves set up and determine for themselves the divine wrath.

They shall not cry out, for He has bound them.

They do not look up, he says, to God, nor do they cry out to Him as one who can remedy the calamity, because He has bound them, though surely He alone is able to loosen them. ^B

Let their soul therefore die in youth, and their life be wounded by angels, for that they have afflicted the weak and the helpless.

For this reason, he says, they also die untimely deaths, being wounded by death-dealing angels; but the reason is the afflictions and injustices which they wrought against those who were weaker.

And He shall set forth the judgment of the meek.

But God shall determine the judgment and the vengeance of the meek; for this is what "He shall set forth" means. By "meek" you may understand either those who are just by the freedom of their own will, or those who have been injured and, because of weakness, keep silent.

And He has furthermore deceived thee by the mouth of an enemy.

Having placed the phrase *And He shall set forth the judgment of the meek* in between, he directed it against the person of the hypocrites, meaning that the hypocrite is punished not only for the reasons I mentioned before, but also—that is, in addition to these—since he also deceived the meek man through the mouth of his enemy.

An abyss, a pouring forth beneath it, and thy table descended full of fatness.

From this, he says, for the hypocrite an abyss is prepared, and beneath it a pouring forth—that is, the outer darkness; but to you there shall be granted a table full of fatness. Perhaps, however, by the abyss and the pouring forth of waters, the hypocrite is compared... ^D

^A under whose form cliffs, which are latent and hidden, are accustomed to bring danger to sailors, because he meditates on clandestine and carefully laid plans, and covers and overshadows his snares with the appearance of simulation, so that those who place their trust in him suffer shipwreck. But if what is said is inserted because of the admiration of the divine work, "Under the abyss," he says, "there is nothing except the outpouring of waters": but that the earth should be established upon the outpouring of the waters, is not without admiration.

VERS. 17, 18. "Non deficiet autem a justis judicium, et ira super impios erit, propter impietatem munerum quae accipiebant super iniquitatibus."

The vindication and vengeance of the just, he says, does not arrive with a slow foot; for how can it be that this should happen, to whom a rich table is prepared? But the impious cannot escape divine punishment, because they corrupted justice with riches, and chose to live impiously and unjustly: for having rendered an unjust judgment, they shall be condemned by a just judgment.

VERS. 19. "Non te avertat voluntaria mens a prece infirmorum, cum in necessitate fuerint, et omnes qui viribus valent."

When the powerless, having been set in straits, implore your help, let not your mind and voluntary deliberation turn away from what is right, neither toward you, nor toward any of those who excel in strength—that is, who are able to defend and avenge—but aid them as a man.

VERS. 20, 21. "Noli extrahere per noctem ut ascendant populi pro eis, sed cura ne facias indecentia; super his enim liberasti ab inopia." ^B Symmachus, however, says: "Do not desire at night to bring up peoples into their place." But the sense here is: Neither do injury to those who are endowed with strength, so that by making an insurrection at night and secretly, you cast these people out of their own dwellings, and substitute others in their place. But it is fitting that equity and justice be observed toward all, that one must abstain from depraved and absurd deeds, and that poverty is to be preferred to these. Or that other reading: "For upon these," namely, upon these morals and this character, "you were delivered from poverty"; that is, if you cease to commit absurd and wicked deeds, you shall be snatched from poverty, that is, you shall be freed from the misery and tribulation which is the companion of poverty.

VERS. 22. "Ecce fortis roborabit in fortitudine sua: quis enim est, sicut ille, potens?"

After he had spoken words concerning the justice of men, he turns the discourse to the strength and justice of God; and, "See," he says, "how the strong God works all things powerfully and with divine potency, nor is anyone comparable with his power." ^C

VERS. 23. "Quis est qui discutiat opera ejus? aut quis est qui dicat: Fecit injusta?"

No one, he says, dares to inquire into the divine providence

economy, nor is anyone able to say that anything unjust has been done by Him. ^B

VERS. 24. "Remember that His works are great, over which men have ruled." Consider, he says, by turning your mind to it, and weigh with yourself that the works regarding the creation of God are wonderful, even if by familiarity they seem perhaps contemptible; I speak of the works of God, over which men were set at the beginning to rule, for He says: "Let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air." And the Psalmist: "Thou hast subjected all things under His feet."

VERS. 25. "Every man has seen into Him [that is, every man has knowledge of God], whosoever mortals are wounded." That phrase, "whosoever," is put for "all," because it is the lot of all to be wounded—that is, to be subject to passion and corruption. But Symmachus, while translating it: "Each one looking from afar," implied that "wounding" here refers to sobriety and the awakening of the mind, in that those who are pricked and stimulated are stirred up more and become more attentive.

VERS. 26. "Behold, the mighty one is great, and we shall not know Him." The word "great" is used in Scripture for an indefinite number, and one which cannot be grasped. Since, therefore, the divine greatness and strength cannot be subjected to quantity, for this reason He said: The Mighty One is great, and greater than our understanding and knowledge. ^C

"The number of His years also is infinite." That is to say, eternal. Some copies, however, have "the number of [His] ways," as if to say: His ways, and the progress of the judgments which He makes and executes among us, cannot be investigated.

VERS. 27. "But to Him are the drops of rain numerable." Nothing escapes the knowledge of God; indeed, He accurately knows the number of the drops of rain.

"And they shall be poured out as rain into the cloud." In this place He proclaims the knowledge of God and His providence at the same time, because He does not pour out rain immoderately, but in a certain fixed way and by measure from the clouds.

VERS. 28. "Antiquities shall flow." Drops, he says, will flow out from them; and indeed he called these "antiquities" because it has happened thus for a long time and from antiquity. For which Symmachus [has]: "Which indeed shall flow from the heaven." ^D

"And the clouds have overshadowed the innumerable man." One would rightly marvel, he says, if he were to consider carefully with himself how the air, which by its own nature is rare, is condensed into clouds in such a way as to darken the sky for men.

"He has set an hour for the beasts, and they know the order of their lair." He has put "hour" for measures or limits; so that...

^A some animals might serve men, while others might not be subject to them; and that some might rest by night and others by day according to divine dispensation, and cease from annoying men. "In all these things does your mind not grow astonished, nor your heart change from the body?" Does this not, then, he says, suffice to strike the mind, and in a way separate the soul from the body? For how is it that beasts, though deprived of reason, have known from nature—their mistress—the order of their lair and the order of their going out? Observe, however, that he did not say: "Does your mind not marvel?" but: "Does it not grow astonished?" For it is truly an astonishment and a horror that irrational creatures keep such good order, in order that you may learn that you, too, are governed not by reason, but by the one who has bestowed reason.

^B "And if the extension of the cloud should understand the equality of his tabernacle." One might also marvel, he says, if he were endowed with intellect and cognition, how a small cloud having appeared, the condensation of the clouds should extend and cover the whole face of the sky; for he called the sky a tabernacle.

"Behold, he will extend over it Edo." But Symmachus says: "He spreads his light over it." Other copies, instead of "Edo," have "bow." If, therefore, a man considers how, when a collection of clouds has occurred, the solar rays, striking the thinner parts among them, create the bow (which is commonly called Iris), he will marvel at the wisdom of the Creator, who in the density of the clouds works the useful service of rain for men, but in their looseness and rarity makes the bow appear for the consolation of the inhabitants of the earth, because He will no longer inundate them with a flood, but, according to His own promise, restrains the immoderate rush and force of the waters.

"And he covered the roots of the sea; for in them he will judge the peoples." ^C Either he says this, that the bow reaches even to the sea; or that God has covered the roots and foundations of the sea; for there is no one who knows by what support the sea is held up. And through these things God inflicts punishments upon men, when He sends the sea, or hail, or something similar upon the lands.

"He will give food to the strong." But Symmachus gave: "He will provide abundant food"; that is, the benefit of the rains and the usefulness of the harvests bring forth abundance.

"In his hands he covered the light." By his own power, he says, and efficacy, He hides the splendor of the light; for the light has no place where it can be hidden, nor is anyone able to hide it at all. ^D "And he commanded concerning it in the place where it meets." Symmachus: "And he will command it to meet."

^A interpreting it. For, he says, covering the light and producing night, he commands it to meet; that he may say that both night and day succeed one another by his own will. That expression, therefore, "concerning it," refers to the day; and "in meeting," refers to the sun.

VERS. 33. "He will announce concerning him his friend." Symmachus: "He will announce concerning this to his friend?" That is, does he consult or share counsel with anyone regarding his creation? So that the words may be read as an interrogation. They may, however, be understood otherwise: that God imparts the knowledge of these things to his friends.

"Lord, possession, and concerning injustice." Other copies have: "Lord's possession." Symmachus, however, translated: "Zeal concerning injustice." The sense of this, ^B however, is: Does God share counsel with any other regarding his own possession, and how he is moved to zeal and indignation, and punishes the unjust? Or even thus: God will announce to his friends, so that they may possess his wisdom, and not things that are unjust.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

"And it flowed from its place." That is, it lacked little of deserting its own seat.

VERS. 2. "Hear the audition in the wrath of the fury of the Lord; and meditation shall go forth from his mouth." But Aquila: "And sound." Open, he says, the faculty which discerns sounds, and learn of those things which the wrath of God brings upon men—namely, the disaster that comes from hail, the inundations of rains, the droughts, the destruction of fruits. For by such things, God, almost as if uttering a voice, instructs us regarding his power and prudence, and strikes fear into us. Therefore, these things serve us for meditation and instruction, that we may fear God who works them.

VERS. 3. "Under the whole heaven his rule." God's rule, he says, reaches even to those who dwell among the dead; and our affairs are not destitute of his governance and providence.

"And his light under the wings of the earth."

^A

"Behind him a voice shall cry, he shall thunder with the voice of his majesty." For "his majesty," Aquila has put "his loftiness," that is, his superiority or threatening. Desiring to set forth the majesty of God, as if he were a general or a king, he has arranged certain great and fearsome sounds of thunder to follow Him. When, therefore, he says, the Lord wills to command those who follow him, immediately voices erupt through the thunder, revealing his threat or his superiority. The expression "behind him" stands for "at his will"; for as soon as he wills, the deed follows his will, and all things obey him. "And he will not change them, because he will hear his voice." ^B

Symmachus, however, says: "And his sound being heard, it shall not be investigated," that is, no one is able to trace out or understand how or why the sound of the thunder has occurred. According to the Septuagint, "God commanding, it is not allowed to change the sounds of the thunder, because they obey him, and cannot disobey." ^C

"The mighty one shall thunder with his voice miraculously." That is, as if sending forth a kind of voice, God prepares thunder for the terror of those who hear. He called the thunder the voice of God because it comes to pass at his command. "For he has done great things which we did not know." That is, great indeed are the works of God, but we cannot know the reasons for them. "Commanding the snow: Be upon the earth; and the winter rain, and the winter of the rains of his power." The word "commanding" is used for "ordering." For he will say to the snow: "Descend upon the earth," and it shall descend. And winter, too, and the pouring out of rain are a work of his power, just as is the sending of the snow. Symmachus explained this more clearly, saying: "And winter shall bring on winter rain with the showers of his strength." ^D

"He seals into the hand of every man, that every man may know his own weakness." Winter, he says, seals and, as it were, binds the hands of men and prevents them from working. Therefore, he says, God's creations are great; therefore there is cold and heat; therefore there is the unevenness of the air. For could he not have made the climate the best possible? But it is so that he might hinder from every side the swelling and rising up of the mind, and that every man might know his own weakness, all things... [index: entries preserved]

^A God has formed in the opposite way—both the creation, and the structure of the body, and the conduct of life—that we might learn moderation, recognizing our own weakness.

VERS. 8. • Introierunt autem bestiæ sub tegmen, et quieverunt super cubile. • Because of the harshness of the air, the beasts are hidden in woods and caves; for the severity of winter does not allow them to go forth, but compels them to keep themselves within.

VERS. 9, 10. • De promptuariis superveniunt dolores, et a summitatibus frigus, et a spiratione fortis dabit gelu. • Symmachus, however, says: *Ab insufflatione Dei dabitur glacies.* The sense of the words is ambiguous. For either it says this, that the pains which arise from extreme cold, as if from some storehouses, come forth from hidden places; and that from the ends and extremities, according to others, a whirlwind and storm ^B descends. Or rather, that from the innermost recesses, that is, from the bowels, pains befall those who have been frozen; while the extremities, that is, the tips of the body, are more afflicted by the cold than the other limbs. Moreover, ice is formed by the blowing of the wind; for he called the wind "the breath of the strong" because it is produced by the command of God.

• Gubernat autem aquam qualiter illi placuerit. • God, like a skilled pilot sitting at the helm, uses the water as it seems fit to His own wisdom.

VERS. 11. • Et electum format nubes. • For *format*, other copies have *obstupefacit*. He says, therefore, that the swirling and thickening of the air, and the assembly of the clouds, causes the "elect" man—that is, the prudent one—to labor under a mental darkness and to be struck with fear at such miracles. Symmachus, however, rendered it thus: *Sed et nubes fructui incumbet*; ^C so that the word *format* is used for *obumbrat*, and under the name of the "elect," the fruit is signified. Therefore, the cloud will incumb over the fruit—that is, will come upon it and be poured out over it.

• Disperget nubilum lucem ejus. • Either this means that the air, filled with clouds, dissipates and hides the light; or that the sun, with its own brilliance, dispels the gloom of the cloudy air; or that the clouds, colliding with one another, emit light—as if he were to say that clouds are the causes of lightning.

VERS. 12. • Et ipse circuitus transvertet. • He says that God Himself, commanding them to happen at the appointed time, drives and whirls the clouds around in a circle on every side; or, according to Symmachus: *Ipse per circuitum vertitur*; ^D that is, being everywhere present, He goes round and surveys all things.

• In Theebulathoth, in opera eorum, omnia quæ mandaverit eis. • Symmachus, however: *In gubernatione sua ut ea*

^A operentur; as if to say: He guides the water as He wills, for all these things are wrought for our governance. Other copies have it thus: *Placing his works in the lowest parts*, that is, doing these things for our sake who are upon the earth.

VERS. 13. « These things are established by Him upon the earth, whether for discipline, or for His land, or if he shall find him in mercy. »

God, he says, by His command and ordinance, brings about on earth those things which descend from the air; and these things come to be either for the chastisement of sinners, or for the fertility of the earth and the abundance of fruits, or for other causes unknown to us; yet certainly, in every case, for His mercy toward the human race, for one will find that it is by these causes that He performs these things. You may also add a word here, that such things happen either for correction and conversion, or for the fruits and growths of the earth, if only the earth should find God inclined toward mercy.

VERS. 14. « Give ear to these things, Job, stand instructed regarding the power of the Lord. ^B »

That is, store up in your mind what has been said, and ponder how great God’s power is. Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus rendered it thus: *Consider, understand, think.*

VERS. 15, 16. « We know that God has established His works, [Symmachus: *Will you know when God ordained concerning them?*] having made light out of darkness; and He knows the distinction of the clouds. »

We know, he says, that it is God who is the agent of these things, whose first word was: *Let there be light*, which previously did not exist—for this is what is meant by "out of darkness"—and it is He who distinguishes and divides the clouds, so that some of them pour out a large and copious rain, others drip down in drops, while others are converted into snow. But according to Symmachus: *Were you present when God was fashioning the world? When darkness covered the face of the waters? When He arranged all His works as He willed?* Yield, therefore, to the ^C power of God and to His incomprehensible judgments. These things were said by him, as he supposes, to strike fear into Job—Job, who had never abandoned the fear that makes one chaste, and who had said: *If I had not feared the hand of the Lord.*

« And the great downfalls of the wicked; but your garment is warm. »

He says this: You are now oppressed by pains and troubles, but afterwards you shall find rest. And this too is of God’s wisdom, to have devised for men a certain relief and end to evils: death. Your garment, therefore, he says, is still warm from the pains of the body, yet it is likely that you may await a cooling.

« He rests upon the earth from the South. »

He rests, he says, and is quiet upon the earth from the South—that is, when the South wind blows; for since it is by nature warm, it dissolves the ice and the cold. ^A

VERS. 18. « Firmaments with him for the ages, valid as the vision of a pouring out. »

For these words, Aquila translated: « He established the heaven for turnings, valid like the aspect of a suffusion »; so that the meaning is of this sort: He from of old made a valid and stable firmament out of the fluid and poured-out nature of the waters. Or if you prefer: He resolves the ice with the heat of the South wind, and again, the firmaments of the waters, and the congelations, and as it were the concretions into crystal, are with him; for sometimes he does this, and sometimes that. Although water, when frozen, has congealed into crystal, its aspect nevertheless is as the aspect of a suffusion—that is, of a watery and fluid substance. ^B

VERS. 19. « Why, teach me what we shall say to him; and we shall rest from saying many things. »

That is, we cannot ask him why these things have happened; if it were in our power to learn only these things, I would add nothing more.

VERS. 20. « Has a book or a scribe stood by me, that I should stand and make a man silent? »

Do we address him, he says, from a book? Is he a man, that one should say, "I will impose silence upon him"? Do you not see the whole creation filling the place of letters everywhere, and crying out? ^C

VERS. 21, 22. « Is not light visible to all? It is splendid in the ages, just as that which is from him upon the clouds. From the North, clouds of golden color. »

Is not, he says, the light set before the eyes of all? Does it not scatter its splendor from innumerable years? Just as, indeed, is also the thing that happens from God upon the clouds, it is manifest; for through the North wind he raises up clouds, by his command, golden-colored and pure.

VERS. 23. « In these is great glory, [but Theodotion says, In God there is great glory] and the honor of the Almighty; and we do not find another similar to his power. » ^D

From such things as these, he says, it is possible to infer that we owe great doxology to God, for those things with which he has honored our race, he who is endowed with incomparable wisdom and power.

« He who judges just things, do you not think that he hears them? »

Since Job had said above, « I cry out, and there is no justice »; now Elihu, as if seizing the occasion from his statement, says: Do not think that the just judge and caretaker of all things neglects our affairs; everything

^A he observes, and he hears all things, and assigns to each person according to his own just judgment.

« Therefore, men shall fear him; even the wise in heart shall fear him. » Since, he says, God is great, wise, and powerful, for these very reasons both the common and vulgar person ought to fear him; and even more so the wise man, to the extent that he is deemed worthy of deeper knowledge.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

Protheoria

query. Whereas the friends, indeed, had very good understanding of God and His wisdom, power, and majesty, but—not understanding the cause and reason for which they were being exercised by trials—affirmed that men suffered only because of sins, and employed importunate remarks, unsuitable for such a person, the just man himself proclaimed God's wisdom most excellently and most perfectly. Yet, being conscious of no crime in himself that would merit such great plagues, he did not at all agree with the friends who affirmed that he was paying the penalty for sins; nevertheless, the cause of his own struggle was not clear to him either. ^A Whence Elihu, coming into the middle, indeed does not condemn the just man, nor does he affirm that the afflictions were brought upon him on account of sins; and in this he seems to have surpassed the friends. But because he did not grasp the intention of Job, from which he appeared to have brought forth accusatory words against God, he blamed Job as speaking foolishly; yet Elihu told of the things concerning God's wisdom and power both well and wonderfully. Since, therefore, all were admiring the divine providence in a sound and orthodox sense, but were ignorant of the cause and reason for what had happened to Job, and that the plague was a gymnasium of virtue, and not a retribution for sins; the Lord, making a judgment concerning all that had been brought into the middle, approves by His own reckoning those things that were said rightly concerning His providence. And He Himself, for that reason, addressing Job with gentle speech and instructing us concerning His incomprehensible judgments, pursues these matters more fully. ^B But He rebukes the friends, because they had pronounced a sentence concerning things of which they were ignorant; and He neither praises Elihu (for he was unaware with what mind Job had brought forth his words, and was ignorant of the cause of the struggle), nor does He blame him, since he had not condemned the holy man. But He crowns the just man, proclaims him victor, refreshes him with words, explains what lay hidden, and openly puts forward the cause of the trial. For the just man, He says, did not suffer as though he were unjust, but so that his justice might be made manifest. And while He rouses and strengthens him with words, He teaches the mystery of the incarnation, and openly reveals, under the veil of words, the strength and impudence of the common enemy of humanity ^C (whom He calls the sea monster). After various struggles had been endured, and the consolation of the divine voice had come, health took flight toward him immediately, and he who had been entirely flowing with gore and teeming with worms was suddenly restored to his pristine state; acquaintances and relatives flocked from all sides and welcomed him with gifts; and all the goods of fortune followed, increased twofold, while his children were equal in number to those before; for they were not brought to nothing, those who had emigrated from the body. But because Job, ^D while indeed breathing the love of God in his mind, had used a more obscure phraseology (for it is manifest that he had felt rightly concerning God, even though to those by whom his mind was not at all perceived, he appeared to have brought forth words of contempt), since he had agreed with the words of Elihu, who was thinking rightly of God, yet he was silent and made no reply—from that point the Lord begins His words to him, as though he were silent and concealing his own counsel. [VARIE LECTIONES.]

^A VER. 1. *And after Elihu had ceased speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds.*

The divine voice is carried through the air to our hearing by the operation of God; for God does not emit a voice in a human manner, but as soon as He wills, the word is brought into action, and the divine utterances are heard by us. He speaks through the whirlwind and the clouds; for a whirlwind is a swirling of winds. Through the whirlwind, I suppose, He strikes with terror those standing around, leading them into fear; but through the cloud, He converse with the righteous, just as He did with Moses and Aaron. For the Psalmist says: *In a pillar of cloud He spoke to them.*

VER. 2. *Who is this that hides counsel from Me?* [Symmachus: *Dark of understanding?*] *but keeps words in his heart, and thinks to hide them from Me?*

No one, He says, can hide from Me; but I know even the movements of the heart, even if they are not announced by words.

VER. 3. *Gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you answer Me.*

Strengthening and confirming him, He says, "Gird up," that is, act manfully, cast away despondency; since you were longing to come into My conversation, behold, I now speak to you, behold, I fulfill your request; but you, as befits a man of strength, answer.

^B VER. 4. *Where were you when I founded the earth?*

It should be noted that now, for the first time, discourse concerning the creation of the world is introduced by the divine voice, and that God is the Creator of all things, and that the depths of His wisdom are unreachable, and that Job was ignorant not only of the subject of his own struggle, but that there are ten thousand other things whose reasons and causes are hidden. Therefore He says:

*Tell me, if you have understanding.*

That is, if you have understanding of the creation of the world, answer Me.

*Who set its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line upon it?*

Aquila and Symmachus rendered it, the one as "rule," the other as "measuring-cord." Using a similitude from our own builders, He spoke of measures and a cord—stretched for the evenness of buildings—^C and ^D a cornerstone, which connects both walls together. Tell Me, He says, if you know the measures of the earth, what is its foundation? Upon what does this heavy and great element rest?

*Upon what are its rings fixed?*

The others rendered it, "its bases," and "pulleys." He calls the supports "rings." In the first place, [it is] hung—

that is, [he asks] what sorts of rings carry it, clearly the earth? Not that such things truly exist, but [he speaks] as though it stands securely, just as if there were rings from above carrying it and [it were] fixed. For since a ring carries a body in mid-air, and that which is in mid-air does not stand firm, for this reason he says, "are fixed."

*And who is it that cast a cornerstone upon it?* ^B Because it stands thus firmly, as if upon a building, standing firmly upon the security of a foundation by the will of God; *For in his hand are the ends of the earth.* The cornerstone may also be understood as the only-begotten Son of God, who joined the two peoples to himself, just as, indeed, the cornerstone joins both walls.

*Verse 7. When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.*

The others, however, [say] "together with the sons of God." From this it is manifest that the angels were created first at the creation of the world. And *with a loud voice*, he says, they praised; that is, they were struck with amazement at the very sight of it, seeing the multitude, the beauty, the position, the use, the variety, the adornment, the splendor, the harmony, and all the other things which they perceive more accurately than we do.

*Verse 8. I shut in the sea with gates [that is, I enclosed it with certain boundaries by my command], when it made a roaring noise, coming forth out of its mother’s womb.* ^C

*It made a roaring noise*, that is, it was in a frenzy, carried away by a violent impulse, as if an infant prepared to be born from the abyss into the light, hastening to overflow the whole earth with its waters, had it not been hindered by the divine commands, which he called "gates." He calls the abyss its mother, or perhaps his own power, as the cause of its existence. Some copies, however, instead of *when it made a roaring noise* (*ἐμαίμασσεν*), have *when it was being midwived* (*ἐμαιοῦτο*); that is, when it was coming into being, then I walled it in. And for what reason does he say, *when it was being midwived*? In order to show that it came into being little by little, and was not produced thus all at once, but just as one being midwived, it was first poured out, then formed, and gathered into one.

*Verse 9. I set a cloud as its garment, and wrapped it in mist as a swaddling band.* ^D

Symmachus, however, [renders it]: *I wrapped it about as with a cloud*; for clouds and mists arise from it. And because he had made mention of a mother's womb, as if the discourse were about an infant, insisting upon the metaphor, he says, "I set," and "I wrapped in a swaddling band," which is, "I wrapped it about"; and with mist and clouds, as with an infant's rags, I wrapped it, that is, I covered it on all sides. Do not, however, imagine that the vapors which are generated from the waters are a work of nature, since this also comes to pass by my command. And why does he say, *wrapped it in a swaddling band*? Is it because the swaddling bands are as useful to the infant as the clouds and mists are [no less] necessary to the sea? Or [is it] because from the beginning—

^A this has been so? Or is it because this [band] holds it in? Or does it show a miracle, that it has surrounded [the sea], which is fluid by nature, with air? And that it is held in not only by the earth, but also by the air, so that it can be carried neither upward nor sideways beyond its measure, but is contained within its own limits?

VERS. 10. *And I set bounds for it, surrounding it with bars and gates.*

*This is similar to what is said above: "I shut up the sea with gates." For here, he calls the designation and stability of the bounds, which occur by his command, bars and gates. He says that the billows of the sea are shut in by boundaries, so that by transgressing these limits they might not do harm to the neighboring land.*

VERS. 11. *And I said to it: Hitherto you shall come, and you shall not go beyond, but in yourself your waves shall be broken.*

Symmachus: *Let the rising of your waves be stayed thus far.* For he holds it in as securely as if he were restraining it with bars and bolts; and with a business so easy, as if he commanded it only by a nod. For I said, he says, and it is not permitted to contradict my word. This happens, moreover, not only when no necessity drives it, but even when a great force and the violence of the waves lashes it. ^B Therefore, he did not want the sea to be tranquil and peaceful, so that, with its nature fighting against the command, and the command everywhere prevailing, it might proclaim the strength and power of God; for if the sea water had been peaceful, the masses would have attributed this beauty of order to nature; but now, when it is troubled, lashed by the beating of waves, and driven within, yet not able to pass its boundaries, through its very turbulence it announces the powers of God.

*Or have I commanded the morning light in your day?*

*Again, from this point he draws the discourse to the heavens, having previously spoken of the lower things. Was you present, he says, when I said: "Let there be light"? and as soon as the word was uttered, it was done.*

*And Lucifer perceived his order, [the others, "You made known the place of his dawn"] to take hold of the wings of the earth.*

Lucifer is the first of the stars. You have learned the order in the waters; ^C look at this same order in the heavens, and [learn] that even there things are not managed by nature, but by the providence of God. For if there is such great order and such rhythm in a fluid and disordered nature, when you see this also in the heavens, let the memory of the Creator come into your mind. To "take hold," moreover, means to traverse and go around, so that wherever it may be, it sheds light over the whole earth, even to the furthest ends; so that this is not to be wondered at in the sun, since this virtue is found even in the stars, and Lucifer illuminates the furthest edges of the earth with his light: it is said, indeed, that it can reach the farthest hinges of the earth in the space of one night. ^D

^A

Verse 14. "Or did you, taking clay from the earth, fashion a living creature, and appoint him endued with speech upon the earth?"

Of Olympiodorus, Severus, and Chrysostom.

"Or did you," he says, "O Job, having taken dust moistened with water, fashion man from the earth? And did you adorn him with reason, as I did, and show him to be the ornament of the world?" From this it is evident that other living beings did not possess the rational faculty, for he would not have bestowed it upon man as something exceptional; for he calls "endued with speech" the rational animal. And the words, "appointed upon the earth," mean to be commanded to rule over all things that are upon the earth. For my part, I admire God for both these things: that He made the human body subject to corruption, and that within that corruption He demonstrated His own power and wisdom. For the cheapness of the substance truly manifests the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the craftsman—that into mire and ashes He infused such harmony, and such senses, so varied and diverse, and capable of such high philosophy. For from earth, the material that usually provides only for tiles and bricks, He had the power to fashion an eye so beautiful, and to instill in it such power that, by the perception of a small pupil, it is able to see and encompass such a multitude of bodies.

Verse 15. "And have you taken away the light from the impious, and broken the arm of the proud?"

To punish the impious and to shatter their strength is the work of the divine right hand and efficacy. ^B

Verse 16. "Or have you come to the fountain of the sea, or walked in the footsteps of the abyss?"

He transfers the discourse back to the sea and says: Do you know from where the sea drew its beginning? Or have you understood by knowledge the footprints, that is, the furthest bounds of the abyss? He mentions a "fountain," not because the sea flows from a spring, but as if it were to gush forth from a fountain so as never to fail.

Verse 18. "Or have you known the breadth of that which is under heaven?"

That is, have you understood, perceived, or accurately measured the breadth of the earth?

"Tell me, then, how great it is?"

Tell me its diameter. I do not say, He says, that you cannot do any of the things that have been made by Me, but that you do not even understand the way and the reason by which they were made, nor are you able to grasp their nature and contemplate each thing with accuracy. By these words God instructs Job concerning the gap and the distinction that is set between them. ^{C D}

Verses 19-21. "Or in what land does the light dwell [others: resides, rests]? Or what is the place of darkness? If you lead me to their boundaries, or if you know their paths [Symmachus: the ways of their dwelling]? You know, therefore, that you were born then, and that the number of your days is great?"

^B He teaches here that the brevity of human life does not permit a man to know many things. And why, he says, do I speak of the elements? Tell me those things that concern yourself: when were you born? Yet you would not have known this, had you not learned it from others. But how much time remains for your life? You are ignorant of what pertains to you yourself; how then could you claim for yourself knowledge of those things which were from the beginning? The boundary of light and darkness is the command of God, which serves them as a limit.

^C VERS. 22, 23. “Or have you entered into the storehouses of the snow? or have you seen the storehouses of the hail? which are reserved for you against the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war.”

Of Chrysostom and Olympiodorus: He calls them storehouses, not because they are warehouses, but because he shows them whenever it pleases him, shaking them out as if from a treasury ready for use. Do you know, therefore, he says, by what method I cause snow and hail, which are not seen, to appear? Or are you able to use these against enemies, as I am able to do? You see that by these words he wishes to indicate the timeliness of these things, namely that it happens at a suitable time, and not without purpose; for he uses snow and hail against enemies, and when he wishes to punish some with retribution. Next, he discusses all the other things—I mean rains, and frost, and winds.

^D VERS. 24, 25. “And whence does the frost proceed, or is the south wind scattered into that which is under heaven? And who has prepared a track for the violent rain?” [The others: “And who has prepared a watercourse for the flood?”] Whence then is the frost? Or how does the south wind blow over all that is under heaven? How does the rain pour down abundantly? Whence are the thunders (for he calls the thunder a ‘tempest’)? And how is the snow, being solid and hard, liquefied by the heat of the south wind? According to the saying: “As a torrent in the south.” Are these things, he says, the products of human art? Are they not works of secret wisdom? Wind, moreover, is a flow of air, taking on other names according to the changes of the places from whence it flows.

VERS. 26, 27. “And a way for tempests, to rain upon the earth where there is no man, a wilderness where there is no human being in it, to satisfy the pathless and the uninhabitable, and to cause the outgoings of green grass to sprout.” You see that God is not powerful in one part only, but in all things; for the rain, he says, pours down even upon the uninhabited land—God evidently providing also for the beasts—and the wilderness thrives and brings forth green grass without any human industry.

^A

VERS. 28-30. ‹ Who is the father of rain? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? from whose womb cometh the ice? and the frost in heaven, who hath brought it forth, or does it descend like flowing water? ›

Can you say, he asks, who is the father of the rain? Or who has begotten the drops of dew, that is, the co-agglomerations of ice or frost, which, forming in the firmament (for he calls the air, which is on high, "heaven" in this place), flow down like water, and descending, congeal the rivers like the fig-juice by which milk is coagulated? Are these not works of divine wisdom? Regarding the "womb," he says, not that frost and ice emerge from a womb; God forbid! What, then, is to be understood here by the name of birth and womb? Just as when he speaks about the sea, "When it was mother to it," he does not mean the mother of the sea, but indicates its formation and its cause; so also in this place he speaks regarding the ice, not that it truly came forth from a womb. For what reason, then, did he frequently usurp the name of childbirth here? It seems to me that he did this not only to intimate that He is the first and only Creator of all things, but also that created things were formed before they were perfected and rendered complete in all their measurements. Thus, even if these things are spoken of in relation to the Son, some bring them forward in vain; for there, in the case of the Son, one may find "Son" and "I have begotten" and "the Only-begotten" and other things of this sort; but here there is nothing of the kind.

‹ Who has terrified the face of the ungodly? › According to the literal sense, this is to be understood concerning every ungodly person; but according to the inner meaning, concerning the devil, whom the Only-begotten Son of God, who is also the Creator of the creation, has utterly destroyed. ^B

VERS. 31. ‹ Or have you understood the bond of the Pleiades? › But Symmachus: "Or will you join together the parts of the Pleiades?" That is, What necessity, what bond keeps them together, and causes the stars to gather in a flock? Is it the work of your prudence that they are bound together in this way, and that the stars which constitute the Pleiades are situated together in this manner? Or do you know the cause for which they are thus harmonized with one another?

‹ And have you opened the fence of Orion? › Since Orion appears at a certain time, are you, he says, the cause that he is hidden as if by an interposed partition, and appears again? ^C

VERS. 32. ‹ Or will you open Mazuroth in his time? › He calls the gathering and collection of the stars "Mazuroth," which in common usage are called the signs of the Zodiac. How then, he says, are these enclosed by barriers, and how do they appear at their appointed times? Others, however, say that the word Mazuroth is Hebrew, and signifies the celestial dog. Do you, therefore, he says, open up things that are hidden, and reveal each one in its proper time?

‹ And will you lead the Evening star upon his hair [mane]? › He calls the extraordinary excellence and beauty of the radiance "hair." Do you, therefore, he says, lead Hesperus, the star ^D

^A that shines most brightly and most resplendently, and bring him forth as he shines so clearly?

“Do you understand the changes of the heaven, or the things that happen under the heaven all together? Will you call the cloud with a voice? And will the water of the torrent obey you in trembling?”

Do you know, he says, the changes of the air, or, to encompass it in one word, the reason for all things that happen under heaven, how they occur? But are you able to command the clouds, so that they might obey your injunction as if trembling, laden with water? And will the force of the waters and the rain obey you as if they were animate beings?

“Will you send forth the lightnings, and will they go? Will they say to you, 'What is it?'” ^B

As if the lightnings were certain servants: are they ordered by you to go against those for whom they are sent? And being prepared for the command, will they not, as it were, utter a voice and say: “Behold, we are here; what is it that you bid us to do?”

“Who is it that counts the clouds in wisdom, and inclined the heaven to the earth?”

Symmachus, however, says: “Or who gave understanding to the foolish?” Who, he says, is it that prepares the clouds to be arranged in number, and not without measure, but for use? And who is it that fashioned the heaven to be circular, so that it seems to those gazing from afar that it touches the extremities of the earth? For this is what “inclined” means.

“And it is poured out like ash upon the earth.” ^C

He hints at its fineness, of which Isaiah also speaks, saying that it is like smoke. And the heaven is poured around the earth, which is black, like ash, because of its radiance.

“And I have joined it together as a stone cube.”

By saying “like a cube,” he placed before our eyes its stability, firmness, and at the same time its shape. I have made even the most fine-spun nature of the heaven so solid, he says, as if one were to fit a stone cube together and make it cubic. A cube is a figure that, having a square or circular base, ends in a point. Some, however, say the shape is like a cup.

“Will you hunt prey for the lions, or satisfy the souls of the dragons? For they were afraid in their lairs, and they sit in the forests lying in wait.” ^D

Who granted the lion its hunting nature? Who satisfies the dragons with food? Who taught the wild beasts to lie in wait, and to make an attack on some for the sake of an abundance of food?

“And who prepared food for the raven? For its young have cried out to the Lord, wandering, seeking for grain.”

But God also provides for the birds, he says; for through a part he indicated the whole. For it is said that the raven does not nourish its offspring out of gluttony, but leaves the fledglings neglected; and those oppressed by hunger with a cry

use a certain natural means to call upon God, and are fed by certain small creatures that develop in their nests. Who then is the one who feeds them? Is it not the Word of God? For the fledglings of ravens cry out to Him after wandering far, seeking to receive food from Him, who gives not simply to the fledglings of ravens, but to those who call upon Him, not by word, but by need and natural impulse.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

^AVER. 5. « If you have known the time of the calving of the wild goats of the rock, or have watched the travail of the hinds, or have numbered the months of their full delivery, and untied their birth pangs, and reared their young without fear, and sent forth their offspring? »

But you do not even know, he says, the most insignificant things, namely how the hind and the wild goat (that is, the wild goat) at their proper time give birth in caves covered and protected by nature within the rocks; and what number of months is granted to them for the carrying of their young; and how they deliver them once the birth pangs are ended; how they provide milk to their newborn, and they are nourished without fear or dread?

VER. 4. « They will cast off their young, they will be multiplied in offspring, they will go forth, and will not return to them. »

And how, he says, do mothers, having forgotten natural affection, abandon their grown young? Yet they, departing from their mothers and grazing on the produce of the earth, are multiplied and return to them no more?

VER. 5-7. « And who is it that sent out the wild ass free, and who loosed his bonds? I have set his dwelling in the desert, and his tabernacles in the salt land; mocking the many crowds of the city, and not hearing the complaint of the tax collector. »

^BAdhering to the letter: Whence, he says, is the wild ass granted the liberty of being its own master? Whence is it that it does not submit to the commands of men, but has the desert as its dwelling and place of habitation, and sets its tabernacle in salty and solitary places? But to the deeper sense, the solitary life is described by these words, as one set apart from worldly things and those which move and entice the senses. From this it appears clearly that this discourse must be understood by us allegorically; for this ass does not listen to the complaint of a tax collector, ^C but the spiritual man, who does not suffer nor endure to listen to that tax collector who is conceived of by the intellect, who, as if exacting some tribute, compels those under his power to bear burdens, to submit to the yoke of wicked perturbations, and to serve pleasures.

VER. 8. « He will search out the mountains for his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing. »

According to history and the truth of the matter, the wild ass, roaming the mountains, searches out herbs so that it may feed on them; but according to theory, the spiritual man ^D

^A contemplates the conversation of those who are in heaven and seeks not present things, but those which are held in the vernal age, in the age that is to come, in that which is full of hope; and he rests in the flourishing oracles of the divine Word, and satiated there with food and great delight at once, he is led toward the life which has no end.

VERS. 9-12. « Will the monoceros [unicorn] be willing to serve thee, or to sleep at thy manger? And wilt thou bind its yoke with thongs, or will it draw thy furrows in the plain? ^B Dost thou trust in him because his strength is great, or wilt thou leave thy works to him? And wilt thou trust that he will render the seed to thee, and will bring it into thy threshing floor? »

According to history and the truth of the matter, the monoceros, which Aquila called a rhinoceros—because it has a horn in the middle of its forehead—being a most valiant animal, is untamable, trusting in its strength and in the sharpness of its horn. For it does not endure, he says, to lie in a manger, nor to cut a furrow, nor to plow, nor to till the land, nor to gather the produce into a threshing floor. But according to theory, the holy man is a monoceros because he looks only to God ^C and trusts in Him, despising all earthly things.

VERS. 13-15. « The wing of those that rejoice is the neelassa [Symmachus: The wing of exultation grows around], if the asida and the nessa shall have conceived, because it leaves its eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust; and it has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the beasts of the field will trample them. »

He sets out to relate the difference between certain birds, and that some of them are endowed by God with prudence, while others are more imprudent; and he says that while the neelassa is pleasant to the sight, the asida and the nessa have been created imprudent, ^D since, when they have conceived and laid their eggs, they warm them under the earth, as if forgetting that they will be scattered by the feet of men and trampled by the beasts of the field. And the asida is the heron, according to Aquila, or the stork, as some who have misunderstood have said; for the stork does not lay its eggs on the ground, but in the high parts of trees; and those who have written about the nature of birds have said that the stork is a different genus from the asida. But that the asida was created without prudence by divine dispensation is not without reason: for it is endowed with such bulk of body and strength that it can despise a horseman, yet it does not have prudence combined with its strength; which is the cause that all its chicks are not preserved unharmed from destruction, and that its kind is not therefore multiplied. Truly, the verse can also be understood thus: The neelassa is a pleasing sight to those who take delight in birds.

VERS. 16. « It has hardened its young, so that they might not [be] its own. »

This bird, he says, so that it might not weary itself with the trouble and labor of feeding its chicks, has become hardened against the natural affection for its offspring, and having rejected its eggs, has allowed its chicks to perish from labor and starvation.

^A * "She labored in vain without fear." Since she did not fear for the loss of her chicks, but neglected them, she labored in vain, for her chicks were not altogether preserved. ^B * "For God has caused her to be silent in wisdom, and has not imparted intellect to her." Symmachus, however, says: "And He did not distribute intellect to her." The bird suffers this because, he says, God kept silent—that is, He held back and took away wisdom from her, and did not measure out nor deposit intelligence within her. * "When there is time, he will lift himself up on high; he will mock the horse and his rider." The ostrich, he says, placing his confidence in flight, during his flight, as they say, mocks the horse and his rider because of his strength and stature. ^B * "Did you clothe the horse with strength [Theodotion and Symmachus rendered it as 'neighing,' while Theodotion rendered it as 'a cry'], and did you clothe his neck with fear?" Did you, he says, make the horse powerful and high-necked, so that he appears terrifying by the arching of his neck, or by the neighing that comes forth from his neck? * "And did you cast armor upon him, and the glory of his breast with boldness?" Does he not, by carrying a heart full of confidence in his breast, as if he were armed by your works, take on boldness and courage? ^C * "Digging up the field, he exults [who, he says, stamping the earth with his foot, exults and snorts], and he proceeds into the field in strength; meeting a missile, he mocks it, and he will not turn back from the sword." He marches through the field to war; or, according to the others, to the encounter of weapons and armored men, fearing neither the missile nor the edge of the iron; according to other copies: "meeting a king, he mocks him," for he does not know how to discern dignity. * "Upon him rejoices the bow and the sword, and anger will destroy the earth." ^D * Symmachus, however, says: "In commotion and anger, as if devouring." Thus, he says, he is disposed, as if ready to destroy the earth, clearly through his rider, who carries a bow and a sword, and who in his anger will cause the land of the enemy to disappear. Then he also adds his orderly manner: * "He will not believe until the trumpet gives the signal; but when the trumpet gives the signal, he says: 'Courage!' and he scents the battle from afar with a leap and a cry." As long as there is no signal for battle, the animal is inclined toward movement; it does not, however, leap or rush forward against the enemy—for this is what "he will not believe" signifies, a metaphor taken from those who are "unbelieving" because of their excessive desire—but when the trumpet has sounded fearfully, he perceives that it is the time for battle, and he rejoices.

If, however, someone were to say that these things regarding the horse do not belong to nature but to training, let him know that even a human could not teach it if the animal were not naturally suited for this, since not even we humans are trained in the sciences unless we are naturally apt for learning. God therefore reveals His ineffable wisdom through these small things, so that we might learn ^A not to investigate the great and hidden things with too much curiosity.

VERS. 26. "By your understanding does the hawk take flight, spreading its wings motionless, looking toward the south?"

Does your intelligence and knowledge, He says, teach the hawk to be carried through the motionless air with wings spread out? It is said that the hawk spreads its wings toward the southern regions of the sky and stands as if erect in the air, watching its prey from afar, and thus flies down upon it. How, then, it says, did He make it hover in the air? How did He provide food for it?

VERS. 27–30. "And at your command is the eagle exalted? [Have you commanded the eagle to fly on high?] The vulture dwells, sitting upon its nest, on the crag of the rock and in secret; being there, it seeks its food; its eyes watch from afar, and its young are splattered with blood, and wherever there are corpses, they are found immediately."

^B The phrase "at your command" must be repeated: Does the vulture, sitting on a high and steep rock, gifted with speed and keenness of sense, smell and perceive where corpses are in order to provide food for itself? Have you taught the vulture's young, while still small, to feed on flesh and to love blood? According to the literal sense, this is the meaning; but according to the spiritual interpretation, the vulture is the impure man, devoted to the love of flesh, slow toward virtue but quick to satisfy his gluttony; he, leaving behind what is present and lying before his feet, looks at things far away and says, "Now I will enjoy delights and pleasures, and afterwards I will repent," whose thoughts always settle upon dead works and deeds. ^C

VERS. 31, 32. "And the Lord God answered Job and said: Shall one who disputes with the Almighty decline? And he who argues with God, will he answer it?"

Symmachus, however, says: "Will he who enters into judgment with the Almighty come out the victor? Will he who disputes with God answer anything in return?" In the first part of the discourse, God had set His wisdom and power before the eyes of Job, but now He turns the address toward him. For since He had granted him time to answer, but had received no response, He answers again Himself and says, Will you, He says, dispute with Me concerning these things? Do you know how these things happen? And having perceived the causes ^D of these things, [will you correct the judgment I have set before you? That is, the reasoning...]

I have placed before you, answer. ^A He says these things, not as though he were ignorant of Job’s pious mind, but wishing to show the friends what manner of man he was toward God, by those things which he answers.

Protheoria

When Job, a lover of God and conscious of his own measure, heard the divine voice unexpectedly inviting him to mutual conversation and to the refutation of what had been said, he rejoiced, as was natural; yet at the very beginning he confesses his own weakness, and yields the palm of victory to God. For divine wisdom requires nothing else than that we confess it to be admirable by our silence, and that we admire it as incomprehensible in arcane stillness. ^B

VERS. 33, 34. *But Job answering, says to the Lord: What judgment do I yet undergo, being admonished, and refuting the Lord, hearing such things, while I am nothing?*

At the beginning of the encounter, he yielded the first place to God: By you, he says, I am overcome; why do you prolong the suit further? For what can be answered? Or in what way is it fitting to look upon such a Master? I did not cease to inquire the cause of the plague which was inflicted upon me, but I did not in any way accuse God’s handiwork. Why, therefore, Lord, am I judged? Why do I hear these things, and why am I reproved as though it were in my mind to vituperate God, when I am of no value and absolutely nothing?

*But I, what answer shall I give to these things? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. [VERS. 35] Once have I spoken, but I will not add to it.*

What, says he, shall I put forward against the things that have been said? I judge it more prudent to admire your incomprehensible wisdom in silence. For I was speaking when the discourse was with men, and when I was condemned as one paying the penalty for sins; but as for the rest, that is, those things which touch upon the wisdom and power of God, it is not permitted to add anything, nor is it right to mutter or contradict. These things also serve for our instruction, that we may not curiously inquire into those things which have been set forth by God.

CAP. XL.

Protheoria

Here also the utmost kindness of God toward the human race appears. ^D For when Job, with the reverence that becomes a saint, had declined the dissertation with God, and had confessed himself to be nothing, God, who is kind and a lover of equity, speaks to him clemently and at the same time in a friendly manner with these words: Do not be silent, but speak, be of good courage; for I have not given you an answer for any other reason than to manifest your righteousness. Furthermore, God instructs us of His power and excellence through His colloquy and discourse with the righteous man; and discussing the beasts, He introduces also the discourse concerning the dragon: which some...

^A in accordance with history have supposed to be an animal, excelling in strength and size; others, however, have said that this is Leviathan, who in the beginning served the devil and deceived Eve. For the Hebrews call great sea-monsters Leviathan. But the majority of those who have shone in the Church have, in their own expositions and writings, allegorically referred what is written to the devil. As for me, whether there is such an animal, I cannot say; for I have neither seen it myself, nor heard from others that they have seen it. But that what is written is rightly referred to the apostate dragon, the great intellectual Pharaoh of the Egyptians—that is, Satan—and that such a contemplation is in accordance with the divine oracles, I strongly agree. For to whom was it becoming, if not to God alone, to delineate, as if in a bodily representation, the malice and impudence of the demon, the author of all evil, so that, being struck by the fear of the beast, we might take refuge in the Lord who subdued him? ^B That Scripture frequently, while speaking as if about bodily things, directs us toward intellectual realities, because it does not discuss mysterious things openly, but with concealment, is, I suppose, manifest to everyone who has attended even a little to the sense of the divinely inspired Scripture; for the Song of Songs discusses entirely bodily things, yet it is a mystical book and looks in its entirety toward allegory. Whether, therefore, such a beast also exists historically, I am not yet persuaded; nevertheless, I do not wish to be contentious. That it is the devil, however, whom the Scripture hints at seemed to be the case to many holy men and to those outstanding in the Church; wherefore, according to this understanding, we shall attempt to interpret the word concerning this subject.

«And the Lord continuing, said to Job from the cloud, Nay, but gird your loins like a man; I will question you, and do you answer me.» ^C

Do not be silent, but gird your loins like a man, that is to say, rouse yourself, be a man, cast off dejection, and considering who it is that is questioning you, give a manly answer. But regarding the sense: the chaste man girds his loins, because seeds are said to be in the loins; wherefore Levi was also said to be in the loins of his father when Abraham offered the tithes to Melchisedec. ^D And one girds his loins like a man who has his loins girded by the truth of doctrines, who is rich in temperance and orthodox dogmas, who has put away the things of a child and, having become a man, has received the increase in knowledge.

«Do not repel my judgment.»

Since Job was eager to speak before God regarding the things that had happened to him, trusting in His righteous judgment, and was saying to his friends that when God judges, I know that...

I shall appear just. God brings the just man to the understanding of these things, saying: "Do not refuse to go to trial, nor flee from My judgment; be judged before Me. Or do you think that I have spoken to you for any other reason than that you may appear just?" It is not to condemn you, He says, that I say these things, but to show you to be just. He speaks regarding the temptation, calling the permission to suffer a "pronouncement"—that is, "Do not think that I ordered this to happen for any other reason, but that I might publish your righteousness to all, for your own glory and for the benefit of the inhabited world." Observe, moreover, that He did not say, "That you may become just"—for he had been diligently practicing righteousness—but, "That you may appear as what you were, so that you may instruct others."

^B

"Is your arm like that of the Lord?" Here God demonstrates His own power to Job for two reasons: "I permitted you to be struck," He says, "not as one warring against you, nor as one moved to anger, but that you might appear just; for what strength is there in you that I should enter into battle against you?" Or otherwise: Since He had said to him, "For this reason I gave you an answer, that you may appear just," lest he should take an opportunity from this for pride (even if blessed Job had not labored under that ailment of soul), He immediately reveals His own power in order to restrain arrogance, which is generally the companion of those who enjoy prosperous fortune—even if the blessed man would not have suffered from this. But since these words are for the public benefit, it behooves us always to be restrained, even if we reach the highest pinnacle of virtue, while contemplating the ineffable majesty of God. "Have you, therefore," He says, "strength so as to contend against God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?"

"Gird yourself now with highness and power, and clothe yourself with glory and honor; send forth angels in wrath, and humble every contumelious person, and extinguish the arrogant, and consume the impious immediately; hide them in the earth together, and fill their faces with ignominy: then will I confess that your right hand can save."

Deinde subjungit: "Assume for yourself," He says, "those things that naturally belong to God; clothe yourself in glory, clothe yourself in honor, and use the angels, if you can, for the punishment of the contumelious and the arrogant; destroy the impious utterly; cast them away to a distance; make them waste away with rot as you punish them, and indeed immediately—that is, without any hindrance and whenever you wish—put them to shame, and bury them in dust. If you can perform these things, you will have Me as a witness to your power."

"But surely, behold the beasts are with you, they eat grass like oxen."

^A Some have interpreted the beasts as the worms born of putrefaction, which were devouring the flesh of Job. For He says, "I have withdrawn my hand from you, and behold your flesh is consumed like grass." Others, however, wish by the name of the beasts to signify the opposing powers, according to the verse: "Do not deliver to the beasts the soul that confesses to Thee." Therefore, He says, in you, and in everyone who is instructed with the gift of patience, these beasts become tame and are subjected; yet it sometimes happens that, through the negligence of the tamer, after they have been brought to mild affections and have learned to eat hay like oxen, they become wild again and resume their beastly ferocity.

"Behold, indeed, his strength is in his loins, and his power is in the navel of his belly."

If you take these words regarding the animal subject to the senses, Scripture testifies to its strength and at the same time shows the place in which its force resides: the loins are the place; or, according to the version of Aquila, the back; or, as Symmachus gave it, the flanks. ^B But Scripture, attributing a bodily person to the devil, describes him from the operations of the body; and because the seminal vessels are held in the loins, it says that his power is in the loins, that is: this is his first power and force which he exerts against man, to make him a fornicator; for hence, in fornication, the power of the beast has its origin; and not only in the loins, but also in the navel. You shall understand this in this way: either that it issues into gluttony, from which the base affections are also stirred up—for the satiety of the belly is the root and beginning of fornication—so that through the navel, fornication and every base pleasure is modestly signified. Or, because the navel occupies the middle place of the whole body, he says the ^C strength of the devil is fixed in the middle; and since he exists only as evil, and never inclines toward good, he remains unmoved on all sides; moreover, the nerves drawn from the spine tightly bind the navel, so that deservedly in this place, as in the back, the animal's strength is situated. Perhaps also the same member is called "loins" in a man, and to denote the female sex, it is called by Scripture "navel"; so that it might show that Satan wars not only against those who have the seed, but also against the female sex. He named it with the greatest propriety as "loins" in the male, and "navel of the belly" in the female; for the discourse had to come to what is seemly in a woman.

"He has erected his tail like a cypress." ^D

The tail is the end, but the cypress is a hard and robust tree. He says, therefore, that he perseveres to the end with a hard and stubborn mind. But since the righteous man is compared to a cypress because of his sweetness, the pleasantness of his odor, and the firmness of his strength, and since the ministers of Satan transfigure themselves into angels of light, he says here that his tail—that is, the power which follows behind him—pretends to be a cypress, which the righteous man expresses: such also is the Antichrist, who is the tail of the devil, and who is to come at the end of the age.

^A ‹ And his nerves are intertwined. › His nerves, that is, his craftiness, are full of complication and entanglements, and are not easily dissolved. There are, moreover, certain people who are like limbs of the devil and his intertwined nerves; he who dissolves their snares fulfills the saying of Isaiah: "Loose every bond of iniquity" (Isa. LVIII, 6).

‹ His ribs are of bronze. › Ribs are frauds, cunning arts, and machinations; and truly they are oblique and transverse, because the thoughts of the adversary are perverse. They are of bronze either because they stubbornly resist the truth, or because glowing copper mimics gold, and Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Otherwise: just as a woman was made from the rib of Adam, and, in that story, the minister of sacred things contemplated Christ and the Church, so the synagogues of heretics—which are not imbued with the mind of Christ, but rather possess a falsely named "knowledge"—are understood as the ribs of Satan.

‹ And his spine is cast iron. › Symmachus, however, says: "As the joints of iron." From the smelting of iron filings, invincible weapons are forged; the spine, moreover, is the connection of all the limbs together, and that which comprises all the affections, and from which they individually proceed, is understood by the name of "spine." Alternatively, since animals carry burdens imposed on their backs, by the spine, which is iron and cannot be bent by obedience (for the anvil is untamed), he denoted his strength. And just as such men in the Church are called members of Christ, according to the analogy of each—one, indeed, is an eye, another a foot, and so on for the rest—so also those who occupy themselves with the works of Satan are understood, according to the measure of their own wickedness, as members of the dragon.

^C ‹ This is the beginning of the formation of the Lord. › Others say: "The head of the ways of the strong one." Some assert that he was created by God first; others, however, refusing to say that the first creature could be subject to change, deny that he was the first, but maintain that he held the chief principality among the angels, from which he fell, having raised his hands against God, since he was one of the first princes, according to the passage: "And like one of the princes you fall" (Ps. LXXXI, 7). ^D Others, however, say that God fashioned and made man, and that dominance over men was granted by God to Lucifer, but that he abused the power, fell away from God, and became the author inducing men to do the same; they use that testimony of the Apostle: "According to the prince of this age" (Ephes. II, 2). Still others deny that he obtained power over men from God, but that men, on account of the perturbations of their souls and their pleasures, voluntarily and of their own free will subjected themselves to the tyrannical yoke of the devil. The "beginning," therefore, he says, of the formation of the Lord—that is, of men—is those who chose to suffer this voluntarily. But those who, according to the history, understand the dragon to be an animal...

I have said that prior to all creatures of the sea he was produced, and for this reason he is called the "beginning of the Lord’s creation," by which is clearly meant those generated in the sea. ^A

• "Made to be mocked by his angels." • Symmachus says: "Made to be brought to his sword." For since the dragon had fallen away from God, he subsequently became a laughingstock both to the holy angels of God and to men who are equal to angels.

• "Coming to a precipitous mountain, he made joy for quadrupeds in Tartarus." The "precipitous mountain" refers to the incarnate Word. When the devil approached Him and arranged for Him to be crucified, the demons deserving of Tartarus took joy, as did the men who were like beasts and cattle, being ignorant of the economy accomplished through the cross. Perhaps, however, joy also came to those held in Hades, who enjoyed the descent of the Savior there. But if those who lived more brutishly rejoiced, how much more so did the saints! ^B

• "Under all kinds of trees he sleeps." He rests, he says, in those who do not persevere with a firm mind, about whom it is written: "Autumnal trees without fruit."

• "Beside the papyrus, and the reed, and the rush." These are the fuel and food for fire. He dwells, therefore, under those soft, listless, and fruitless souls which provide material for the fire. For he dwells willingly in those who are soft, delicate, and who pursue a salty, voluptuous, and dissolute life. For this reason, the Lord descended into the waters, that He might crush him there. ^C

• "And large trees with branches give him shade." Symmachus says: "with offshoots." He likely means this: that certain great demons, and those who yield to them in wickedness, dwell together with him; or that he insinuates himself equally among small and great men and attempts to bring them under his own power.

• "And branches of the agnus-castus." Aquila says: "willows of the torrent." Since many who have professed purity have often shared his lot, like the foolish virgins and those who speak evil of marriage. Perhaps, however, the Scripture used the agnus-castus, or the willow, in this place not as a symbol of purity, but merely to indicate softness. ^D

• "If there be a flood, he will not feel it." That is to say, even if the whole earth is filled with knowledge, just as much water covers the seas, he will continue in

^A Yet he remained in his wickedness; and although the Evangelical doctrine, like the waters of a river, has made glad that which is under heaven, according to that word: "And I will decline towards them like a river of peace," cleansing and vivifying the earth; yet he has not perceived its meaning, nor has he returned to a better fruit; or, as Symmachus rendered it: "He will not be afraid."

"He trusts that the Jordan will flow into his mouth," [Vers. 19] in his eye he will take it, with a hook he will pierce his nose.

Symmachus: "He will be pierced in the nose with a brooch." Relying on his art of calumny, and using the works of the Greeks, the Jews, and the Manichaeans, who are possessed by him and do not admit the redemption accomplished through the Jordan, he insolently attacks the divine grace with cavilous words, making light of it. He takes the Jordan in his eye, that is, he observes those who approach grace and rages against them. But the dragon is wounded, his nostrils are pierced, and he casts down the nose of blasphemy when he strikes himself against the cross. Or that saying, "he will pierce the nose," means that he will subdue him, a metaphor taken from oxen, which are led hither and thither by their pierced nostrils; just as if he were to say: "The nostrils also, and the teeth, and the whole face of the dragon have been crushed." But if these things are to be understood of some animal, such as a whale, Scripture here places its size and power before our eyes, and says that the animals in Tartarus and in the waters, to which this beast had been hostile and had laid snares, rejoice whenever it is carried to the land by some surge; and when it is driven to a mountain or somewhere to the shore, ^B by the bulk of its body it shades and covers not only the smallest plants, but even the greatest. Such is the size of its body that, even if much water is poured over it, it does not feel it at all, being, as it were, covered and overwhelmed by the mass of waters; indeed, it will even take almost the whole Jordan into its throat, and with its eye open, will take its water into it; yet, nevertheless, this creature, which is of such vast body, will be crushed if it is cast out by the violence of the surge and its face is dashed against a rock.

VERS. 20. "But will you lead the dragon with a hook?"

The rest [translate] "Leviathan." I believe that the aforementioned whale and the dragon here are one and the same, since the Hebrew contains the word "Leviathan" in both cases, and other dragons are not so called by the Hebrews, but each has names proper to its own kind; yet the dragon, which is referred to as denoting the prince of the opposing powers, is specifically called by the name "Leviathan," as if he claimed this particular appellation for himself. Can you, he says, O Job, perform what was later accomplished by the Only-Begotten? For by his own flesh, offered to him as a bait, and by his own nails, as if they were hooks, he hunted the fish. "And will you place a halter around his nose?" ^D

^A *Or will you pierce his lip with a ring?* Theodotion: *And with a bridle you will pierce his jaw.* He uses "armilla" (ring/bracelet) instead of "barrier." Just as Christ stitched shut his lips with a ring and a barrier, so that he might no longer boast, and bound his nose with a ring, just as one tames a bull and removes his arrogance—for a nail, when driven in and rounded off, becomes a ring—and placed a halter upon him, allowing him to be mocked. Furthermore, an "armilla" is an ornament of the hand, which represents good work; he, therefore, who wears such an armilla will pierce the lip of the dragon, with the devil, who is the enemy, suffused with shame and having nothing he can mutter against him.

*Will he speak to you with prayer, and softly with supplication? Will he enter into a covenant with you?* ^B This he says because the demons begged the Lord not to cast them into the abyss; or because Satan said to the Lord: *All these things I will give to you.* Will he, then, he asks, address you with bland speech? Will he enter into a covenant with you, so as no longer to make war against you?

*Will you take him as a perpetual servant?* A servant becomes so either by the choice of his will, as one who chooses of his own accord to serve God; or by compelling necessity, as a captive who is kept in chains: which is what happened to the devil.

*Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him as with a sparrow for a child?* ^C Having bound the enemy, our Lord has given him to be mocked, like a sparrow, by those who have been converted and have become as children.

*Nations will feast upon him, and the nations of the Phoenicians will divide him between them.* [Aquila: *They will divide him among the Canaanites.*] Phoenicia was previously called Canaan; for the Gospels call the Syrophoenician woman a Canaanite; and the Canaanites were idolaters. He says, therefore, that those who worship idols, and who are stained with the blood of the altars, each committing one crime or another, and each taking a certain portion from the dragon, divide the dragon among themselves; this is said because the Canaanites and Phoenicians are infamous and inglorious on account of their wickedness. ^D If, however, the discourse is about the perceptible dragon, by these words his size and power are set before our eyes, and the fact that he cannot be bound and handed over to a child, like a sparrow, for mockery.

*Every vessel coming together will not be able to carry one skin of his tail, and in the ships of the fishermen his head.* The "skin" is the scale; but in the case of the dragon...

^A he means this. He says, therefore, that all men who are gathered together in the same way, navigating this life, which is called a sea, are not able by their own strength to endure even the slightest assault of its extreme and ultimate powers; but the Lord has crushed the head of the dragon.

Teachers who preside in the Church are fishermen; the "ships" are the churches; and the "head of the dragon" is pride. He says, therefore, that pride will exalt itself both against teachers and against churches, clearly stirring up persecutions against them; in many ways, indeed, it resisted the journey of the fisherman-apostles, wishing to hinder the preaching; but they, in imitation of the Master, took hold of his head and crushed it, having eagerly accepted death on his behalf. Regarding the sea-monster, the meaning is clear: that all water-craft coming together would not be able to bear one scale of his tail, nor can his head, when it approaches ships, be carried or contained by them.

VERS. 27. *But you shall lay your hand upon him, mindful of the battle that occurs in his body, and let it be done no more.* ^B By "battle" he here refers to the disturbance and the ferocity. The meaning of the verse is as follows: Lay your hand [upon him], he says, and be mindful of the battle against the sea-monster; and having fought against him, if you are able, ensure that there will no longer be any resistance from him against you. For the war against Leviathan is formidable, and this beast is hard to fight, and he never desists from attacking us.

CHAP. XLI.

VERS. 1, 2. *Have you not seen him? Have you not even marveled at what is said? Do you not fear, because he is prepared for me? For who is it that stands against me? Or who will resist me and endure?* ^C

Clarifying the force of this passage more plainly, we say that the Lord is speaking such words to Job: Will you not lay your right hand upon Satan, making a battle-line against him, and being mindful of the war that occurs between him and righteous men? Do you not see and discern the ferocity of the beast? And are you not struck with terror by what is said about him? A tail raised like a cypress, nerves intertwined, sides of bronze, a spine stronger than iron, all kinds of trees overshadowed by him, an entire river swallowed, all things navigable, and the ships unable to bear even the smallest part of him? Hearing all these things, do you not fear? Do you not learn of the difficulty of fighting the beast and his invincibility? But this will no longer be the case, nor will the beast hereafter be formidable; for he is prepared for me so that he may be bound by me; ^D for no one is able to stand against me or endure my wrath.

*If all things under heaven are mine, I will not be silent because of him.*

Because, he says, I am the Creator and Master of all, I will no longer be long-suffering because of him who is despoiling

^A heaven, but I shall go forth and avenge myself of him. The other interpreters also agree with the meaning of the words imparted by us; for in place of “Let it be no more,” Theodotion translates, “His sovereignty has been frustrated”; and Symmachus, in place of “Have you not seen him?” interpreted it as, “Yet God will cast down his appearance.” From these it is evident that the power and dominion which the devil had tyrannically usurped will be frustrated and become void, and he himself will be destroyed by the power of Christ, and his counterfeit glory will be cast down and fall away; for, being stripped, he will lose those he held captive. For I shall not endure, he says, concerning him, nor shall I be moved to compassion ^B, according to the others, when I awaken him.

Verse 3. And by the word of power he will have mercy on his equal.

And what wonder, he says, if I do not despise the man, my most precious and intimate possession, being tyrannically oppressed by the devil, when a human being does not endure to let his equal lie neglected, but even shows him mercy according to the measure of his own power? Some have understood it thus: that I shall punish the devil by utilizing the word of my power in such a way that the Antichrist (who is his equal) will also be judged as miserable from this, as if they were to suffer the same things. To me, however, it seems that if the passage is linked to what is above, it has an interpretation ^C free of force, if the things stated are set up as follows: “Will you lay a hand upon him, or will you remember the war that is waged against him? But do not tremble, nor be afraid, hearing such things said about him, but take courage; this will no longer happen; for the beast has been prepared for me for slaughter, and I, the Lord of all the earth, shall not be silent because of him. And who will resist me? Which of the demons, his companions, will have mercy on him? Not simply the mercy that is bare and not demonstrated by works, but that which is also confirmed by the word of power? For no one has had the power so that, by the word of this, having had mercy on Satan, he could resist the Lord.” Either, therefore, he says this, or that no one among humans was able to have mercy on their own kind, but only Christ, the God-man; for not an angel, not a man, but the Lord himself has saved us.

Verse 4. Who will reveal the face of his covering?

^D That is to say, no one but me. He calls the face of his covering the mask and character that he changes and dons from time to time, for while being a wolf, he feigns the character of a sheep, and transforms himself into an angel of light, while being darkness. Why did he not say, “Who will reveal his face?” but added, “the face of his covering?” What does this “covering” mean in this place? It is so that the thing may be better understood

^A by the example of those who put on masks and characters, who are not seen for what they are, but wish to be seen as they appear. These actors on the stages sometimes take on the characters of emperors, for instance, or of kings, or sometimes of women; their own face is concealed, and what they are is not apparent, while what they wish to be seen as, that is what is perceived. Such is the dragon; he never shows his own face, but always using an assumed one, he uses it to deceive men. And this enemy is equipped with many masks; but who is sufficient to cross-examine and reveal what mask he has put on for each individual vice, and to show that a dragon is inside? Such also are those who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. ^B

<And who shall enter into the fold of his breast?> Symmachus, however, says: *Who shall enter into the sub-duplication of his scale?* His breast is intricate and folded, having nothing open, but all things hidden. Who, therefore, will be able to penetrate into the thoughts of his heart, since they are kept hidden? But those who are in Christ say: *For we are not ignorant of his devices.*

VERS. 5. <Who shall open the doors of his face?> Who then, he says, will make manifest the hidden recesses of his thoughts? The entrances of his face are closed, so that his desires and thoughts cannot be discerned; for being a crafty old campaigner, he works evil even under the pretext of good. Thus, through an intemperance of repentance, he cast Judas into another pit, leading him from betrayal to the noose. He hides what is stored within; who then is such that he can both cross-examine and show how much deceit, how much poison, and how many evils he has stored up? Who shall open it? None except me. ^C

<Terror is round about his teeth.> Theodotion, *Round about the teeth*; concerning which it is said: *Thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.* And, *The Lord shall break the grinders of the lions.* This is not the fear of God, but the fear that is round about his teeth. But if you have Christ within yourself, do not be anxious about this terror; for you shall fear the Lord your God, and besides Him, fear no other. The teeth of the dragon are wicked words, the false prophets and pseudo-teachers, who bite with their whole mouth. But he also becomes formidable to those who are ignorant of him, terrifying and threatening, things which he cannot do without God’s permission. ^D

VERS. 6. <His intestines [or scales] are brazen shields.> But Aquila and Symmachus, the former says: *His body is an outpouring of shields*; the latter: *He acts proudly, proceeding in shields.* His intestines, that is, his discourse... [index: entries preserved]

^A is full of poison, and they are not soft, but insolent and hard. His dogmas, his hidden thoughts, all things within him are the venom of asps; and they are shields, not soft ones, but hard.

«*And his bond is like the sideritis stone, one is conglutinated to the other.*»

His bond is his whole body; for the vices which are his bond are suspended one from another. Such is also the nature of the sideritis stone; for one clings to the other. This stone is said to be most insolent, near to the adamant, and to attract iron, and to be very rough, so as even to engrave on glass. The diabolical vices are capable of drawing even the strong to themselves, which, as vices, are held together mutually, even if they seem to be contrary somewhere. He showed also through these things the insolence and roughness of the devil.

«*And his spirit shall not pass through him.*»

Instead of, "No soul escapes him and his vices, but he watches all, and tries to lay snares for all, and no breathing escapes him." For even infants draw the sin handed down from their parents. As to "shall not pass through," it does not mean that he does not pass by or traverse, but that nothing escapes his notice; all must come through him. Let us therefore prepare ourselves not to be seized by him.

«*A man shall be glued to his brother, they are held together, and shall not be torn apart.*»

^C Even if, he says, some are so strongly in concord as not to be torn apart, he attacks even these. Observe whether he is not saying this also concerning the vices, and the demons who operate them. For just as a man is glued to a man because of their shared nature, so also the demons hold to one another, even if they oppose each other in their operations, one perhaps impelling to fornication, another to pride; for there is one goal proposed for them, the ruin of man.

«*In his sneezing a light shines.*»

Sneezing is a sign of good health; he delights, therefore, he says, in evils, and shines among them. Otherwise: sneezing has the power of purging the brain. Since, therefore, he also transforms himself into light, he pretends also to be able to cleanse. Accordingly, the Greeks ^D and the sorcerers have certain cleansings, and pretend to have an account of light, yet they are full of filth. To me, however, it seems that the light shining forth during the sneezing alludes to fire, in that the beast is terrifying, being so savage, and powerful, and undaunted.

^A

« And his eyes are as the appearance of Lucifer. » By error of opinion; for they do not possess the true light. The eyes of the dragon are those who claim to be more knowledgeable, such as those from the heresies, who are not Lucifer, nor do they have the light of day, but they bear the appearance of Lucifer, which they falsely simulate by deception.

« Out of his mouth go forth as burning lamps, and sparks of fire are cast out. » The words of the impious and atheistic teachers are burning lamps and sparks of fire; and he has doubled the speech, increasing his evils.

« Out of his nostrils goeth forth smoke of a furnace burning with coals of fire. » ^B Smoke is an enemy to the eyes; but sin and the putting forward of falsehood blind the intellectual eyes of the soul. Since, therefore, inside the belly of this conceived dragon a furnace burns, he has an impure respiration. By his nostrils, again, you shall understand those who come from the heresies. Let us, therefore, take heed that we do not breathe in anything of the dragon, lest we become causes of fire for ourselves, and let us draw in spirit, not smoke by which we shall be choked.

« His soul is coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. » By his soul, it seems he describes the ultimate arrogance; and those boastful and haughty words, going forth from his mouth, are nothing other than a flame consuming those who use them.

« And in his neck abideth strength. » ^C By neck, [he means] conceit; and it abideth, because he does not rest, but is always in conceit. And those who walk with a high neck, as Isaiah says, are his neck, having power for deception. 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 conquered that power of his. For the weakness of God, as the Apostle says, is stronger than men; but I would say it is stronger than the power of the dragon.

« Destruction runneth before him. » ^D For one first admits the corrupting pleasures and vices, which run before him, and thus in turn he admits the devil himself and cherishes him in his bosom.

« The flesh of his body is cleaved together. » His body signifies the sinners and the demons who work sin, just as the Church constitutes the body of the Lord. He did not say, however, that they are united, but that they are cleaved together; for unity does not exist in him, nor do the leaders of his dogmas agree among themselves, even if they seem to say similar things, but their passions hold them...

not only in opposition to virtue, but in opposition to one another.

^A ‹He pours out upon him, and he shall not be moved.›

Symmachus, however, says: ‹His flesh is poured out upon him, immovable.› According to Symmachus, then, flesh is poured out upon him, and a power that never bends toward the good, but remains obstinate and immutable. According to the Septuagint interpreters, however: Whatever fomentations, whatever care and curing one may use on him, and whatever remedy anyone may apply to him, he lacks feeling and remains incurable; and therefore, setting before his eyes the hardness of his heart and his obstinate mind toward wickedness, he subjoins:

^B VERSE 15. ‹His heart is hardened as a stone; and it stands as motionless as an anvil.›

His heart, he says, has been turned to stone and cannot be moved; it does not obey reason, it is not turned, but is entirely hardened and impudent, not to be driven, not following reason, hard and unyielding. And if anyone has drawn power from the devil, he also has a heart that is untamed and inexorable; but whoever is like gold, following the goldsmith’s word, he yields until he becomes a golden plate, and receives the marks of the characters of God.

^C ‹And when he has turned, there is fear for four-footed beasts leaping upon the earth.›

Symmachus, however, says: ‹At his motion the strong shall be frightened.› When, he says, he has turned against those who obey his nod, who are endowed with beastly habits and, like senseless quadrupeds, mind earthly things, they leap and tremble, being terrified by him; for often the dragon does not even spare his own, but lays hands upon them too, and brings calamities upon them, as a hater of mankind.

VERSE 17. ‹If spears should meet him, they will do nothing, nor spear-point and breastplate.›

Symmachus interpreted this more clearly: ‹The sword which touches him shall not stand, nor the raising of a spear or breastplate.› By these things, he showed the untamable nature of the beast, and that whatever the saints may apply for his destruction by spiritual and hostile means, he does not feel, but remains always the same and unmoved.

^D VERSE 18. ‹For he considers iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.›

The spiritual weapons, he says, are considered weak for his overthrow, like straw or rotten wood, which cannot inflict a lethal wound.

VERSES 19, 20. ‹He considers a machine throwing stones as hay; as stubble are hammers reputed.›

A machine throwing stones is a sling; wherefore the others VARIAE LECTIONES: 1. read "wickedness." 2. read "insensible." 3. read "hardened."

^A rendered it as "stones of a sling"; and the "hammers," that is, the blows of the wounds, appeared to him light and empty, as straw. ‹And he mocks the fiery shaking.› Another says, "of the shield being shaken." The "fiery" might be the life pleasing to God, which burns with the Spirit. He says, therefore, that even if someone were to assail him with a holy life, he nonetheless despises it; and even if someone were to shake a shield at him, he mocks even this. ^B VERS. 21. ‹His bed is sharp obelisks.› Theodotion says, "the blacksmith’s iron tools"; but Aquila, "sharp points of potsherds"; for he rests in painful and uneven matters. But if we allow that this is said about a living creature, it testifies to the hardness and roughness of its body, such that it sleeps upon obelisks and suffers nothing, nor is it wounded. ‹And all the gold of the sea is under him like vast mud.› By "sea," he means this world. But when the Lord says: *Mine is the silver, and mine is the gold*, this one, with impudent lying, professes these to be his own; whence he even said to the Savior: *All these things I will give to you*, as if he had gathered up the gold of the whole world. The creature, however, considers gold as mud, because it has no need of it. VERS. 22. ‹He makes the abyss boil like a bronze-worker’s shop.› Aquila says, "it bubbles." Since his soul is fire, it stirs up this whole life, agitating and disturbing it. ‹He considers the sea as an unguent-vessel, [VERS. 23] and Tartarus of the abyss as a captive; he has considered the abyss a place for strolling.› While boasting of these things with empty ostentation, he thought he could abolish the ocean and obtain mastery over Tartarus; just as Isaiah ^C also speaks as if under his persona: *I will grasp the whole world with my hand like a nest.* But from all the places which the fool had hoped to possess, he has been cast out: first of all from heaven, then from the earth, and from hell itself through the incarnation of the Lord. Therefore, he has no place left to him, except the outer darkness, which is prepared for him and his angels. "Unguent-vessel," however, signifies a ladle of ointment; as if to say: the perturbations and adversities of this life are a pleasure and a delight to him. Or, "unguent-vessel" is put for a vile thing of no value. VERS. 24. ‹There is nothing upon the earth like him [Symmachus indeed, ‹There is no power of his upon the earth›], made to be mocked by my angels.› ^D He rightly said, "upon the earth," since he has been cast out from the heavenly orbs and circles. But "like him," you may understand either in terms of power or in terms of wickedness. Nevertheless, he says, such a one

^A is mocked by the holy angels and by men who are the peers of angels. The version of Symmachus also indicates this, that there is no power on earth comparable to his ^B, or that after the economy of the Savior, he was cast out, and no longer has any power.

VERS. 25. *Omnem sublime videt.* ^{B C} Theodotion, however, says: *Every proud man he will look upon*; for he is entirely composed of pride, and ponders nothing humble.

*But he is King over all that are in the waters.* Symmachus: *of everything venomous*; Theodotion: *of the sons of impurity*; that is, of those who pursue a soft, dissolute, and voluptuous life. Therefore, let us also pray to our Lord that sin may not rule over us, since it is for this reason that Scripture has depicted the malice and indomitable nature of the devil ^D as if in the likeness of a body, so that, struck by fear, we might take refuge in the One who binds him. And let these things suffice as a commentary on the words. To those, however, who say that this dragon described by Scripture is a tangible whale, we shall say only this: If, in reality, such a whale exists, understand that, as was said before, we frequently contemplate the devil himself and wicked men through a comparison taken from animals. And regarding demons, the Savior said: *Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy*; but when He was sending His disciples to Herod, He said: *Tell that fox*, hinting at the deceitful and underhanded nature of his character. Thus, animals possess a certain emblem of the devil, as they do of wicked men. But if there is no such animal in nature, then the things said are to be understood not by way of comparison, but regarding the very person of the devil himself.

CHAPTER XLII. Protheoria.

We have heard above that Job said: *Once I have spoken, but at the second time I will add nothing.* It is a question not unworthy of knowing, therefore, why he speaks again when he had promised he would speak no more; yet the answer to this is ready and at hand. For after he had promised to keep silent, he heard God saying: *Nay, but gird up your loins like a man*, and he prefers the divine command to his own promise. For it is better to obey divine laws than to fulfill one's own promises, and to restrain our own words when the Master’s will opposes them. For this reason, Herod would have acted well if he had broken his oath and not taken off the head of the Forerunner; and Peter, having said, *You shall never wash my feet*, changed his mind and said: *Not my feet only, but also my head*.

^A and Job was right to promise not to speak, honoring the divine excellence; and he is right to speak again, now that God has released him from the pledge of silence.

VERS. 1–3. *Responding, however, Job says to the Lord: I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible for you. For who is there that hides counsel from you? and who, sparing words, thinks also to hide it from you?*

The others [say]: *And no thought shall be taken away from you.* He does not say that he has learned these things only now, but that he had already known the invincible power of God, and that He penetrates into the deliberations of men and understands the thoughts of all, and there is no one who can escape His all-seeing eye. For who, he says, is sparing of words, and by silence, since they have not been voiced, can hide from Thee the secrets of the mind?

VERS. 4. *Who, then, shall declare to me what I knew not, great and marvelous things which I did not understand?*

That is to say, no one except You; You who have manifested to me even the cause of why the devil attacked me, and his impudence, and furthermore have imbued and illuminated me with a fuller knowledge of Your providence (by which You embrace me); for these were the things which I did not understand.

VERS. 4. *But listen to me, Lord, that I may speak; I will ask you, and you teach me.*

It is worth asking here how it came about that, by promising that he would ask, he neither asked God nor received any response; but without having inquired and without having heard any speech, he made an end of speaking. To me, therefore, the sense of these words seems to be this: Since, he says, Lord, You have taught me things that were unknown to me, grant me Your ear; and if, ^B desiring to learn the things that escape my understanding, I inquire of You anything, do not disdain to teach me, so that I too may be able to speak and to become a teacher of unknown things to others. Or perhaps the things that follow contain a form of inquiry.

VERS. 5. *For with the hearing of the ear I heard you before, but now my eye has seen you.*

The rest [interpret]: *I heard you, but now my eye has seen you*; not because he saw with his eyes, but because he heard more clearly. I have attained, he says, a fuller knowledge of You, by as much as the knowledge of the eyes is greater than that of the ears. Perhaps, however, he says this on account of the mystery of the incarnation; for when he had been only obscurely informed of it before, he has now obtained a more perfect knowledge of it through the illumination of the most holy Spirit.

VERS. 6. *Therefore I despised myself, and was dissolved; and I counted myself earth and ashes.*

For this reason, he says, I condemned myself, because I had thought that I knew something; for now, having learned ^C things beyond me, and ^D

comprehended the lowliness and insignificance of my nature.

Protheoria

^A God holds his own servants in great honor; inasmuch as, in order to gratify righteous Job, he remitted the threats to Eliphaz and his companions (who, by judging the righteous man by their own standard, appeared to deserve punishment) and granted them impunity for their sin. But if any one, desirous of learning, should ask, "Why did God strike Miriam with leprosy for speaking against Moses, though he later restored her body to health, honoring his own servant again; while to Eliphaz and his companions he gave immediate pardon, without any prior punishment?" we answer that Miriam, through her reviling of Moses, brought blasphemy also against God, who held the person of his high priest in honor; but the friends of Job, taking up the advocacy of God, sinned only against the righteous man, unjustly mocking his piety. And if one should also inquire, "Why did Aaron undergo no evil?" we say that it is because God honors the priesthood. ^B We learn two things, therefore, from this: that it is not free from sin to accuse the righteous, and that God forgives sins on account of the honor with which he treats them.

VERS. 7. *And it came to pass, after the Lord had spoken all these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: Thou hast sinned, and thy two friends; for you have not spoken before me anything true, as my servant Job.*

Theodotio: *My anger has been kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for you have not spoken uprightness,* or "rightly," according to Symmachus. Consider the accuracy of the divine utterance. For so far as men were concerned, the friends were doing well, defending God; and Job was not doing well, wishing to contend in judgment with God—inasmuch as even until now some stumble at his words, paying attention only to the pronunciation of the terms. But ^C in the divine and impartial judgment, the contrary appeared; wherefore he also said, *before me*. For before me as judge, he says, you spoke nothing true, bringing iniquitous verdicts against the righteous man; but my servant Job spoke everything in true reality, for he did not suffer on account of his crimes, but that he might appear righteous. Who, therefore, can condemn with words him whom God extols with his own approbation? And observe how, honoring the righteous man by the appellation of "servant," he calls Job his servant, and does this not once, but repeatedly. ^D Eliphaz, however, seems to have been more worthy of veneration than the others,5 whence he first began the discourse with Job, and God now addresses him, and that with words which are suitable for the three friends. But consider how God spoke in the hearing of all, so that Job's virtue might shine forth to all through the divine testimony. For he,

^A he says, spoke what is true, declaring his own righteous deeds; but you, having condemned him, have not spoken what is true.

VERS. 8. *Now therefore take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and he shall offer up a burnt offering for you.*

For "burnt offering," Aquila and Theodotion rendered "holocaust," but Symmachus rendered it "oblation." The number seven is held in high esteem and considered perfect in the Scriptures; therefore they are bidden to offer perfect sacrifices, inasmuch as they had committed grave sins. And He commands Job himself to act as priest and to offer the burnt offerings. For he is so righteous, He says, as to intercede even for others; although before the law, holy men used to offer sacrifices for themselves, such as Abel, Noah, and Abraham. ^B

*And Job my servant shall pray for you: for him will I accept.* [The others say, "I will receive."] For had it not been for him, I would have destroyed you; for you have not spoken the truth concerning my servant Job.

Oh, the excellence of the honor which God bestows upon His saints! For He shows that to rail against them and speak against them merits death; and yet, because of the honor with which He addresses them, He grants pardon for the lethal punishment. Observe, however, that although they were moved by zeal when they spoke, they are nevertheless rebuked for having brought forward nothing true; or rather, they were not truly stimulated by a zeal according to God, for then they would have been pardoned. Thus Job justly accused them. From this we learn that he who accuses the righteous does not sin lightly, and that pardon for an offense must be sought from those against whom we have offended. ^C

Protheoria. Immediately after the righteous man’s conversation with God, the tokens of victory began to be conferred upon him. For as soon as he was judged worthy of divine speech, instruction, and testimony, he obtained his first crown; now, inasmuch as he intercedes for his friends and obtains for them pardon and remission as the prize of his struggles, he carries off a second crown of victory. For it would have been a loss to Job if his friends, who had come to him for the sake of consolation, had suffered the punishment of death. Truly, it was a great honor and dignity that, immediately upon the just man saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," he ^D appeased God with his prayers and obtained the remission of their sin.

VERS. 9, 10. *So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: and He loosed their sin for them because of Job.* [Symmachus: *And God accepted the face of Job.*] *The Lord also increased Job; and when he had prayed also for his friends, He forgave them their sin.*

The ulcerated, the poor, and the cast-off man prayed without holding any memory of wrongs for the healthy and the rich.

So if even now we see a poor and ailing man praying for others, and his prayer reaching its achievement, let us marvel at the rich grace of God; and if we fall into similar evils, let us not be distressed; for perhaps the abundant gift of God will visit us as well.

Protheoria

^A Just as in his temptation there was such desertion for him that even his queenly wife served for hire, so afterwards, with the divine grace supervening, all things turn out prosperously for the holy man; kinsmen run to him in competition, friends offer gifts, they feast, and everything for him thereafter was full of joy and delight. And the proof of the change was that they brought him the honor which God had honored him with (just as men are wont to do to those whom kings honor), and that everything had been changed for him for the better and was doubled.

^B *But all his brothers and all his sisters heard all that had happened to him, and they came to him, and all who had known him from the beginning.*

Brothers and sisters—the divine Scripture is accustomed to call all kinsmen by the name of brothers and sisters. And that which is said, "they heard what had happened to Job," is not stated as if they were ignorant of the things that had happened to him, but because each one was speaking to his neighbor regarding the temptation and the divine visitation; and the account of what befell Job was both pleasant and useful to everyone. ^C Perhaps the discourse also hints at the lack of compassion of his kinsmen under the mask of friendship and affinity; for indeed, when he was in adversity they were absent for a long time; but when his circumstances had changed to a brighter state, then they seemed to have heard the former things, and they arrived in order to become participants in his joy.

*And eating and drinking with him, they comforted him; and they marveled at all that the Lord had brought upon him.*

Symmachus, "Concerning all [their] malice"—calling the affliction itself wickedness, and the bringing on of the temptations; and indeed, since he was a just man, it was worth marveling that he had suffered such things and had been so wretchedly treated. ^D Mindful of no injury, and full of charity, Job gladly receives those who come to him, and does not cast away what is brought by them, nor has he suffered what the many do, nor did he say to those who came to him: "Since you did not visit me when I was laboring under, disease, nor did you bring help to me, neither do I now admit you into my company, nor do I have need of your gifts." But, as if he had suffered nothing from them, he received those arriving at the same time with kindness, partook of the feast with them, and in this he considered himself not lightly comforted. For since it had come about by the grace of God that they were together with him,

[GREEK COLUMN] [LATIN COLUMN]

[OLYMPIODORI ALEXANDRINI] that they should concur, he did not reject the divine beneficence, but embraced all gently and courteously; for even his predecessor, the great Abraham, had not refused the gifts of Pharaoh, deeming the matter to be a divine gift.

Protheoria

^A "And every one gave him one ewe lamb, and a tetradrachm of gold and of unstamped [metal]." As if about to celebrate a banquet, perhaps they bring the lambs; but for the sake of honor, the tetradrachm of gold, which is a kind of coin; for so also another of the translators has rendered it: but Aquila and Theodotion [render it] "a golden earring," and Symmachus, "a nose-ornament." And "unstamped," for weight not formed [into coin] and having no mark.

^B VERSE 12. "And the Lord blessed the last [things] of Job more than the first." What Job had possessed previously were not granted to him as prizes of virtue, but that he might be exercised in them; and riches became for him the cause and subject matter of his struggles. But after he had contended in the struggle, and had become a teacher to all of how it is fitting to use riches, and then, stripped of all fortunes, had legitimately fought the struggle of poverty; as a reward for virtue and fortitude, the great judge of the contest grants him the doubling of his goods.

^D "And his cattle were fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, one thousand she-asses of the pastures. [VERSE 13] And there are born to him seven sons and three daughters." Indeed, the irrational animals, as things that had perished, are given double; but the children were equal in number to the former ones, since those who died were not destroyed; wherefore, with those who had previously departed from life being alive [in Christ], and others having been born in their place, he had received his children doubly as well.

VERS. 14. And he called the first, Day; and the second, Casia; and the third, the horn of Amalthea.

^A It seems the blessed Job assigned these names to his daughters to demonstrate the good things granted to him by God. Therefore, he called the first "Day," because, with prosperity restored by God, as if emerging from the deep night of the tribulations surrounding him, a bright and clear day shone forth for him; the second, "Casia," because, with the enjoyment of good things, he was already bathed in a certain delightful fragrance; the third, "the horn of Amalthea," because he was henceforth overflowing with all good things from every side. For the ancients called the abundance of good things "the horn of Amalthea." They mythologize that Rhea, having borne Zeus, gave him to Amalthea to be reared, and she placed a goat beneath him to suckle him. Zeus, therefore, placed the goat among the stars, but having removed one of its horns, he gave it to Amalthea, having prepared it so that whatever she might ask for would be provided for her through this horn. Thus, it is said to be "the horn of Amalthea," not because Amalthea wore horns on her forehead, but because she received the horn of a goat, from which—as the myth would have it—wine, honey, and milk, and whatever else one might desire, flowed forth. Others say something a bit more plausible regarding Amalthea, calling the goat by that name, in that it dug up the earth with its horn and revealed a hidden treasure, and the shepherd suddenly appeared rich instead of poor; and thus "the horn of Amalthea" came to be used as a representation of good fortune. ^B Yet, even if Scripture makes mention of this horn, or of the Sirens, or the valley of the Titans, or the Giants, we do not reject the words of Holy Scripture just because the Greeks also invent certain things about them; rather, leaving those old wives' tales to them, we everywhere grasp at the truth, procuring for ourselves useful things for the soul from the divinely-inspired Scripture on every side.

Moreover, there are three victories for Job, just like three beautiful daughters: in wealth, in poverty, and in restoration. ^C And if one must also contemplate something spiritual in this place: When the day-star of the divine Word rises in our hearts, day shines forth for us; when we advance, we become the fragrance of Christ; and as we grow and come to perfection, then also the abundance of spiritual gifts comes to us. But if those things written contain some more mystical message, we leave it to be examined by those who are more adept at transitioning to deeper meanings.

VERS. 15. And there were not found better than them in all the earth.

He who carried the law inscribed in his mind before hearing the law received all the legal promises; for he was a fulfiller of the law, even if he did not have a teacher. ^D Furthermore, in addition to his other good fortune, his daughters were beautiful in appearance, so that by the sight of them the memory of his past calamity might be completely erased.

^A And this also is a happiness for parents, to possess beautiful children; for Scripture praises the appearance of Sarah, and of Joseph, and of David. Consider with me also the beauty of the soul, so that the phrase "better" may be understood with regard to both soul and body. But as to the sense: as has been said, three victories occurred for the righteous man, in accordance with which, up to those times, none such were found under heaven: the one before the temptations in his wealth, the one in the very midst of the struggles, and the one after the temptations. For having struggled most excellently during these three times, he is said to have had three beautiful daughters; while the history remains as it is, the discourse is also led up to the three times during which he brought forth shining fruits of virtue.

"And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers." That is to say, together with their brothers; as if to say that he made all his children equal heirs of his goods.

VERS. 16. "And Job lived after the affliction one hundred and seventy years: and all the years he lived were two hundred and forty-eight." ^B It seems that the great Job endured the affliction for seven full years; these, I suppose, are not reckoned in the number of the years of the righteous man, because the suffering of troubles was equivalent to death. For if after the trial he received all things double, there is no doubt that his years were also twice as long; but he lived, he says, after the affliction one hundred and seventy years; half of which is eighty-five, and the total sum is two hundred and fifty-five, from which if seven be subtracted, we may mystically understand the time during which he suffered his calamities.

"And Job saw his sons, and his sons' sons, the fourth generation." By the word "saw," Scripture placed before our eyes the fact that the offspring of the righteous man was lovable and desirable; but by the fourth generation, it demonstrated the longevity of his life.

"And Job died, an old man, and full of days." ^C The divine voice seals the praise for him, in calling him an "old man" and "full of days," to whom nothing bodily or spiritual, no time, no life, or virtue was wanting, but who had finished the course of piety properly and lawfully. It should be known that Aquila and Symmachus, having followed the Hebrew text, placed the end of the book where it reached the words, "an old man and full of days"; but Theodotion concludes where the Septuagint interpreters conclude.

"And it is written that he is to rise again together with those whom the Lord raises." ^D That is, on the last day, or at the time of the

^A resurrection; and it is added again, so that besides that which was from the calamities, another resurrection might be understood. Indeed, he will rise again with Noah and Daniel, with whom he is numbered in Ezekiel 25.

"This is rendered in interpretation from the Syriac book."

He calls the Hebrew dialect Syriac in this place, because the language of the Syrians comes close to it, and the Hebrews and Syrians use twenty-two letters equally. And many call Judaea Syria, and the Palestinians they call Syrians, as Herodotus says, signifying the Jews: "Indeed the Indians, Egyptians, Arabes, and the Syrians who inhabit Palestine practice circumcision."

"Dwelling in the land of Ausitis, on the borders of Idumaea and Arabia; and his name was Jobab." ^B

Hence it is clear that the land of Ausitis is situated on the border of Idumaea and Arabia; and that the holy man was an Idumaean by race, and the name Jobab was given to him at first. We find the names of saints changed in the Scriptures, as in the cases of Abraham, Israel, Peter, and Paul, so that the change of Job's name is a manifest indication of his virtue.

"And having taken an Arab wife, he begets a son whose name is Ennon."

Since he had made mention of the ancient appellation of Job, he rightly also mentioned his wife the Arab, from whom he had begotten Ennon, whether he is to be reckoned among the first children or the second. And if anyone argues that the former wife died, and did not enjoy the goods, we admit that this happened to her because she had said to Job, "Say some word against the Lord, and die" 26. But if she is the one who survived and partook of the goods, we say that because she had become wiser through the rebuke of the righteous man, and had not contradicted his counsel, it is allowed that she also enjoyed the goods: though it is not necessary that we should speak of these things precisely.

"He was himself from a father, Zare, a son of the sons of Esau, and from a mother, Bosorra; so that he is the fifth from Abraham." ^C

The genealogy exists in Paralipomena 27. For from Abraham, Isaac took his origin, and from him indeed Esau, from whom Raguel, and from him Zara, Job's father; therefore Job is the fifth from Abraham, not counting, of course, Abraham himself. Whence we also say he existed before the Law: for Moses is found to be the sixth from Abraham in this way: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Caath, Amram the father of Moses. ^D

^A "And these are the kings who reigned in Edom, of which he himself also was ruler." You will find this again in the Books of Chronicles; so that when he says concerning himself, "I was in the midst of them like a king among those girded for war," it is said either because, before his kingdom, he was honored as a king on account of his virtue, or the "like" is not used by way of comparison, but in order to express the thing itself, because he was in truth a king.

"Balae, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dennaba."

He who succeeded Balae in the kingdom did not imitate his impiety, but the faith of Abraham. And observe that this is not that Balae who urged Israel to commit fornication at Beelphegor; for that one, as you will find in the Book of Numbers, is called the son of Sepphor; but this one is the son of Beor, as is set down in Genesis; and the former was king of Moab, but this one was king of Edom.

"After Balae, however, [came] Jobab, who is called Job; after him, Asom, who was a leader from the region of Themanitis; after him, Adad the son of Barad, who struck down Madiam in the field of Moab; and the name of his city was Gethaem."

He recounts the leaders, the regions, the names, and their cities, along with the deeds done by them, for a clearer presentation of the persons; and Gethaem is a city of the Phoenicians.

"The friends, however, who came to him [were]: Eliphaz of the sons of Esau, king of the Themanites. [Theodotion renders: 'Son of Josaphat.'] Baldad, tyrant of the Sauchaeans. [Theodotion renders: 'Son of Ammon, son of Chobor.'] Sophar, king of the Minaeans."

Rightly, moreover, is there mention of the friends ^C in this treatise again, as if it were said: "These events occurred to Job under these illustrious and incorrupt persons; for 'by two or three witnesses,' as the divine Scripture is the author, 'every word shall stand.'" But it appears that Elius did not come to visit Job with the three friends, but arrived by chance, and found Job struggling with his suffering, while the three friends were sitting beside him and conversing with him, and—moved by the magnitude of the calamity, so that he might hear what was being said by them—he sat down with them. Later, however, as the friends hesitated, he took up the conversation himself; for it often happens, when a discussion arises between some, that passersby stop and listen to what is being said, and some, by interjecting words, take up the role of the discussant. Perhaps the friends had come for the sake of affection and pity, but ^D Elius had come to see; whence it happened that Scripture is silent about his arrival. Elius, moreover, by interpretation is "God hearing," or "Son manifesting God."

These are the first and last [things] of the history of Job concerning the treatise. And thus the book has been unfolded to us. But if it is figurative rather than literal—

and thus, at last, the book has been clarified by us. If, however, in interpreting we have somewhere used conjecture rather than certain knowledge, it is not something done for the first time by us, nor have we done it alone, but this has commonly befallen us along with almost all others who have written commentaries on this book.

FRAGMENTS OF THE SAME OLYMPIODORUS ON PROVERBS OF SOLOMON

CHAPTER ONE.

VERS. 1. ‹Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, who reigned in Israel.› ^A Three works of Solomon are handed down. Of these, the Book of Proverbs teaches moral discipline and defines certain laws for human actions, and for the affections and disturbances of the mind. Ecclesiastes, however, having touched incidentally upon the rationale of natural things, places the vanity of the present life before our eyes. The Song of Songs, under the figure of bridegroom and bride, shows the way of a more perfect life and describes the familiarity of the soul with God and His Word. Profane writers define a proverb ^B as a popular and, as it were, trivial discourse, such as the one travelers might exchange among themselves. Indeed, the Greek word *oimos* does not denote the same thing to Greeks as "way" does to Latins. But among those who treat sacred things, a proverb or parœmia is a discourse which embodies some grave sentiment under a modest obscurity of words, and for that reason brings to those reading or listening no common benefit. And Christ clearly confirms this: *These things I have spoken to you in proverbs: the hour comes when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but plainly.* (John xvi, 25). Therefore, a proverbial discourse does not open up directly and clearly where it tends, but obliquely and sub-obscurely, as when it is said: "Sweet is war to the inexperienced," "Aid after conflict," "A dropping [of water] by constant falling hollows out a stone."

‹Who reigned in Israel.› After Solomon has set forth the quality and scope of this Scripture, and the name and origin of the author, he now proposes the outstanding preeminence and dignity of this same author. He does this, however, not as some arrogant or proud ^C boaster, but to gain faith and authority for this work. Nor indeed should that phrase, *who reigned in Israel*, be thought to have been placed there idly or by chance. For, to omit other things, it contributes not a little toward removing all doubt concerning the true parent of this writing. Furthermore, it shows who it was that at some time stood as the leader and prince of that greatly celebrated and renowned people. Finally, it avails much for demonstrating and persuading that the doctrine here handed down is grave, true, and solid, that its author excelled in royal authority and dignity. For if a kingdom is nothing other than a certain just and legitimate administration of rule, it follows that the king’s precepts and his laws and statutes (provided he be not unworthy of the royal title) possess, and necessarily so, ^D a great deal of public utility and common advantage. And those are wont to be considered just laws which are brought forth not for the private gain of the legislator, but for the common use and benefit of all. For a king ought not to look to what is for his own advantage, but to what is for the common use of all. Since in this one thing a king differs from a tyrant: that the latter has his eye fixed nowhere but on private gain; but the former, everywhere considers with care what will be for the benefit of his subjects; if, therefore, a king be just, he always seeks what may profit the community.

VERS. 2. ‹To know wisdom and discipline.› Now, wisdom and discipline are assigned in inverted order in this place. For that we may attain wisdom, we are trained and instructed. For the scope and end of discipline is wisdom. Wisdom, moreover, as some hold, is drawn from divine works; but discipline is contained within certain laws and rules described. These

^A offer to those who encounter difficulties and obscurities, an easy resolution.

• Ad rite moderandum judicium. ›

No one ignorant of true justice has ever rightly judged or settled controversies. But neither would Solomon have judged justly between the harlots, had he not well grasped and rightly observed the reasons of equity. Nor, finally, would we ever rightly judge the actions and duties of this life, unless we had the power of right judgment, as a sort of seed of the virtues implanted by nature. For according to this power we judge both that we must obey virtue and resist malice.

VERS. 6. ‹ Animadvertet parabolam. ›

A parable in Scripture is called not only a discourse introduced by way of comparison, but any discourse seasoned with wisdom. For Balaam also, taking up his parable, spoke. And David: "I will open," says he, "my mouth in parables." In which place he does not set forth comparisons, but wise utterances. [A. f. 6.] A parable is called in Scripture not only that which is introduced by way of comparison, but every wise discourse; for Balaam also, taking up his parable, spoke. And David: "I will open my mouth in parables." Not referring to comparisons, but to wise utterances.

VERS. 7. ‹ Initium sapientiæ timor Domini. ›

Furthermore, just as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so piety toward God is the beginning of sense, that is, of judgment according to the intellect. For it exercises the organs of the senses toward discernment. Or piety toward God is called the ^B beginning of the senses for this reason, because it dominates the appetite of the senses, and compels them to live according to the Spirit. But a good understanding (concerning which more will be argued a little later, as also concerning piety) is moral prudence, or practical wisdom: since the knowledge which practice confirms makes those blessed and prudent who practice it diligently. For it is not enough for blessedness to know the good, but to the knowledge, there must also be added work and use.

Intellectus autem bonus omnibus qui faciunt eum.

By ^C *sunesin* (understanding) or prudence, he designates here that knowledge of the good according to which we seek what is known; or that kind of knowledge through which we understand only what is to be sought and what, conversely, is to be avoided. And indeed, the first knowledge, the impediment being removed, is necessarily followed by work. But the second, although it consists of the knowledge of good and evil—for it understands what it is convenient or necessary to omit or not to do—yet contains itself within the limits of moral wisdom. Our Savior was speaking of the former and contemplative [knowledge], when, after explaining the mysteries of the parable, He said: "Have you understood all these things?" In moral matters, therefore, prudence or understanding is not ^D to all indiscriminately and simply an understanding

that is possessed, but it belongs only or especially to those who act according to it, since knowledge that is joined with work or practice is the only kind that makes men truly prudent and fortunate. For it is not enough for one to be had for, and to be, a good and blessed man if he merely knows the good; it is necessary, furthermore, that he express what is known in action.

"The wisdom and discipline of the impious."

By the very fact that they are wicked and impious, they scorn wisdom; perhaps none in word holds wisdom in disdain, but in reality and deed, very many do. But pious men greedily pursue discipline and wisdom; so that, being purified from them and through them, they may at some point receive that true wisdom which, as Scripture testifies, "does not enter into a malevolent soul," into the inner recesses of the mind. But those who are destitute of the fear of God (which is the root and cause of the interior sense), they do not draw any taste of discipline or wisdom, since they rather turn away from both with study. Such among others are those who direly curse the Old Testament and attack its author with calumnies and insults, as if he were harsh and inhuman, and impiously persecute him.

VER. 12. "Let us swallow him up like the underworld, living."

In the parlance of Scripture, to absorb or to swallow is the same as to abolish utterly and to cast down and overcome entirely. Hence that saying of the Apostle: "Lest perhaps he be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow"? That is, lest he who is of this sort be entirely cast down and dismayed. They say, therefore: Let us transform a man who is cultured in heavenly wisdom (for he is signified by this name of a "just man") who has been cast down and defeated into our own loves; so that, just as we do, he may savor nothing else, pursue nothing else, and desire nothing else than earthly and hellish things. Now, he is said metaphorically to be swallowed alive who, having cast away the correct judgment which he held concerning a just work, knowingly and willingly embraces the contrary.

CAP. II.

VER. 16. "That they may lead you far from the straight way, and make you alien to a just judgment."

He teaches that malice, because it is inferior and more powerless than virtue, is in constant pursuit of virtue—which excels vice in many ways—and that it harasses it with a continuous struggle and impels it to destruction: for once virtue falls, vice immediately enters.

CAP. III.

VER. 16. "Out of his mouth comes forth justice; on his tongue he bears law and mercy."

Before, the Wise Man remembered the years of life, and likewise the right hand and the left of wisdom. But here he makes mention of his tongue and mouth, and thus describes the image of the whole body and its whole framework and symmetry, and puts it before our eyes through a certain prosopopeia.

VER. 33. "In the houses of the impious dwells the curse of the Lord; but of the just, they are blessed with blessing."

The affairs of the impious, he says, even though they may appear splendid and magnificent to men, are yet base and execrable before God. On the contrary, the affairs of the just, even if they are perceived as base and slender, are yet copiously enriched with divine blessing. But in a more sublime sense, the faculties of the soul are designated by "house," and the irascible and concupiscent powers of the same by "houses" or "stables." For in these, those brute and irrational perturbations and passions of the soul rage and dominate far and wide.

CAP. IV.

VER. 4. "Let our word be fixed in your heart, keep my precepts, and do not let them slip into oblivion."

Let our word, he says, be fixed in your heart; for the industry and diligence of the teacher brings little utility when the disciple either does not attend or does not weigh it, and he said beautifully *eredéstho*, let our word be fixed, let it rest in your heart, let it be bound to it, let it not depart nor fall away from it. For *eredéstho* is put for *ereidéstho*; the sense is, let it adhere and be fixed in your mind, show that it is the base and foundation of the soul to acquire wisdom and understanding. Beware that you do not neglect it or let it fall into oblivion; apply care to the matter, apply diligence, beware that you do not abandon the law or turn aside from the words of my mouth. But he abandons the law who acts pravaricatively against it.

VER. 27. "Do not deflect, neither to the right nor to the left."

Since virtue is placed in a certain mediocrity, the Wise Man here warns the just man, lest, either being commended for honorable deeds, he acts more proudly than is fitting, or, on account of faith, or integrity of life, or any other praiseworthy work, being affected by contumely or being vexed in any other way, he loses heart or desists from duty. For he calls honor and glory [by the name of] the right hand in this place. The cross and ignominy, however, [he calls] the left. Or he calls "excess" the right, and "defect" or certainly a doctrine of morals the left. He divides this part into three: and indeed he defines that middle way which abstains from both extremes; but the right, which although it may seem straight and thus is pleasing, yet does not clearly attain the nature of the thing; however, the left, which openly deflects from the goal of truth.

CAP. V.

VER. 3. "Do not observe the depraved woman. For honey drips from the lips of the harlot."

Although it is beyond controversy that it is neither useful nor honorable to adhere to the custom of a depraved woman, since the temporary pleasure which is taken from such commerce is finally converted into eternal punishment, yet because this doctrine is parabolic, we can receive "heresy" or "folly" in this place by the "depraved woman." For he ^D who is held by the study of these things, if any depraved thing is suggest-

is held by the desire for such things, if he thinks, speaks, or acts anything perverse, he is for a time delighted in such wickedness, yet in the end, like one liable to death, he is consigned to eternal punishment and everlasting torments.

VERS. 15. *Drink water from your cisterns, and from the wells of your fountain.*

Drink waters, that is, draw forth the salutary documents of life from the sacred and divine Scriptures, and the drink of piety from the wells of divine knowledge, which has dwelt with us familiarly from the beginning and has received the name of a fountain. From this fountain spring the cups which refresh the mind and recreate the soul, and they pour themselves copiously into the streets, in which wisdom preaches freely. Yet He does not allow the waters of our fountain to be diffused with such abundance that they may be yielded to strangers: since the venerable mysteries of the faith, because those who lead a shameful life desire their own way, He wishes us to hide, and for this reason He adds a little below: "Let no stranger communicate with you, but only those who are of the same doctrine and faith with you." The wife of one's youth, of whom mention is made a little later, mystically denotes the doctrine to which we have been familiarly accustomed from childhood. And her husband receives delight from her when he acts according to the theoretical knowledge which he has acquired.

Draw doctrines from the divine Scriptures, and drink from the wells of piety. The fountain, indeed, is called the knowledge joined to us by God from the beginning, from which flows the drink that gladdens the mind, which is also diffused in the streets, in which wisdom walks confidently. He does not, however, allow the waters of our fountain to be poured out extra, so as to be directed toward strangers; but he orders us to keep the sacred things hidden from men who are living a swine-like life. ^A

CAP. VII.

VERS. 8, 9. *He who passes by the corner, where the transit to her house lies, and utters a voice in the evening shadows, when the silence and darkness of night prevail everywhere.*

A corner is a bend in the road; if, therefore, this wicked woman lies in wait at every corner, and Christ the Lord is the head of the corner, it follows that if she were to catch anyone who does not rightly sing or interpret the doctrine of truth, she lies in wait. But the head of the corner is the union and binding together of two peoples upon Christ, as upon a foundation that has been built up. Through the eternal dark and gloomy silence, the author designates a foul and stained constitution of the soul.

CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 22, 23. *The Lord created me the beginning of His ways among His works: before the world He founded me.*

Since divine wisdom is the substance of God, it existed beyond all controversy before all ages, and was absolutely before the procreation of all things. But indeed after it began to have the condition of a beginning toward created things and those produced, only then was it rightly called the beginning of the ways of God, that is, of all those things which fall under the providence and effect of God. Although, therefore, the wisdom of God is eternal according to itself and its own essence, as being risen from God before all eternity; yet because the cause obtains a relation to its effects, or to those things of which it is the cause, it is appropriately said to be established as the beginning of the ways or works of God after things were created.

VERS. 21. *The Lord made the regions and the unhospitable places, and whatever heights of the earth are inhabited under heaven.*

By hills, in a more sublime sense, he does not so much designate the summits of mountains in this place, as those excellent and sublime natures of substances devoid of body. By fruitful regions, souls. By unhospitable places, divine senses which are not permitted to be spoken to man. By the heights which are inhabited, the incomprehensible mysteries of God; of which kind is the sacrament of the Trinity. By the winds, intellectual spirits, and by the clouds, the ministering angels, who bedew heavenly men with heavenly rain. By the fountains, finally, the divine teachers and masters who possess the solid foundations of God, and the solid doctrine concerning the Trinity, and teach others. Moreover, the Son, performing all these things by the paternal nod and will, asserts that the Father has performed them. For all things that are the Son's are also the Father's; and vice versa, all things that are the Father's are also the Son's.

CAP. XI.

VERS. 18. *Proved discipline guards the ways of life, but that which is not examined and tested leads into error.*

The things which are proposed in this place pertain almost equally to the just and to the wicked. He calls divine precepts the ways of life, for according to these, just men institute the reasons of their lives. But those who do not teach according to them, and do not necessarily live accordingly, are in error. Seeing that they falsely affirm a doctrine contrary to Christ to be superior to all reproof. They call it irreprehensible, as if it contained nothing in itself worthy of being deservedly reproached, but that is vain and unjust. For although it may show a form of piety in some place, yet it is neither pious, nor truly sound, nor has it been sifted and approved by a just examination.

CAP. XII.

VERS. 15. *He who looks with a placid and merciful eye, he shall also obtain mercy; but he who meets them in the gates destroys souls.*

he who does not see harshly, that is, he who is adorned with a straight and peaceful mind (since he possesses nothing of harshness remaining from sin), shall see God. But he who meets at the gates is a miser: for as one seeking whom he might plunder and devour, he is said to meet and lurk, as it were, at the gates where justice was formerly spoken.

VER. 24. A throne of prudent understanding exists; but the heart of the foolish will be liable to execrations.

For his entire mind, because of the prudence in which he abounds, rests in him. Or, for this reason, it calls a prudent man the throne of judgment or understanding, because prudence is the queen of all senses and, as it were, their head. In short, as one who is full of malice or ignorance is wont to be called a seat of malice or ignorance, so he who knows all things is rightly called a seat of the senses or of knowledge. It is also called prudence, the beginning of sense, because it holds authority over it.

CAP. XIII. VERS. 21. He who frequently walks with the wise will become a man of wisdom; but he who associates with the foolish will put on foolishness.

Familiar intercourse with the wise brings no small utility; indeed, the very companionship of the journey is not without its own fruit. For of this alone, the older examples make mention; for not only do they read that "he who associates ^A with the wise, who is present with them, or is frequent among them, will be wise," but indeed, "the one who travels with them," that is, he who has made a journey with the wise, or who has taken them as companions of his journey, will be about to carry away no small reward in wisdom. And not without cause is this asserted; for if the appearance of an adorned man, and the smile of his teeth, and the gait of his feet, and other things of this kind provide no common indication of those things which exist within a man, much more will a journey—even if it is not very long—undertaken with a wise man, reveal what kind of person he is. But he who has entered into partnership with the ignorant and ungrateful will experience the opposite, but not even his character will be able to remain hidden for long, however much he may wish to conceal it.

OLYMPIODORI COMMENTARII IN ECCLESIASTEN

OLYMPIODORI COMMENTARII IN ECCLESIASTEN

Olympiodorus the monk, a Greek by nation and a philosopher of the Peripatetic school, whose famous Commentaries on the Meteora of Aristotle are extant, wrote in Greek, according to a triple sense, an explanation of Ecclesiastes—succinct, learned, brief, and elegant—which Zenobio Acciajolo of Florence translated into Latin; its beginning is: "Rerum certam cognitionem." Concerning Olympiodorus and others of the same name, consult the sacred *Apparatus* of Possevinus.

Argumentum primi capitis

Solomon, the son of David, having received from God the sure knowledge of things—not only by lineage of the flesh but by imitation of virtue—divided them into a threefold distinction: namely, into moral, natural, and those which are perceived by the intellect alone. And the moral indeed he delivered in Proverbs; the natural, however, in the sentiments of Ecclesiastes; but the intelligible, in the Canticle of Canticles. It is possible, however, to find both moral doctrine interspersed in Ecclesiastes, and that of natural things in Proverbs; though each has its own proper things distinct from the others. The Canticle of Canticles, ^{B C}

^A and it looks towards allegorical meaning. But it is possible to find things intellectual in Ecclesiastes and in Proverbs as well. Solomon called himself Ecclesiastes, that is, Preacher, as if calling all mortals into the assembly of the Church, and binding them into concord, and delivering to them in common the natural contemplation. It must also be known that our wise Ecclesiastes sometimes speaks from his own person, and sometimes takes on the person of one who is astonished at the things that are in this world. And let these things be said by us as in a preliminary survey. ^B The first chapter contains these things: it tells of the lineage and dignity of the Ecclesiastes, and then the city itself in which his royal throne was established. He declares all things in this world to be vanity; not condemning or blaming all things, but rather reproving the intent of men who are seen to have placed their hope in this world. He teaches also concerning the movement of the sun, speaking physically at the first encounter with the reading, while his mind and intent pertain to theological allegory. He says the same thing also concerning the rivers rushing into the sea and not filling it. From this he teaches that nothing of the created things is new or novel, but that they remain just as they were first appointed by the Creator; and that the eye will not be filled from seeing, and that we men do not know exactly the first of the things that have happened, nor the last of those that shall be, and that God has given a laborious occupation to the sons of men; ^C and that men do what they do by the choice of the spirit, that is, of free will, and not by some necessity; and that that which is twisted, while it is in its distortion, cannot be corrected. In order to make his discourse trustworthy, inasmuch as he affirms that all things in the world are vain, he teaches that he has been both wise and a king and wealthy, so that he might the more easily be acceptable in declaring all things vanity. He teaches also that in the multitude of wisdom there is a multitude of knowledge; he teaches also concerning the joy in the world, and provides exercise, if it be possible, for the flesh to be saved by the power of the rational substance that is in us.

CHAPTER ONE

VERS. 1, 2. ^D "The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Words. All these words of the wise Ecclesiastes, teaching us to despise the vanity of this life, turn the listener and exhort him to the word of the faith which is in Christ our God. Ecclesiastes. As if those words of wisdom were guarded in the Church of God, Solomon called himself Ecclesiastes. Son of David. The Ecclesiastes relates his own lineage and dignity, so that, by attending to the authority of the person, we may become more ready to receive the instruction. But as regards the hidden meaning, understand it thus: David is interpreted as "sufficient in hand," and He who is "sufficient in hand" is God over all. And the Son of him is our Lord Jesus Christ, who from all the

nations and the two peoples has formed for Himself one Church, and who reigns in the true Israel. For Israel is interpreted as "a mind seeing God," having the kingdom in the vision of peace, according to that which is written: *And His place has been made in peace.* For Jerusalem is understood as "a vision of peace." He Himself clearly teaches us that the desire of men who are concerned with worldly things is vanity: which He also emphasizes by calling it "vanity of vanities."

*What profit has a man in all his labor in which he toils under the sun?* We are all men under the same sun; but of those who toil, some toil for things above the sun, that they may inherit the kingdom in heaven; while others toil for things under the sun, that they may acquire empty glory, or money, or honors. What then has one man more than another in toiling for things under the sun, ^B since, having left behind the life here, we all undergo a common death?

*A generation passes, and a generation comes; but the earth stands forever.* Of created things, some are without succession, co-extending with the present age, such as the heaven, and the earth, and the sun, and the stars; while others are corrupted and perish, but are preserved by the succession of generation, as man, and birds, and sea creatures, and plants. Why then do you toil, O men, for earthly things, since the earth, which is an insensible element, lasts for a long time, while you perish generation by generation? Or understand it thus: The earth stands forever, having become an accuser of you, on which you have committed unlawful deeds. But according to the spiritual understanding: *A generation passes*, that of the Jews, being cast out and rejected; *and a generation comes*, that of those who have believed in Christ. And the divine Scripture is called "earth" because of its immobility, and its fruitfulness, and its being all-encompassing; it remains forever upon the Old and New Testament, ^C having firm both the promises for the righteous and the punishments threatened against the sinners.

*The sun rises, and draws to its place.* He teaches the orderly course of the sun, sending us forward to the contemplation of Him who created the sun. It moves in a circular fashion, as some have noted from Ezra, who says this: *Great is the earth, and high is the heaven, and swift in its course is the sun, and it turns in the circle of the heaven, and in one day it comes to its place.* He says, therefore, that this great sun, when compared to the Sun of righteousness, is vanity. But according to the spiritual understanding, understand it thus: The sun rises ^D in the hearts of the faithful, guiding those who are just now progressing toward the things that are to be done; but it also sets in them when they inquire into the profundities of the doctrines, and

kindles a greater desire for knowledge. Otherwise: The Sun, the only-begotten Word of God, rises from the paternal bosom; He sets in the last days, having become incarnate at the sunset of this life, and in a way hiding His own divinity. For to the faithful, He was known as God, having become man without change; but to the unbelievers, He was thought to be a mere man. Again, He rises from the Theotokos Mary according to the flesh; He sets when He arrives in Hades; but He rises again when He is resurrected from the dead. And according to every mode of contemplation, He draws all the faithful into the kingdom of heaven, having truly said: "When I am lifted up, I will draw all things to myself."

^B VERSE 5, 6. "The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and it returns to its place; rising there, it passes toward the South, and turns about unto the North." He explains the climates through which the sun travels. But contemplating it symbolically, you can understand the South, which blows from the warm region of the world, for the rational prudence implanted in men, which never grows sluggish, but is fiery and burning; and the North for fortitude: for this wind is sharp and fleet; the South-West for temperance, which cools and dries up the pleasures of the body; and the East wind for justice itself, which passes through and extends over all virtues. Therefore, illuminating all the regions of the soul, the Sun of righteousness shines forth. Otherwise: The Word of God, having become man, went about the villages and cities situated in the South with His own feet; but through the apostles, He went about the northern regions, gathering the Church from the Gentiles, and traversing all things, He exhorts all toward salvation.

"The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; the wind whirleth about continually, and returneth again according to its circuits." In the literal sense, he calls the sun "wind" on account of the speed of its motion. Some, however, following the opinions of those outside the faith, interpret it thus, since they think that the sun is an animal endowed with a soul. But in the mystical sense, the Holy Spirit, infused into the divine apostles, caused them to go about everywhere and to preach the Gospel; but He also induced them, by returning on a reverse path, to visit those whom they had previously instructed in the doctrine of the faith, as you will find in the Acts of the Apostles.

VERSE 7. "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full." It is the custom of divine Scripture to take "all" for "the many," according to that which is written: "All have turned aside, together they have become unprofitable"; for neither the just nor the prophets turned aside. Therefore, it is fitting to marvel at the wisdom of the Creator, how it happens that with the majority of rivers entering the sea, it nevertheless stays within its own boundaries. But mystically, the rivers are the apostles, according to what is written: "And you shall make them drink of the torrent of your delight." The sea is understood to be the present life, according to that: "This sea, great and spacious." Therefore, the evangelical and apostolic discourses change the saltiness of this life into sweetness...

but they are not filled. And the sea is understood also as faith; for faith is not of all. Mentally, however, through that example, it intimates those men who suffer from the disease of insatiable avarice; for the insatiable desire of theirs is not filled, even if riches flow to them from every side like torrents.

"To the place from which the torrents go, thither they return that they may flow." Amos the prophet says: "Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth." ^A He seems, therefore, to provide physical reasons here: that the water of the sea, being drawn up by the clouds and poured out upon the earth, makes the torrents. He says, therefore, that the torrents and rivers, having had their origin from the sea, go back into it again. In a mystical sense, however: "To the place from which the apostles went out, thither they brought it about that the believers should return: to God, namely, that they might afterwards walk in the light of the Lord. Alternatively: Those who fall from virtue into vice and malice, like torrents from some high place, are carried down into a steep, hollow, and earthly place. ^B Yet they are able, even when they have arrived at the very end of life, to repent, returning to penitence, and through conversion, return again to the way which leads to the paradise from which the first man was cast out.

VERS. 8. "All discourses are wearisome; man will not be able to express them in speech." The discourses concerning the accurate knowledge of things existing are wearisome, because not even those who are very strong in soul are able to possess the complete grasp of that knowledge. Alternatively: "All discourses"—both those pertaining to secular and those pertaining to divine wisdom—possess instruction with labor; but those from without, for the most part, ^C become causes of harm to those who are persuaded by them. But the divine word is always useful; which, however, not even one who is very prudent can express worthily, unless he has received the gift of doctrine and the word of wisdom. Alternatively: Teachers of the divine word always labor, and are for the most part restrained, gaining only labor because of the sloth of the hearers. The Scripture therefore strikes at those who listen carelessly. Alternatively: One must do first, and then teach. It is work, therefore, not common and small, but very dangerous, for anyone to teach others those things which he has not first achieved himself. For this reason, the perfect and prudent man, when he contemplates the magnitude of the matter, ^D recoils and holds back from preaching.

"And the eye will not be satisfied to see, and the ear will not be filled with hearing." According to the physical interpretation, neither can the eye encompass the whole sensible creation, nor can it receive all the discourses about it, since there is no man who speaks and teaches. Alternatively: Being slippery, the eye is always possessive and insatiable. But

those who suffer from an itching of the ears always desire to learn, yet never arrive at the knowledge of truth; for this reason, the discourses labor to make the eyes and ears of those learning temperate. Alternatively: The senses of hearing and seeing are the most sovereign and kingly, and are more rational than the other senses; they unceasingly perform their own necessary function. Taste, smell, and touch, however, tire more quickly and become weary.

^B V. 9. "What is that which has been? That which is to be. And what is that which has been made? That which is to be made." Some of created things are singular and without succession, such as the sun and the moon, and those things which are co-extended with time; but others are preserved by succession, those which are under the sun, such as animals and plants, which are subject to generation and corruption. The discourse, therefore, is about those things preserved by succession: a man has been from the beginning; when he has died, another is born. A plant has been, a plant is born.

V. 10. "And there is nothing new under the sun; nor is there one who shall speak and say, Behold, this is new; it has already been in the ages that have come before us." The word "age" (sæculum) sometimes signifies a human life, according to that which is said: "I will not eat flesh for the age," that is, for my whole life. And elsewhere: "He shall be a slave to you for the age," that is, until death. Sometimes it also signifies the temporal extension of this whole universe, that from the creation of the world until the end. He says, therefore, that there is nothing new in the successions of men, animals, and plants. Alternatively, too: Those who have been upright and dutiful in this life are crowned in the future age; but the wicked are punished. "What then is that which has been? That which is to be." As if he were to say: Has anyone lived dutifully? He will receive the rewards of virtue. Has another lived wickedly? He will pay the penalty for his wickedness. Therefore, the things that will come to us in the future life and age will be the rewards for those things which have preceded in this life and age.

V. 11. "There is no memory for the former, nor will there be any remembrance for those who are to be in the furthest; with those who are to be in the last." The particular deeds of individual men, which they performed in their whole life, are in a way infinite, so that we can by no means remember them; but neither do we know those things which our descendants and those who are to come will do; that is, we are ignorant of what all men have done individually from the beginning of the world. For we were neither with them in life, nor do we have knowledge of those who are to be after us. For we can perhaps know universals in a certain way, but we cannot know all particulars. There is, therefore, no memory of the first, nor of those who are to come last. Alternatively: Those who have lived in virtue, and are deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven, when they are there, do not [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A retain in their consciousness the memory of the labors they endured in the present life; nor do they perceive by sense or soul the punishment of the condemned. There shall not, therefore, be for them a memory of those who are to be in the last things, that is, of those who are then punished. This is not because the souls are overcome by forgetfulness, but because, with the presence of enjoyment, there is oblivion, according to that which is said: "In the day of good things, there is oblivion of evil things."

VERS. 12. "I, Ecclesiastes, was king of Israel in Jerusalem."

VERS. 13. "And I gave my heart to seek, and to scrutinize in wisdom regarding all things that are done under the sun." And since I had received wisdom as a gift from God, he says, I gave my whole mind to the inspection of things that are under the sun. Observe, moreover, that Ecclesiastes does not contemplate the inaccessible things that are above the heaven, but those that are under the sun. He says, therefore: I have not scrutinized by human reasoning, but by using the wisdom that was granted to me from God.

"For God has given a grievous occupation to the sons of men, to be exercised ^B therein." He calls them "sons of men" who gape after these earthly and vain things, according to that which is read in the Psalm: "Sons of men, how long are you heavy-hearted?" See, therefore, in wisdom that God has given a laborious occupation to the sons of men; for it was done for their great utility that it is necessary to labor most of all in acquiring riches, and in acquiring empty glory, and even in those things which gratify the belly and the throat. For if we undergo and suffer such great labors and distresses that we may possess things that are vain, to what depth of disgrace and wickedness should we proceed if these ^C very things arrived to us of their own accord without effort? Therefore, this difficult distention or occupation was usefully given to men. But if virtue itself is also achieved with labor, this too is most useful to man. For if, wherever you turn, it is necessary to labor both regarding the good and regarding the evil—but regarding the evil there follows punishment, while regarding the good there follows fruition and ineffable pleasure—then with no comparison the labor and occupation regarding the good is to be preferred. Especially indeed, the diligent man who truly gives himself to virtue ought not to be occupied with many things, according to that saying of the Gospel: "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but few things are needed, or one"; by which he understands the commandments, or rather the charity ^D which contains all commandments. Therefore, the laborious occupation was usefully given to men.

VERS. 14. "I saw all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and agitation of spirit." Whatever, he says, men do, they do not perform for the sake of those goods which are above the sun, that is, for the sake of heavenly goods, but for the sake of those which are under the sun, of earthly and corruptible things; I saw that all is vanity; for near to the present

^A time, they both bring punishment upon themselves, because they do these things by choice and not by compulsion. And by "spirit" here he calls the soul, the rational one, which is also adorned with the power of free will.

VERS. 15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. If you take these words from the person of Ecclesiastes, understand it thus: He who is crookedly bound and has fallen into vice, as long as he remains in that vice, he cannot acquire virtue; but if he depart from it, then he receives virtue, according to that saying: "Turn away from evil and do good." But neither can he who is destitute of the grace of God, as long as he is in this state of deficiency and does not repent, be numbered among the pious. Alternatively: There have been some who said that the world was made by chance and happens to be imperfect, to whom the Wise Man turns, saying: ^B What is seen to be imperfect or crooked in the world, so that it might be straightened? And what is wanting to the whole, so that it might be added and numbered? But if the discourse is from the person of those who evaluate the nature of men, those who say that some are by nature evil and cannot be straightened, we refute their foolish opinion with many arguments. For no one is evil by nature. Therefore, Matthew was called from the toll booth to the dignity of an evangelist. But also, the things in the world that seem to the ignorant to be harmful and evil, such as serpents and lions and the like, serve as salutary medicines for men; they serve to make a man feel shame by the comparison of them, when he hears: "Go to the ant, you sluggard"; and they serve to make him feel ashamed when he feels himself compared to them, as ^C it is written: "He was compared to the senseless beasts." There is, therefore, no evil in the world, but all things are advantageous and useful. For God, he says, saw all that He had made, and behold, they were very good. Do not say, therefore, O you fools: That which is crooked cannot be straightened, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

VERS. 16-18. I spoke in my heart, saying: Behold, I have become great, and have added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge, parables and sciences. I knew that this too is a choice of spirit, because in the multitude of wisdom is a multitude of knowledge, and he who adds knowledge adds sorrow. A person is said to speak in their heart when, applying their mind to thinking, they dispute and reason with themselves. I gathered, therefore, he says, and by rational deduction I saw that I had added wisdom above all who ^D preceded me in stature. Now, "I added" signifies that wisdom had grown in him by great progress. For wisdom is the knowledge of divine and human things, and of the causes of these; and knowledge is the contemplation of the nature of existing things. And those who have knowledge, them-

themselves and deliver themselves from ignorance; but those who learn the words of wisdom instruct other men as well in the truth. He said that wisdom and knowledge were no longer vanity, but an election of the spirit, warning us that wise men are not born or become such by some benefit of fate, but that they follow wisdom by desire and labor, and obtain it by asking it of the Lord God. And if anyone, he says, desires more knowledge, let him also add the labors associated with virtue. Or even thus: he who sins in knowledge is punished more severely; therefore he who adds knowledge, adds ^A sorrow. Since wisdom is more comprehensive than knowledge, he said that in the multitude of wisdom there is a multitude of knowledge.

CHAPTER II

VERS. 1, 2. “I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with gladness and with good things; and behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it is madness; and of gladness, What do you do?” Considering worldly joys, he says, I examined whether they contained any good; and I saw that even to rejoice because of an abundance of riches, or for glory, or for any of the things in the world, is mere vanity. Indeed, I said to such gladness (for here he understands laughter as gladness), and said to such joy: Wander far from me and depart. “What do you do?” that is, Why do you entice me to rejoice in such things? For it is mere vanity, and there is nothing at all besides it in the pleasures derived from such things.

VERS. 3. “And I considered if my heart would draw my flesh as with wine.” The cup that we drink is taken from our sight and vanishes. ^B I considered, therefore, whether in worldly prosperity and pleasures the human mind could be so virile and strong that it might consume and destroy as if it were wine the desires of the flesh.

“And my heart preceded me in wisdom, that I might attain in gladness, until I should see what is the good for the sons of men, which they will do under the sun in the number of the days of their life.” Our Ecclesiastes, having received wisdom from God and a pouring forth of the heart like the sand of the sea, became most sharp in his discernment of mind; for he was able to handle divine discourses and to speak of great mysteries, as he is clearly seen to do. But he was also able, through the sharpness of his genius, to use it skillfully for whatever he pleased. For just as someone endowed with sharp vision uses the same power of the eyes sometimes for honest and necessary things, and sometimes uses them lasciviously—with no ^C fault or cause belonging to the eyes themselves, but because the affection and intention are sinful—so also he whose mind God has adorned with wisdom, if indeed he uses God’s gift as is fitting, contemplates divine matters appropriately; but if he is dragged down toward earthly things, he languishes and obscures the gift of God; yet he rightly and most perspicaciously perceives even earthly things, and attains them with his understanding. For it is not the sharpness of the mind, but the intention of the soul, which, as it uses the gift of God well or badly, is either praised or blamed. I have given

^A myself, therefore, he says, to my heart—that is, to my mind—and I pondered what might truly be the good among men, and what they who are in the world, by doing, can be in pleasure and gladness throughout the whole of their life. Having pondered such human things, and using a certain psychic wisdom, he gave himself to the doing of those things which he enumerates next. He says, therefore, "my heart," that is, my mind, and "I made for myself"—he uses it in the narration of the word. ^B

Vers. 4-6. "I magnified my work"—not the work of God, but my own. For no one is able to add anything to the divine works. "I built for myself houses." Having found an idiom in the dialect, "I built for myself," he spoke properly and very acutely. "I planted for myself vineyards." Using kingly power and an abundance of wealth, he was poured out into every kind of possession. "I made for myself gardens and paradises." A garden is strictly called that which bears vegetables, but a paradise is that which is planted with various trees. Therefore he says, "And I planted in them wood of every fruit." "I made for myself pools of water, to water from them the forest springing up with trees." Zealously working the paradises, he planted into them high-crowned trees, those which the earth nourishes spontaneously on the mountains—for instance, firs, or willows, or oaks, or pines. Therefore he also mentions a man-made forest, in which he also needed a great abundance of water. ^C

Vers. 7. "I acquired slaves and maidservants, and household-born were to me." For since the household-born did not suffice for the service of his possessions, he necessarily acquired bought servants as well. "And also I had a possession of cattle and herds, much beyond all those who were before me in Jerusalem." I surpassed, he says, all the kings before me in herds and cattle, or in all the aforementioned things; for it can be understood as referring to both.

Vers. 8. "I gathered for myself also silver, and also gold." Because many are accustomed to have stable possession, yet are destitute of stored-up money, he added the abundance of these as well. "And the substance of kings and of regions." But I also had kings, he says, as tributaries, and regions producing yields; for regions in holy Scripture are understood as fertile fields, according to what is read in the Gospel: "Lift up your eyes, and see the regions, for they are white for harvest." And from here, therefore, he says, I had a great abundance of things. ^D "I made for myself singing men and singing women, in the delights of the son of man." But not even, he says, did I postpose or neglect

^A to soothe my ears with songs; for it is not the sons of God who are delighted by such songs, but the sons of men.

"Cupbearers and female cupbearers." Or in order that, by the variation of those presenting the drink, he might provoke his appetite for the cups; or else as one who is extremely soft, and depicting the character of a man who is a lover of women.

VERS. 9. "And I was magnified, and I added more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; wisdom also stood by me." To such a degree, he says, was I exalted, that I never went astray in any counsel or manner of reasoning.

VERS. 10. "And all that my eyes desired, I did not take away from them; I did not withhold my heart from all joy." He says, therefore: I brought to execution every concupiscence of the eyes and appetite of the soul concerning pleasure (which he also calls joy). ^B

"For my heart rejoiced in all my labor." From the aforementioned labors, he says, I was finding this portion and lot: that of attaining the enjoyment that comes from them.

VERS. 11. "And I looked on all the works that my hands had made, and [on] the labor in which I labored to do; and behold, all is vanity and choice of spirit." Having accomplished all these things, he says, through my active and productive faculties, I found that all human pursuits are vanity, and nothing additional of profit is added to those who labor upon all things that are seen under the sun, because all undergo the common death, rich and poor alike. But those who labor for the things that are above the sun, transcending all that is seen, have something more, according to the voice of the Savior, saying: "I came that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly" (John X, 35), as if to say, that they might be free from ^C torments and might enjoy the promised beatitude. Note also, again, that those who are busy about vain things and devote themselves to pleasures cannot excuse themselves by the movement of blind chance, nor by the necessity of fate; for human actions proceed from choice, and from the free power that is innate in us.

VERS. 12. "And I looked to see wisdom, and circuit, and folly; for who is the man that shall go after counsel, whatever it has done?" Having stripped away the persona of the wealthy man and of one revolving around earthly things, he turns back to wisdom, and tests by laying out in parallel both wisdom and folly—which he also calls "circuit," either because of being carried about by every wind, or because it is a "paraphora" (paraphora), that is, madness. And he says: Let us seek if one who chooses folly is at all able to fulfill his own will; for this is what is meant by, "he shall go after counsel." Then he discovers that one rarely attains this. Therefore, the phrase is posited, "Who ^D [is the man...]"

who is rare. For neither does he who wishes to become rich always fully attain wealth; nor does he who longs for glory always attain it; and the same applies to other things. But he who has loved wisdom, being happily led by God, fully follows the counsel—that is, he will find what he was aiming for. ^A Alternatively: Astonished, he breaks into the question, saying, "Who is the man who can look back and turn from his desires, and examine the impulse of his choice, so that he may be able to discern whether he acts in wisdom or in folly?" Alternatively, "Raised," he says, "out of the body, and seeing through wisdom that after the end of this life no one can return to mortal life, and likewise enjoy the same things that he pursued with fixed purpose while he lived (for 'who,' is often taken to mean 'no one'), I preferred wisdom to folly."

VERS. 13. "And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, as the advantage of light over darkness." Darkness itself comes to be through the privation of light, so that light truly exists, while darkness is altogether nothing. Thus, he says, it is also with wisdom and folly: for the works of folly pass away, bringing eternal punishment to those who have engaged in them; but the works of wisdom endure forever, and eternally gladden their devotees. But what he says, "an advantage of wisdom over folly," is not said by way of comparison; for things which mutually cancel and destroy one another (such as light itself and darkness), are not compared with one another. Wisdom and folly are of this kind. ^B For joy is not to be placed in the category of evils, but by the affection of the one choosing, he joined to it the word "advantage," that is, he who prefers wisdom to folly does so much better, and incomparably so.

VERS. 14. "The eyes of the wise man are in his head: but the fool walks in darkness." The head is a certain eminence and the supreme part of the whole body; but the feet are the lowest, and touch the earth. ^C When, therefore, the ruling intellect has been purified, it contemplates heavenly things, and not those that are upon the earth, having its eyes truly in its head; but when the mind turns toward earthly things, it is seen to have its eyes in its feet, crawling upon the ground. Alternatively: The head of the Church is Christ, to whom if the wise man fixes his eyes as he walks, just as Christ also walked, he has his eyes in his head; but the fool walks in darkness, always looking downward, and having his ruling power darkened.

"And I also knew that one occurrence shall happen to them all." ^D [VERS. 15.] "And I said in my heart: As it happens to the fool, so it will also happen to me; and: Why have I become wise?" Meditating on everything within himself, our wise Ecclesiastes says from his own person what his adversaries could bring against him. Having therefore found diverse

^A things and various matters that are common to all, which he calls occurrences, such as being sick, being well, becoming rich, suffering poverty, and—preeminently—the death common to all, he assumes the persona of his adversary and says: "If these things are common to the foolish and the wise, what benefit will there be at last in having undertaken the diligent labors and becoming wise?" But then, having refuted this argument, he shows what profit we have from wisdom. He says, therefore:

"And I then spoke abundantly in my heart, because the fool speaks out of abundance, that this too is vanity." ^B Having introduced the inference of the fool, as if from his own personal perspective, he now dissolves the same inference by himself; for he says: "And I myself spoke more abundantly in my heart," meaning that such a thought is vain and superfluous, and it is the sign of an insane mind to utter such words. For the fool, seething and heating up in his intellect, pours out the words of folly through his mouth; for "the fool speaks out of abundance," that is, out of the foolishness overflowing within him. Then he also teaches the cause, refuting the inference of the fool; and he says:

"Because there is no memory of the wise man with the fool unto eternity." For even if the things in this life, he says, are diverse and yet happen to be common to the wise and the foolish alike, ^C nevertheless in the world to come the wise man has an eternal and endless enjoyment, whereas the memory of the fool is wiped away, according to what is said in the Psalms: "Their memory perished with a sound" (Ps. IX, 8); that is, they are not even considered worthy of memory before God.

"According to what in the days to come all things have been forgotten." In the world to come, he says, all the occurrences of this life—whether sickness, or health, or riches, or poverty—all come into oblivion. Then, bringing in the conclusion of the solution, he says:

"And how shall the wise man die with the fool?" How then, he says, can you say, O fools, that because of the death common to all men, the wise man has nothing more than the senseless one? Where, indeed, the memory of the wise man is everlasting before God, ^D while that of the fool is not? For even if the events in this life are common, nevertheless in the future life the works of each shall follow him.

"And I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun is evil upon me, for all is vanity and choice of spirit." For this reason the Wise Man says, "I hated the laborious life, and my own labor which I toil at under the sun," for he calls the laborious and wretched life of sinful men an "evil work." Here, however, the Wise Man also hates this fragile life and seeks that which remains forever; and, assuming the persona of the fool, he said: "For the work that is done under the sun is evil upon me," for the wise man does not deign to toil for the sake of things under the sun. For even if for the sake of the need of sustenance

the wise man also toils, he does not expend his primary effort upon these worldly and present things, but toils only for what is sufficient for the necessities of life; his highest zeal, however, he spends on virtue, holding these passing and temporary things in contempt, but striving for those which are eternal and invisible. ^A

VERS. 18, 19. "And I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? And will he be master over all my labor in which I labored and in which I have acted wisely under the sun? This also is vanity." Our Wise man sets forth with demonstration the reason for his hatred of the laborious collection of property and possessions, and of the toil expended upon this. First, indeed, because the possession of such things does not endure forever with the one who has them; but he himself departs from life taking nothing with him, while another receives to possess what he himself acquired with much sweat. A second memorable saying, he says, is that the rich man does not know what kind of man his successor will be in life: whether he will live intemperately and luxuriously, or spend his riches prudently and soberly. A third thing worthy of note is that, even if we know that the successor will eventually be temperate and wise, we are ignorant of whether he will be the perpetual possessor of the left-behind inheritance, since money is continually devolved to others and still others, exchanged through many and varied circumstances. ^B He says, therefore: Even if we concede that the heir will be prudent and that he will use sparingly what is left, this itself is also vanity. Why he says this, he left for us to consider, since clearly it is better for us ourselves, while we are in life, to dispense our riches for the needs of the poor and indigent, so that we may thus have an unfailing treasure in heaven, rather than to transmit the inheritance to others, whatever sort of men they may eventually turn out to be. ^C

VERS. 20. "And I turned to renounce my heart in all my labor in which I labored under the sun." Detesting the things that were mentioned above, Ecclesiastes turns to the evangelical life: as if he himself, with the Apostle Peter, were saying to the Savior: "Behold, we have left all and followed you"; then, however, he resumes the aforementioned cause of the indignation which he conceived against temporal things. He says, therefore:

VERS. 21. "For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in fortitude; and to a man who has not labored at it, he will give his portion; this also is vanity and a great evil." For what use, he says, is there for a man laboring in human wisdom, and prudence, and fortitude, and acting malignly—that is, not bestowing a portion of his things upon others, but always adding more to his own goods—when another who has not labored at all in that substance receives all his riches? We can also understand it this way: "I turned to renounce my heart in all my labor in which I labored under the sun," having realized that another ^D

labor is praiseworthy, which gathers the stable riches of the virtues. This is the kind of labor that a man performs, so that he may acquire wisdom, and knowledge, and fortitude. Preferring this labor to that one, therefore, I turned to renounce my heart in all the labor in which I labored under the sun—that is, regarding vain things.

^A VERS. 22, 23. "For what has a man in all his labor, and in the purpose of his heart, in which he labors under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his task is vexation; even in the night his heart does not rest; and this also is vanity." He says: the labor that a man performs comes from his own choice of counsel, whether it be good or bad. For if the labor is expended upon virtues, it is praiseworthy; but for one who does not labor for the sake of what is good, all his days are full of sorrows, and anger, and vexation, and sleeplessness. For these all accompany those who are occupied with the vain pursuits of this life; wherefore this too is vanity.

^B VERS. 24, 25. "And there is no good for a man except that he should eat and drink, and show his soul good in his labor. And this also I saw, that it is from the hand of God; for who eats and drinks except by Him?" Intermediate things are indifferent and are supplied to men by God, such as wealth, health, and reputation. So, taking on the persona of an opponent, Ecclesiastes asks: if these things are given to men by God, then there is found no good in men, except the enjoyment of food and drink. Then, solving the objection, he continues:

^C VERS. 26. "For to the man who is good in his sight, He has given knowledge, and wisdom, and joy; but to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and heaping up, that he may give it to him who is good in the sight of God; for this also is vanity and a striving of the spirit." Do not say, he says, O you people, that the impassioned enjoyment of food is a good thing. For to the good man, God has given knowledge and wisdom, that he might delight in these before the face of God; that is, being protected and covered by the providential power of God. ^D To sinful man, however, He has given the vexation concerning sensible things, so that he might be worked to exhaustion in laboring and gathering. And if he persists in laboring and gathering, this too is vanity and a striving of the spirit. One must know, however, that God gave this vexation to the sinner and the gatherer, not so that he might sin and gather, but rather that, by reflecting upon and becoming weary of this worldly vanity, he might come to a realization of this laborious life, and might desire the ageless and painless life which is stored up for the saints in the age to come.

CHAPTER III

^A Ver. 1. "To everything there is a time, and a season to every matter under the sun." Of created things, some are temporal, others eternal; the eternal, indeed, are invisible and above the sun. But this discourse concerns things under the sun, which are subject to time, since they too began in time, coming to pass at the proper season. Now time is the interval in which something is done, but the season is the opportune time for a task. Thus, time can be a season, but the season is not merely time; rather, it is the opportuneness of what is being done, occurring within time. And all things which God has made have come to pass opportunely, such as summer, autumn, winter, and spring; but those things that are ours, if they occur at the opportune time, are praiseworthy; if, however, they occur before the time or beyond the time, they are blameworthy. One has intercourse with his own wife at the opportune time when he desires to beget children; but he who does so for the sake of pleasure and concupiscence does so out of season. ^B He who sows in summer sows before the time; he who prepares for the harvest in winter acts out of season. From the discipline of these words, we are taught to avoid in every matter both deficiency and excess, because all things virtually possess bordering and nearby enormities. For he who falls short of the middle state of fortitude slips into timidity; he who exceeds it becomes reckless. Therefore, one may also understand time and season in another sense: time as the very rule of the mean, and season as the opportune time. For he who regulates all his actions both according to the rule and at the proper time, using this as if it were a standard and a plumb line, will easily be perfected in every virtue.

Ver. 2. "A time to be born, and a time to die." Often the times for contrary things are distinct; yet it happens sometimes that both occur at the same time. Thus, the physical birth and generation usually have one time, and physical death another; but the spiritual birth, through the laver of regeneration, has one and the same time for both birth and death. For they who are reborn in the divine laver have been buried together with Christ in baptism. And indeed, to be born and to die ^C corporally is not in our power, but we are born and we die by the will of God; but the spiritual birth and death depend upon us, for there is need of our choice alongside the divine operation and grace, so that we may indeed die to sin but be born to justice. And wisely and significantly did Ecclesiastes begin with birth and death, admonishing us of this temporary life. For this reason, Moses (as they say) also titled his first volume Genesis, and immediately named the second Exodus, so that in the narrative he might figuratively describe to us this temporary life in this world.

"A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." Beyond the literal, sensible, and manifest understanding, understand it mystically thus: one often plants and plucks up at one and the same time, as when one plucks up ^D the weeds, while planting the genuine seeds of the Word; plucking up wickedness...

zizania, but He plants the genuine seeds of the Word; cutting away wickedness, planting virtue. Often, indeed, this is done at another time, as when Paul cuts off the fornicator from the communion of the Church, but plants him again through his correction by penance. ^A

VERS. 5. "A time to kill, and a time to heal." To kill sin, but to heal one's own soul with the medicines of penance. Such an action always has its time, and is always done opportunely; most of all now, as Paul cries out: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Concerning bodily matters, it is the time for a ruler to kill a murderer, but to heal and cherish one who has done well, or even to correct more leniently one who has sinned more lightly. ^B

"A time to break down, and a time to build up." Divine building is divided into practical and contemplative virtue. He, therefore, who works diligently and out of virtue builds the moral and practical house, but he who contemplates intelligible beauties builds the [contemplative] house; he always builds well for himself a house not made with hands in the heavens. He who does penance demolishes and destroys the sin of his past life; and it is good and beautiful for us indeed to be removed far from sin, but to be built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. ^C

VERS. 4. "A time to weep, and a time to laugh." There is a time which is not taken from the measure of time, but from the matter itself. For he who weeps not in the depths of his heart, but superficially on the surface of his face, will hear said of himself what was said of old to Jerusalem: "With her voice she has lamented late, and her tears are upon her cheeks." But he who weeps at the right time, and does penance from a settled disposition, will be heard, as it is written: "Jerusalem has wept with weeping, and when He saw the cry of thy tears, He had mercy on thee." There is also a time to weep in this present life, in order that we may laugh in the future; and we weep opportunely over the falls of disciples or brothers, while we laugh opportunely over their progress. ^D

"A time to mourn, and a time to dance." They mourn who give themselves to penance; they dance who are girded with temperance, adorned with prudence, moved by fortitude, and perfected by justice. David also danced, and not without reason, before the Lord. Therefore the prophets, being as children in the marketplace of this life, because of their infantile simplicity—since they were children in malice—said to the Jews: "We have piped/mourned to you, and you have not lamented," that is, we foretold to you sad things, and you did not do penance. And the apostles also to...

the same said: "We have played the pipe to you, and you have not danced," that is, we have proclaimed the kingdom of heaven, shouting like a pipe for all to hear, and you have not danced, nor have you leaped for joy at the gift. For the evangelical parable of the Saviour teaches us these things. ^A

VERS. 5. "A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together." He who has sinned mortally without any purpose of amendment and penance is cast out of the spiritual house, as is the leprous stone, concerning which it is written by Moses symbolically; but he who sins so as to wish to be healed is gathered through penance into the building of the apostles and prophets. And every one who is of a stony heart is cast out; but the precious stones are gathered. And the law also commanded that the adulteress be stoned. And the master indeed strikes the sinning disciples with stones, that is, with corrective discourses; but when he has sufficiently instructed and reproved them, he ceases from his corrective discourses, and gathers those stones which he had seemed to throw. ^B

"A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces." According to the letter, it is a time to embrace one's own wife when prayer does not interfere, or some other honest necessity. It is a time, I say, and it is lawful for us to do this, whether for the sake of begetting children, or that we may take thought for our own frailty and innocence, lest, inflamed by lust, the cunning enemy provoke us to adultery; but there is a time to abstain from embraces, either for the sake of pouring out prayers to God, or that we may spare a pregnant wife. ^C

Otherwise: There was a time to embrace at the beginning of the created world, so that by multiplying we might fill the earth; now, however, is a time to abstain from embraces, since the last hour of the day has overtaken us, and the world is hastening to the end of the ages. But understand it spiritually and mystically thus: Honour wisdom so that she may embrace you; and this embrace is always opportune. Since in the holy Scriptures, the law is signified by the left hand, but evangelical doctrine by the right, and the mind is indicated by the name of the head, while by the appellation of the whole body the Church is understood, the Bride in the Song of Songs rightly sings: "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." This is to say: the law indeed helps the intellect only of certain wise men; but evangelical doctrine, with a certain divine embrace, comprehends the whole Church; from this embrace, there is no time at all to abstain. When, however, the ark had already been built, and the floods were imminent upon the earth, it was a time to be far from the embraces of matrimony: and therefore on this side the males, and on that side the females, separately disjoined, entered into the ark; but after the waters of the flood had already subsided, Noe is narrated to have gone out with his wife: for then it was a time of conjugal embrace. But there is always a time to be far from vice and sin, and to be agglutinated to God, and to adhere to Him perpetually. ^D

VERS. 6. "A time to seek, and a time to lose."

If you look at the literal sound and order, this sentiment seems to be understood as having an inverted order; for no one seeks except that which he has previously lost. But in a mystical sense, without changing the reading, you should understand it thus: He who is established in ignorance has a time to seek the truth; when it is found, another time arrives for him, that he might destroy and leave behind the darkness of ignorance. Otherwise: One seeks his own soul which has perished; and having found it, and having become sober from error, he ought, as far as relates to his former iniquity, to perish and die altogether. Yet when martyrdom is pressing, it is a time to lose the soul, so that we might find it.

^B "A time to keep, and a time to cast away." He who is a dispenser of money knows at what time he should keep his coins or spend them. Mystically, however, it is a time to keep sacred doctrine, so that we do not rashly pour it out to just anyone without any discrimination. But it is a time to pour it out when the hearers are docile and well-disposed; for it is necessary, he says, to cast my money to the bankers, but not to give what is holy to the dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine. Otherwise: It is a time for keeping the evangelical precepts; and that same time is also for casting away the shadows of the law.

VERS. 7. "A time to rend, and a time to sew." Whoever reconciles the enemies and adversaries of the Church and brings them to the unity of the catholic faith, he is without a doubt said to sew; but he who casts out from the Church him who has his father's wife, he rends opportunely. Otherwise: He who rends his own heart before the Lord through contrition and penitence, he stitches himself into the Church of the firstborn of the faithful.

^C "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak." He who in silence and under the discipline of the monastery has been taught the sacred doctrine, when he has attained the authority to speak and preach, then the Lord provides him with the tongue of learning at an opportune time, so that he may know when it is necessary for the word to be proposed; and thus it happens that he speaks at his own time. For to the people who are about to hear, it is said in the old law: "Hear, O Israel, and be silent"; but the prudent senior is provoked to speak thus: "Speak, old man, for it is fitting for you."

VERS. 8. "A time to love, and a time to hate." The woman who was a sinner in the city kissed the feet of the Savior with great love, that is, having entered upon the paths of piety and true faith, she turned herself away with great zeal altogether from iniquity, so that now the one same time was for both things and their effect. Otherwise: The soul indeed ought always to be engaged in love, and in hatred, so that it may indeed love its Spouse according to His works, and say: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." But may it hate the enemy of men, that is, the devil, who supersows ^D the tares.

"A time of war, and a time of peace." He who wages war against the spiritual powers of wickedness has peace with God. And in this life, indeed, it is a time for fighting assiduously against principalities and powers; who

^A wins the palm, will in the age to come happily delight in the abundance of peace.

VER. 9. "What has a man more in all that he labors for?" After he has pursued those things which pertain to the times and seasons of action, he returns again to contemplate the person of man, and teaches that he who labors about human things will have nothing more than the rest, since pleasant and painful things happen to everyone alike, and especially because of the death that prevails over all. Only the wise man, therefore, has something extra, in that he knows these things, which the rest of men do not possess.

VER. 10, 11. "I saw therefore the occupation which God has given to the sons of men, to be occupied in it: all things that He made are good in their time." It has been said above that God gave occupations and difficulties to the sons of men—that is, to those living according to the passion of the flesh—but not to the wise, so that while they are occupied with things that are, in a certain sense, intermediate and indifferent both to evil and to good, they might not slide completely into the other side (that is, the way of iniquity). Therefore, all intermediate and indifferent things are good, provided they are practiced at their proper time and for necessary uses, just as it is to till a field, to study to acquire wealth, to eat and drink, and (to put it briefly) there is always a time for doing good; just as, conversely, there is always a time for abstaining from flagrant sins. Otherwise: Here "time" denotes the use of the things themselves—that is, when someone uses things as much as the laws and rights of nature permit. So Ecclesiastes says: "I have contemplated human morals, and how they are occupied and turned away from those things which nature permits, to those things which are against nature." Here, he says, considering it prudently, I saw that nature itself is nothing evil, but all things that are moved and done according to nature are in themselves good. For the eyes are good, which behold something without a perverse intention, but when they are occupied and turned from the simple operation of nature to curious spectacles, they are no longer good. Therefore, all things are good in their time, that is, if they are employed and done according to the simple operation of nature and as is fitting.

^C "And He has delivered the world into their hearts, so that man should not find the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." God, he says, permitted the wise men of this world to be anxious and occupied, lest, if they had applied themselves assiduously and with a tranquil mind to the fabric and structure of this world, having perceived and known its beauty, they might have judged these visible things to be God or gods. Nevertheless, in their manifold occupation, He did not leave them destitute of His providence, but joined to human nature the common thought of death, so that, knowing we are not to be here forever, we might have care for eternal life. Otherwise: "World" (saeculum) signifies a temporal space, and encompasses all things that have been in it. Therefore he says: God has given to the sons of men the knowledge of the present age, namely, that the heaven and the earth and whatever we behold had a temporal beginning, and that these same things are changed in time. But of those things which were before the beginning of time, or which are to follow after this age, we have not received certain and manifest knowledge, for which reason we are also told by other Scripture:

^A “Seek not things that are too high for thee, and search not into things that are too deep for thee.”

VERS. 12. *And I knew that there is no good in them, but to rejoice and do good in his life.* The wise man knows what is good by nature; but by nature, God alone is good, who brought all things forth out of His own innate goodness. Yet he who does good to the extent of his ability, and keeps love toward God and neighbor, he rejoices with an ineffable and true joy. I knew, therefore, he says, that there is nothing good in life except this very thing: to do good and to rejoice in the doing of good.

VERS. 13. *And also every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good in all his labor, this is the gift of God.* The wise man indeed knows what truly is good; but every man, that is, the common and vulgar person, who has strayed from the knowledge of the true good, and who defines and measures the good by pleasure alone, ^B supposes that to eat and drink is good. And that the supply of sensible things is given to men by God is manifest; not, however, that we should abuse the things granted by God, but that we should be communicative and bountiful in moderation, and partake of the gifts provided by God with thanksgiving. Ecclesiastes has therefore interwoven the persons: namely, the one who is truly wise, who knows what is properly good, and the one who, led into error, is deceived concerning the knowledge of that very good.

VERS. 14. *I have known that whatsoever God hath made, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken away from it, and God hath made it that they should fear before him.* Among existing things, some are visible and others are invisible. This discourse, however, concerns visible things; of these, some always remain the same, such as the earth, and the heaven, and the sun, and the moon; others are preserved by succession in species, such as men, plants, and the like. I knew, therefore, he says, that there is nothing to be added to the arrangement of God, which is perfect and deficient in nothing; but neither is anything to be taken away from the whole as superfluous. Those, however, who apply themselves to the contemplation of created things, and who find the reason of each thing as far as is possible, are possessed by the fear of God and are moved to astonishment, ^C admiring the wisdom of the Creator of all. Therefore, there is naturally stored up in common common thoughts the fear of God, or a certain legitimate reason, which from the harmony of created things stirs the faithful toward the power of Him who made them. We must know that the things that are seen are symbols of certain intelligible things; so that, according to the reason for which they were generated, they are deficient in nothing. For whether anything was made by God primarily, or whether according to a secondary reason, it is not possible to add to them, and from them it is not possible to take away. ^D Therefore all the works of God are good, all are perfect, and all are lacking in nothing.

^A

VERS. 15. “That which is done, is already there: and whatever is to be, has already been: and God shall seek him that suffers persecution.” If anything, he says, has happened, it is now; a man has become, he is a man; a tree has become, it is a tree; but also things yet to be have already been. Men are going to be after us, and there have already been others before them. ^B And the phrase, “God shall seek that which is driven away,” and He shall seek him who works no harm, and He shall save him.

VERS. 16, 17. “And I saw moreover under the sun the place of judgment, there the wicked; and the place of the just, there the righteous. I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, for there is a time for every work.” Lifting us from these sensible things to the spiritual, he says that he contemplated with prophetic foresight and with the pure eye of the mind the place of judgment which is laid up for the wicked under the sun, as if he were to say, hell; but he also commemorates having seen the place of the just. He added to this, moreover, the particle, "under the sun." If this be understood simply according to the letter, there is no doubt that the just are to be in paradise and in the heavens. But if you apply "under the sun" to both, namely to the just and to the impious, understand that he contemplated those who now depart from this life, who have not yet arrived at the kingdom of the heavens. It is truly a thing worthy of inquiry, where under the sun those who have finished their lives in righteousness are placed. It is certain, however, that it is in paradise, since Christ said to the thief: “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” And it must be known that history teaches that paradise is on earth. Some, however, have said that paradise is also in hell, that is, in a subterranean place: to which opinion of theirs they accommodate that evangelical passage: The rich man saw Lazarus, but he himself was plunged into the lower place, while Lazarus was in a more eminent place, where Abraham was. But however these things may be, this is beyond doubt certain, both from the present passage of our Ecclesiastes and from all divine Scripture, that the pious shall be in prosperity and peace, but the unjust in fitting punishments and torments. Others have been pleased to think that paradise is in the heavens: but the good and ingenuous Ecclesiastes will follow the sense of history rather. Then, furthermore, examining matters, he infers, saying: ^C

“I said in my heart: Shall the just be condemned with the wicked?” These words surely have an ambiguous inquiry, not an absolute affirmation. For once he has taught that the place of the just is one, and that of the wicked another; but afterwards he admonishes us and brings us into fear, since God is to judge all men, and to discuss all our affairs with diligent examination. He says, therefore: “There shall be a time for every thing and for every work.” This is, there shall be a time of universal judgment. But take it also in a mystical sense: I saw under the Sun of justice, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is surely going to come to judge the living and the dead; I saw, I say, the place of the impious, constituted namely on the left: and I saw likewise the place of the just, which is on His right, and I said in my heart that God shall call all to judgment, distributing to each according to his worth, defining and determining that time ^D

^A in which our every action and operation shall be weighed under strict examination.

VERS. 18. « I said in my heart concerning the speech of the sons of men, that God shall judge them. » This is similar to what is read in the Gospels: « Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment. » Understand, moreover, that when this passage speaks of speech, it implies also the internal word of the mind and hidden thought: for an account of these, too, is strictly required of us.

VERS. 19. « And to show that they are beasts, and to show that the occurrence of the sons of men and the occurrence of the beast is one occurrence. As is the death of the one, so is the death of the other. And the spirit is in all; and man has nothing more than the beast. » Therefore, he says, I saw and considered the reasons of the judgment which is exercised under God, so that I might show—that is, so that I might teach men—that they do not differ at all from beasts, namely, according to the standard of the body and the life that is devoted to the body. For we all breathe the same air as the beasts; we undergo the same death; and in these things, man has nothing more than the beast. Therefore, the bestial and flesh-loving life is mere vanity. Ecclesiastes instructs us by these things not to indulge our body, but to attend to the soul which is endowed with reason, by which we commune with the angels; for according to our sensible substance ^B we are like the beasts, but according to our invisible and rational substance, we are like the holy angels.

VERS. 20, 21. « All things go to one place: all things are made from dust, and all things return to dust. And who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends upward, and if the spirit of the beast descends downward into the earth? » The Manichaeans, in teaching the transmigration of souls, say that they are indeed immortal, but that they undergo all bodies, as much those of men as of beasts, of reptiles, and of plants. But we Christians, who are instructed in better things by the divine Scriptures, have learned to understand "beasts" as those men who, not using the gift of reason, are compared to senseless animals. We recognize those as men, however, who are distinct from the bestial manner of living and regulate themselves according to reason. Who, therefore, knows whether those who to many seem more prudent are judged worthy, in the very time of judgment, of the kingdom of heaven, or are rather cast down into the abyss of hell? Or who, on the contrary, knows whether those who seem in some way to lack reason are not, by the hidden judgment of God, lifted up to the things above? For that the rational soul is immortal, while the soul of beasts dies with the body, is manifest to anyone who is even in the slightest degree a participant in reason. Otherwise: In many places, Ecclesiastes, assuming the persona of the pleasure-loving man, speaks words appropriate to the person assumed, as if to say: Who knows what is to come? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. And the Apostle, clarifying the matters concerning life here ^{C D}

says: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Everywhere, therefore, the Ecclesiastes, teaching us this through riddles, transmits us to another life. Another has said: "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are more wretched than all men." ^A

VERS. 22. "And I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works: for that is his portion. For who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" If the saying is from the person of the pleasure-seeker, you shall understand it thus: I saw, says such a person, that there is nothing good in life, save to rejoice in one's own works and desires, and that this is the portion and good inheritance of man. Then the Ecclesiastes teaches whence such thoughts arise in those who are lovers of the body: because, he says, no one can show those who are blinded in their understanding what things are to follow after these, that is to say, the eternal punishments. But if the saying is from the Wise Man, you shall contemplate it more highly. There is not, he says, anything good for man, save the joy which shall receive him hereafter, from his own good works here. For his joyful action, that is, his virtuous action, ^B this shall be his portion. For it is not possible for him who has not lived according to virtue to return again after life here, and come to repentance. For to him who has not lived dutifully, it will not happen that, his life completed, he should return hither again to amend by penance those things which he did wrongly.

CHAPTER IV

VERS. 1. "And I returned, and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter." To other examinations, he says, I turned; and contemplating men, I beheld the slanderers acting unjustly, and those who were slandered weeping from weakness, because no one was able to strengthen them, nor provide them consolation against those who oppressed them. Slanderers are, some indeed in matters of money, others in the opinions of sects, as for instance heretics against the faithful. And even the arch-evil demon himself, and the apostate powers, are always slandering and weaving falsehoods. ^C

VERS. 2, 3. "Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun." He counts the dead more blessed than the living. Why? Because the just have finished their labors; and the sinners have been checked from their impulse toward sinning. For profitably does the common death come to both. But in a mystical sense, understand it thus: Those who are dead to sin, living in

Christ, are incomparably better than those living in sins. Then he adds:

^B “And happy is he above both of these who has not yet been born, and has not seen this laborious life,” which indeed he also calls an evil work. From these words of Ecclesiastes, some have been led to say that the soul pre-exists before the formation of the body. For how, he says, can it be called good or happy for one who does not even exist? To whom we reply: If the soul pre-exists, and because of sin committed in its disembodied state it was cast into the body as into a prison in order to be corrected (for this is what you say), how was it happy while sinning and not being corrected? And yet, *whom the Lord loves, he corrects, and lashes every son whom he receives.* But if to be loved by God is a good thing, and to be corrected is also a good thing, and the soul comes into the body in order to be corrected, then life in the body ^C is good for the soul that was sinning in its previous life and was not deemed worthy of divine turning. This argument, therefore, is overturned, and the soul did not pre-exist the body. The "good above these two" who has not yet been born refers to the human person who has never come into existence at all, so that he may say, according to the word of the Savior: *It is good for him if he had not been born.*

Another question then succeeds for us: if it is better not to be born than to be born, then it is to the detriment of human beings to have come into existence; therefore, God, who created man, is the cause of evils. How then did God see all that He made, *and behold they were very good*? To this we reply that since our Ecclesiastes has introduced two persons in this place—the one who commits slander and the one who is slandered—he has not simply posited the one who is slandered, but has assigned him tears ^D for the things in which he is treated unjustly. Therefore, the person introduced is not that of a philosopher, nor truly of a Christian, but of someone who is fond of the world. For the philosopher, when treated unjustly, does not weep; on the contrary, he rejoices and is glad, as the Apostle also wrote: *And you accepted the seizure of your possessions with joy.* The Ecclesiastes, therefore, having posited two unphilosophical persons—one the person of the perpetrator, and another that of the victim who, because of excessive grief and ignorance, is weeping—added that, by comparison of these two unphilosophical men, it is better not to have come into existence. And experience of the reality itself will bear witness to what has been said. For if anyone were to ask the holy martyrs, or prophets, or apostles, or all those who have lived in virtue: “Tell us, holy men, if the option were laid before you of being born by God or not being born, what would you choose?” do you not think they would immediately answer that we are indeed grateful to God who created us in His goodness and anointed us for the struggles of virtue, and wove for us these blessed crowns? It is shown, therefore, that this discourse of Ecclesiastes concerns those who are sinners. Indeed, tell us this, holy men: if the option were set before you of being born, under God,

^A according to His goodness, to compete in the gymnasium of virtue, so that He might weave and bestow upon us these crowns of eternal glory? It is, therefore, sufficiently shown that Ecclesiastes speaks of sinners and imperfect men.

Verse 4. *And I saw all labor and all the strength of work, that it is emulation to a man; this is vanity and the election of spirit.* Fortitude and industry are deemed worthy of censure when one directs his forces toward vanities and yet becomes master of his desire. The emulation which has envy as its neighbor is blameworthy. I saw, therefore, he says, the labor of men concerning vain works, and I saw others envying them. For example, if someone unjustly acquires wealth for himself, behold, others immediately begin to envy him; or, desiring to attain similar riches, they themselves pursue the same effort. Such an occupation of men, therefore, is vanity; and, as we have often said, the election of spirit.

Verse 5. *A fool folded his hands and ate his own flesh.* Hands are given to a man so that he may perform with them things that are useful and fitting for himself. An idle sluggard, therefore, keeping his hands closed and folded, when he is subsequently touched by repentance and wastes away with grief, is said with merit to devour his own flesh. In a mystical sense: he who does not exercise the operations of his soul in virtues devours his own flesh, since he is himself the mediator and proxy of his own punishments and torments. Otherwise: to fold one’s hands signifies to embrace for the sake of affection, and to flatter in greeting. The fool, therefore, since he loves his own base actions and embraces them, devours his own flesh, preparing for himself the just punishment. ^B

Verse 6. *Better is a fullness of a handful with rest, than the fullness of two handfuls with labor and election of spirit.* Better is the little to the righteous, than the many riches of sinners. In a mystical sense, the handful is the unfailing faith that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Two handfuls are to be understood when someone strives to serve two masters, namely God and Mammon, and suffers those reproaches which the prophet commemorates: *How long do you limp between two opinions?* It is better, therefore, without any controversy, which is placed first here. Otherwise: one handful is unity itself, which lacks material; two handfuls are material things which can be divided. Furthermore, this duality itself is held in the sacred Scriptures to be unclean and impure. For unclean animals went into the ark of Noah by twos. It is better, therefore, to follow unity and to lead an active life with quiet—that is, without the veneer of empty glory—than to be occupied with duality, that is, material things. Otherwise: we can contemplate that man was once a handful, when clearly God, taking dust from the earth and enclosing it as if in a handful, fashioned man. The woman was also a handful; for from the side of Adam, God, taking hold of the rib with His hand, fashioned Eve. Celibacy is therefore better than two handfuls, that is, [better] than duality and the conjugal union. For although marriage is not to be condemned, celibacy is certainly praiseworthy and free from trouble. ^{C D}

^A "And I returned, and saw vanity under the sun." Turning around, he says, the eye of the heart, I saw nothing done by men for the sake of this world, which is not mere vanity; and by "works" he means wicked deeds.

"There is one, and there is not a second, nor son, nor brother; and there is no end to all his labor, and his eye is not satisfied with riches; and for whom do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, and a wicked distraction." Further, he says, looking around at human affairs, I saw some who have not even lawful heirs, yet who are insatiably occupied with riches, having an eye that is empty and insatiable. Then, having contemplated this, he introduces the person of this insatiable man becoming penitent and saying: "And for whom do I labor, and deprive my soul of good things?" Rightly, therefore, he attributes vanity to this labor.

Otherwise: Mystically understand it thus: "There is one." By "one" in this place he signifies the self-lover, who does not wish to have a brother or a son. For those who are willing, and who live according to God, even if they do not happen to be related by nature, nevertheless all are to them brothers and sons; according to the text, "Be as a father to orphans, and instead of a husband to their mother." This "one," therefore, who wishes to have neither brother nor son, owing to a wicked choice, deprives his ^B soul of good, neither desiring the good things to come, nor doing anything good in life. Vanity, therefore, is added to this one as well.

"Two are better than one, for they have a good reward for their labor." He praises the concord of two, when it happens for the sake of what is good; for this also obtains a reward from God. And the Savior sent his apostles out two by two, well-concordant. But those who agreed for evil in the building of the tower, God divided and scattered.

But according to the spiritual sense: Good is the concord upon what is good between soul and body; this is also rewarded by God. But how are two better than one? If the body acts temperately, but the soul is vainglorious, the temperance of the body is vain. And conversely, if the soul is humble, but the body commits fornication, the humility is vain. For when one part of the composite [man] sins, whether soul or body, of necessity the other is also involved.

^C Good, therefore, is the concord of the two, unto the account of the reward of virtue, because if they fall, the one will raise up his fellow. "And woe to the one when he falls, and there is no second to raise him up." Those who agree upon what is good are a help to one another. For even if the one, as a man, overlooks something that ought to be done, he will have the other to set him right. As to [the phrase] "when they fall,"

it is not to be understood of both at the same time, but sometimes of this one, sometimes of that one.

^A VERS. 11. « And if two lie together, they shall have heat; but how shall one be warm? » From what occurs bodily, he teaches something spiritual. For those who lie down and sleep together grow warmer than one who lies alone; so also those who agree and concord according to the Spirit: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them," says the Lord, granting, clearly, to his faithful the fire and heat of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 12. « And if someone prevails against one, two shall withstand him. » Again, through those things which occur perceptibly, he imparts to us a spiritual contemplation. For just as if ^B two are walking in one mind through a marketplace or the desolate places of the desert, and someone might approach them, the two are safer to repel the one who has attacked; so you will understand it also in a spiritual battle. For since Ecclesiastes wishes to instruct us in things pertaining to the body and soul, just as the Apostle Paul also did, in which place he himself makes mention of the three things that are in man, when he says: "May your whole spirit and soul be preserved" (I Thess. v, 23), he proposed for us to contemplate three things latently, namely, that if some one [adversary] rises up against us, that is, the pride of the flesh, then the soul, joined in friendship to the spirit, may restrain and bridle the flesh, so that it may be subjected to the spiritual movements of the soul, and obey. ^C For it must be known (which pertains to this passage) that a human consists of three things, soul, namely, body, and spirit: not that the spirit is something else besides the soul according to its essential force, nor indeed are there two rational parts in a human; but according to thought alone, considering them separately, we say that the spirit is one thing and the soul another, calling the more easy-moving and higher [part] of the soul the spirit. This, I think, is also the intellect, as we have noted in the book of Esdras. Or thus: Spirit is the spiritual charisma which illuminates and brightens our soul, which we have received from the divine in-breathing. And if we preserve what is in us made according to the image of God, we have the spiritual charisma whole; but if we decline into the paths of sins, we violate in us the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is, I think, what the Apostle ^D prays for us: to remain whole as we were from the beginning, having an immaculate body and soul, and keeping the spiritual charisma pure. Otherwise it can also be understood thus: The movements of the soul are divided into the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible. If, therefore, these three should agree in virtue and function, then according to the right norm of nature, anger burns against evil affections and demons,

^A and the concupiscible power desires only what is better. Whence Daniel also was called a man of desires. The rational part, however, governs all things justly, curbing the irascible and concupiscible forces. But if the contrary happens, so that one of those powers, either anger, that is, or appetite—pursuing what naturally delights—acts contrary to the law of reason, then the two remaining parts, preserving purity under a covenant of concord (the rational and the concupiscent, for example), suppress anger and compel it to obey them; or conversely, anger, joined to reason, settles the concupiscible. Thus it happens that two who are in accord bring the third who is resisting into servitude.

^B « A threefold cord is not quickly broken. » Again, Ecclesiastes, by the example of a triple cord, leads us to spiritual contemplations; and first, he teaches us charity, calling us into a bond of concord. And he says: If soul, body, and spirit agree in good, they are not easily dissolved by the enemy’s assault. Otherwise: When the rational force of the soul, and the powers of irascibility and concupiscence preserve the purity of unity, they keep the soul entirely unharmed. Otherwise: Those who believe in the consubstantial Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, cannot be conquered by resisting heretics and adversaries.

^C VERS. 13, 14. « Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who knows not how to provide for the future. For out of the house of prisoners sometimes a man comes forth to reign; and even in his kingdom he was born poor. » Boys are generally not considered worthy of as much honor as old men; nor do we venerate the poor as we do a king. Ecclesiastes, therefore, comparing foolishness with wisdom, shows how much the latter excels. For he says that a boy and a poor man (provided he is wise) are far better than one who is old and adorned with royal power, but foolish. For the foolish man does not understand that wisdom is able, even from a servile condition and from a man cast into chains, to raise him to royal sovereignty. And the proof of this can be taken from Joseph, whom the wisdom bestowed by God—existing in him as a youth, though he was bought for a price and cast into prison—constituted the ruler of all Egypt. ^D If this same wisdom resides in a king, it teaches him to maintain modesty and frugality; so that he is in no way puffed up or swollen with pride by the royal dignity which he possesses. For by the grace of God and the knowledge of himself, he understands that he is poor, and neither in the kingdom nor in the abundance of riches does he cast off the humility of poverty; so that he may also be blessed, just as those who are poor in spirit. Otherwise: An aging and foolish people can be called the people of the Hebrews, to whom succeeded a younger people called from the nations into the knowledge of God, truly wise and redeemed from diabolical servitude, and through faith in Christ the Savior having obtained a royal priesthood, poor in spirit, but decorated with evangelical beatitude. The exemplar, however, of such poor men is Christ our Savior himself, who is the wisdom of God the Father, but young if you consider the time of his bodily birth. The same is also a king by divine dignity, having become poor for our salvation, although he is of himself most rich. He escaped the chains of death, and

freed us, teaching us by his own example to pursue moderation, when he said: *Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* 87

VERSES 15, 16. I saw all the living who walk under the sun, with the second youth who shall rise up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, of all, I say, who were before them; and those who come last shall not rejoice in him; but this also is vanity and a striving of spirit.

This entire passage should be considered to relate to an allegorical and mystical understanding, since there is no one who can see with bodily sight all the men who walk under the sun. But since some contend that the mystical sense should be referred to one thing and others to another (for some wish the "second youth" to be understood as Christ the Lord, others as the son of perdition, Antichrist), we shall pursue both expositions. ^B "I saw," he says, "all the living who walk under this visible sun," that is, sinners themselves, "with the second youth," that is, Antichrist, who shall rise up in his stead—that is, in place of our Lord Jesus Christ. "And there was no end" of the multitude of sinners, namely those who had existed from the beginning of the age; but "those who come last"—that is, those who in the times of Antichrist shall believe in him—"shall not rejoice in him," for impiety cannot save those who cling to it. And in order to teach that this error of infidelity will come upon peoples not by necessity, nor by chance, but by the election of free will, he added, saying: *But this also is vanity and a striving of spirit.*

Another interpretation: He says he saw those walking under the sun of justice, namely all who truly live by faith, "with the second youth," who is without doubt our Savior, the man from heaven, the heavenly one, who was born for us and rose up in place of the first youth, Adam, who was a man of earth, earthly. 88 "And they were infinite," he says, "who under this sun" were progressing forward; that is, according to the discipline of the living faith, forgetting the life past, as though dead to sin, but extending themselves to the things that are before, 89 always directing the eyes of the mind to the glory of eternal life proposed to them. But who are the "last" of them who shall not delight in the second youth, our Lord Jesus Christ? They are, clearly, either the Jews, who, though they were first, became last, or those who at the end of the age shall believe in the Antichrist; or, generally, all those who, after the first ones living dutifully and piously, chase after the enticements of sense and pleasure; these are deservedly to be held and called last and latest. ^D But he shows that these latest ones, too, will not rejoice in the second youth by the election of their own will, and therefore he has brought in that phrase already worn for him: *But this also is vanity and a striving of spirit.*

It should be known, however, that it pertains to the explanation of the aforesaid that Adam, the first man, is called a youth, according to the understanding of that time when, recently created, he was still in the paradise of pleasure, vigorous in the prime of his youth by practicing virtues. Christ the Savior is also called a youth, on account of the great strength of divine power; and Antichrist is also called a youth, because of his propensity for innovation and his always being fresh in wickedness.

VERS. 17. Keep thy foot when thou goest

into the house of God, and be ready to hear. ^A By a certain figure of speech, the members of the outer man are predicated of the soul and the inner man, such as the eyes, the hands, the feet, and the remaining members. And yet it does not happen conversely that the parts of the soul and the inner man are habitually used to describe the outer man; for wings and pinions are spoken of regarding the soul, according to that saying: "If you sleep among the midst of the lots, the wings of a dove are covered with silver." 60 He says therefore: Keep the foot of thy soul in every work wherein thou goest, that you may come into the sight of the house of God, that is, the heavenly Jerusalem. But he who keeps the foot of his soul is near to hearing, that is, to obeying the word of divine precept, and by progressing, he performs the commandments of the Law. But if you should understand what is said as referring to the physical foot: Keep, he says, thy whole body (for by a part he signified the whole), so that we may not use the same instruments in evil which we use in good. As if he were to say: Do not, I pray, with the same feet with which you frequent the temple of God, visit theatrical plays and obscene spectacles. Understand that the same must be done regarding the other members of the human body. And indeed, those who enter the church of God with an undefiled foot must keep themselves entirely from impious and profane places, as being contrary to God.

^B “Above the gift of fools is thy sacrifice, because they do not know what evil they do.” Because fools also sometimes offer a gift to God, as those who perform almsgiving out of vain glory; just as Cain, who indeed offered correctly, but did not divide correctly. Therefore, he says, let thy sacrifice be made with discernment and with knowledge. For fools do not even know that they offer wrongly, because they do not have knowledge and discernment. For he who performs that which is good with knowledge, also avoids the opposite with knowledge. But he who is ignorant of the former will easily be ignorant of the latter. Therefore, understand the phrase "Because they do not know what evil they do" as follows: They are held by ignorance, and their minds are covered in darkness. But he spoke properly and distinctly when he called the offering of fools a "gift," while he understood only the sacrifice of the wise.

CHAPTER V.

Vers. 1. “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any word before the face of God; for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth ^D below.” ^C He exhorts that a prompt tongue be restrained; then, indeed, because wrong-headed sentences are suggested to the foolish tongue by an impulsive and rash heart, in order that he might block up the very fountain and source of foolish words, he says: "Let not thy heart be hasty to utter any word before the face of God." As if to say: Because God is present everywhere, He beholds all things, even detecting the hidden thoughts of the soul and heart, even if they do not emerge through the evidence of speech: for God, who has His seat in the highest watchtowers of the heavens, beholds all things that happen below. Otherwise: Do not rashly pour forth words concerning divine mysteries, nor as it happens; for, being mortal and wearing flesh, and being weighed down below, you cannot [fathom] the essence of God who is invisible and supercelestial.

^A Therefore, let your words be few. For all the reasons stated above, let your words be not only few in number, but also weighed with careful examination.

VER. 2. *For a dream comes in the multitude of temptation, and the voice of a fool in the multitude of words.* If you take this saying proverbially, absolutely, and freely, understand it thus: Just as those who are agitated by many temptations and cares during the day are subsequently disturbed by dreams during their rest, so too the fool who sins in many words is convicted by his own voice. Otherwise: just as a dream that tempts someone in sleep, whether toward avarice or toward lust, flies away and immediately vanishes into nothingness, so that nothing of what he seemed to be doing turns out to be real, so too the voice of a foolish man, concluding nothing useful or advantageous, appears much like a dream. As if to say: The speech of a foolish man is compared to dreams. But if you wish to bring forward these words as though Ecclesiastes were confirming by reason what he brought up previously, namely, that *a dream comes in the multitude of temptation, and the voice of a fool in the multitude of words*, you shall take it in this way, as if he were warning us, saying: Do not be a babbler or a trifler, nor display your innate foolishness through your own speech, because many temptations happen to babblers, not only in sensible experience and by day, but they also terrify them ^B in their sleep during the night.

VER. 3. *As you have vowed a vow to God, do not delay to render it, for there is no will in fools. You, therefore, whatever you have vowed, render.* Prayer is the petitioning of good things from God; but a vow is when we promise to God that we will give something. We vow and promise to God not merely money, but also abstinence from food, and chastity, and things of that kind. Since, therefore, fools repent after having made a promise, being unwilling to fulfill the vow, he exhorts us to render what we have promised to God quickly and with speed.

VER. 4. *It is better for you not to vow, than after a vow not to render the things promised.* It is, without doubt, an evil and a detestable thing if you are never willing to grant anything to God; yet it is much worse if you promise that you will give something to God and do not pay it. Between two proposed evils, therefore, he called the one that is the lesser evil a good. Understand this also in another sense: Beware that you do not promise anything rashly in the sight of God, because as soon as you have become liable for a vow, a multitude of temptations will surround you, ^C blocking you from fulfilling the promise, so that not even when you are sleeping will you be free of trouble. As, for example, if some greedy man vowed that he would give money to God, then he is not only tormented and distracted by day—as he calculates his accounts here and there, setting poverty and want before his eyes—but, as is fitting, he is also hindered in his sleep by the same images from fulfilling his vow. How great, moreover, is the punishment with which those are to be tormented who disdain to fulfill their vows, is taught to us by Ananias and Sapphira in the Acts of the Apostles, who were taken away by sudden death. ^D

"Do not give your mouth to make your flesh sin." ^A A babbling tongue defiles the whole body; especially when unguarded speech is engaged in with women, it stimulates the flesh toward sin. "And do not say before the face of God that it is ignorance." If you have sinned, he says, through an unbridled mouth, repent, and do not offer a pretext, saying that "I sinned in ignorance." Otherwise: Those who have driven themselves into the depth of wickedness and have come to contempt, do not deign, they say, for God to know the sins among men; you, therefore, he says, do not say this; for nothing has escaped the divine eye. "Lest God grow angry at your voice, and destroy the works of your hands." Do not sin, he says, by your tongue, lest you also destroy the acts performed in accordance with virtue. For God, being angered by rash words, obliterates whatever good we seem to have done. Otherwise: Do not say that God is ignorant of the sins among men; for God is angered at such speech, and he does not approve of our actions. But those who are duller he kills, and at times he brings poverty upon them, destroying the works of their hands. "Because in the multitude of dreams, and vanities, and many words." He has set forth three things similar to one another: the non-existent phantasms of dreams, the vain labors of men, and the untimely trifling of many words. For the words of a babbler are like dreams; and the vain strivings of men differ not at all from dreams. In a multitude, therefore, of dreams—that is, of those who are dreaming, and laboring in vain, and babbling—God is angered. By a multitude of words do not understand verbosity, but rather idle talk; for even Paul, extending his speech until midnight, was insatiable to those who heard him. But he who speaks many things, without having made the matter clear as divine, is said to have said nothing; for he who speaks beyond what is necessary, even by a single word, is said to be a babbler. And teaching a general safeguard for all the virtues, he adds: "Fear God." For the fear of the Lord surpasses everything. "If you see the oppression of the poor and the robbery of judgment in the province, do not marvel at the matter, for a higher than the high keeps watch, and there are higher ones above them; and the abundance of the land." He calls it "robbery of judgment" when the rich bribe the judges to give unjust verdicts; and otherwise, he who violently claims for himself and extorts judgments that in no way pertain to him also practices a robbery of judgment. If, therefore, he says, you see the poor oppressed by the rich and by slanderers, do not marvel, meaning, do not...

be ill-tempered, nor indignant, nor think that the world is ^A without providence. For God, who is high above all, being above all things and observing each of the deeds done by him who seems high, and rich, and vainglorious, will render to each according to the worth of his deeds. And the high ones over them, that is to say, those who are proud of themselves, are nothing else but a superfluity of the earth, or, in other words, useless earth. For why do you boast, he says, O earth and ashes 63?

VERS. 8. But the King of the tilled field is over all.

Otherwise: Since God is the King of the field that has been beheld and most skillfully tilled, let us not destroy His vineyard with lawless deeds, or ungodly dogmas, or pestilential teachings. For the Lord and possessor of the tilled field is over all, and observes all things.

Otherwise: Divine Scripture itself is a kind of fragrant and fruit-bearing ^C field, as it were a paradise planted with the best trees, and having a hidden treasure. It is right, therefore, that those who seek to have this treasure should strive to please the King of this field, that is, God Almighty. They will please Him if they have renounced all the delights of the world, and if they do not follow the sense of the dead letter only, in the manner of the Jews, nor again search out allegories and mysteries from all the words of Scripture, in such a way that (holding the truth of the letter as useless) they root up and pull out the plants of this field; since it is rather fitting clearly to search what is written, and with the Spirit as guide to turn the earth with hoes, while we search out how we may please God, the Lord of this field, and render a spiritual paradise tilled for Him.

VERS. 9. He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; and who has loved fruits in the multitude thereof? And this also is vanity.

VERS. 10. In the multitude of good things they are multiplied that eat them. And what strength and fortitude have they? For power...

is to him that he may see with his eyes. Symmachus the interpreter translates the latter part thus: "For what utility is there to him who possesses these good things, unless that he may merely gaze upon them with his eyes?" The sense, however, is this: You may find someone who, with the greatest striving of soul and labor of body, sets about a base deed—as the miser is wont to do—who gathers money by whatever means he can; and this fortitude and, as it were, energy is to be condemned. But those who are so impudently avaricious propose this to themselves as if it were the highest good: that they might move about amidst cups and platters, and that they might enjoy the spectacle of the money they have amassed. In the multitude of good things, therefore—that is, in the abundance of money which is constantly being multiplied for them—they exult no differently than if they were feeding upon those goods and riches. And what benefit, finally, accrues to them from this kind of exertion and virtue? For he possesses the mastery over his money by mere contemplation alone, being seized by such avarice; as if to say, he is master of them for no other use than that he contemplates them as they are laid out before him. Alternatively: To those who increase their wealth and riches by the legitimate right of honor, those who may use them are also multiplied. For those who truly desire that probity be increased for themselves, share their wealth with many, that is, with the poor. Therefore, that he might dissuade us from tenacity and turn us toward mercy, he says: What profit is there, he asks, to the impudent miser and the tenacious man, in this base manliness and fortitude of his, which permits the rich man to use his money only by the gaze of the eyes? ^C VERS. 11. Sweet is the sleep of a servant, whether he eat little or much; but the one filled with riches has no one to let him sleep. By the comparison set forth, he shows that it turns out more happily for a man subject to the condition of a servant than for him who, though he be free, is nevertheless a slave to avarice. For the servant, leading a carefree life, on whatever food he is nourished, is refreshed by sweet sleep. But he who is a slave to money has an importunate master who does not permit him to sleep: namely, the care of increasing his gain, a thing full of anxieties. Mystically, however: Those who serve God bear with a calm mind, and rejoice in, the transition from the temporary life of this age to the eternal one; which translation of the present life he has ^D beautifully and aptly called sleep. But as for the misers, not sleep receives them, but a horrible death, which does not permit them to rest but delivers them to eternal punishment. ^D VERS. 12, 13. There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, riches kept for their owner to his hurt: and those riches perish in an evil occupation. All species of iniquity are diseases of the soul itself. And so grave and intense is the disease of avarice that it is deservedly called the root of all evils. He says, therefore: I saw wealth kept for the destruction of its possessor; for the miser either loses his wealth while still alive, when on account of them he sometimes suffers the ambushes of brigands and ravishers, or if he escapes these other inconveniences, he at length departs from life and is then deprived of his money. And he clearly understands that he has labored for an uncertain and unstable thing, to have gathered money which he was entirely to be without; for this is what he signifies when he says, in an evil occupation. But because many accumulate wealth under the pretext of their children and heirs, he deservedly adds:

^A And he has begotten a son, and there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he return, to depart even as he came. But if the miser makes the excuse of his children, let him examine the hand of the newborn infant; and when he finds that he was not born with money, let him examine him as he dies; for he will find him returning to the earth naked, having departed from the womb of his mother, and naked departing from life. Then he adds:

^B [VERS. 15, 16.] And he shall take nothing in his labor that he may carry in his hand; and this, too, is an evil sickness. For even as he came, so shall he go. And what is his profit, that he labors for the wind? And all his days are in darkness and in mourning, and in much wrath, and in infirmity, and in anger. If, therefore, neither the miser himself, nor his son whom he establishes as his heir, nor indeed any man at all can carry away with him when he dies any of his sensible possessions, is greed not an evil sickness of the soul? Why, then, do you labor for the wind, when wealth is altogether unstable and like bubbles on water, which vanish away when they burst? But greed itself also languishes in darkness, that is, in ignorance and mourning. For the miser has no mercy even on himself, using his accumulated wealth sparingly and with difficulty, but is also stimulated by a sad wrath besides, and on the slightest occasion rises into contention and flares up, being occupied by a grave sickness of the mind. See, therefore, how many inconveniences encompass gold; after which, when he has finished his life, the darkness of hell will also receive him, repelled from the sight of God, to be punished most severely according to His wrath.

^C [VERS. 17-19.] Behold, I have seen a good; this is, that one should eat and drink and see the good in all his labor which he labors under the sun, the number of the days of his life which God has given him. For He gave him riches and substance, and the power to eat thereof, and to receive his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied in the joy of his heart. ^D Having set forth the person of the miser, and having used an onslaught against him, Ecclesiastes, because he has struck him severely, now attempts to heal him and quietly to draw him away from the passion. Then, since he cannot accommodate the highest virtue, with much wisdom he introduces things pleasant to men to be performed, intermingling with his teaching that one must not give everything over to the belly, and that life here is short. Therefore, he exhorts the miser for the time being to make use of his possessions, so that through what seems pleasant, he may draw him away from the passion of greed, saying, that It is good for you, O avaricious rich man, to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, as long as you consider what is under the sun; for you must also be mindful that you have received limited days from God, and the time of life which God has given you has been thus apportioned to you—that is to say, allotted. Having received, therefore,

^A wealth from God, and the power to use it, take thought not only of eating and drinking, but also of seizing your own portion. Observe, too, the admirable method of his teaching: after he has drawn the miser out from his passion—by the [prelude of] enjoyment of food and drink—he then gently teaches that this enjoyment of food is not [truly] man's portion, but rather that he should take his portion, that is, that which remains with him: to scatter wealth upon the poor and truly to rejoice in such ministry. For this is indeed a gift of God, to take up a merciful and poverty-loving disposition. Then, urging him to be persuaded to take his portion—that is, to spend his money well, so that it may become his own—he reminds him of the brevity of life, saying that he will not remember many days of his life. ^B Such engagement and occupation is both dear to God and gladdens the heart of the merciful.

That this exhortation is directed to the miser, he shows again by adding what follows against misers. These things are as to the literal meaning. But he who is able to hear the great Ecclesiastes more divinely, hearing in the Gospels, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear," knows who the one good is; that it is God; and that he who eats and drinks the flesh of the Lord becomes a partaker of the good things to come. He labors well and exercises the virtues as long as he is under the sun—that is, in this life here—calculating that his days are numbered and that it is not fitting to lose any of them or to let them pass by fruitless. For this, which is concerned with virtue alone, is truly the portion of man, causing God to be our portion, according to the words of the father of Ecclesiastes in the Psalm, "Thou art my portion, O Lord." ^C And that this is the true wealth, concerning which the Apostle said, "That in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge," is clear.

For he who eats and drinks these spiritual goods and rejoices in them knows that these are the gifts of God, and he yearns for eternal life, despising this [life of] short duration. For those who, through the grace of God, are occupied with spiritual things and turn their minds away, despise the things here. For, if sensible wealth were the primary good, why would God—being impartial—not grant it to all? And yet, he has distributed the true goods equally to all—I mean, the practicing of the virtues. Thus, even if wealth is given to the virtuous in some measure, it is not of its nature either good or evil. ^D Rather, as one of the middle or indifferent things, it is transformed according to the disposition of those who handle it, whether well or ill.

CHAPTER VI

^A VERS. 1, 2. "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men: a man to whom God will give riches, substance, and glory, and there is nothing lacking to his soul of all that he desires; yet God will not give him power to eat thereof, for a stranger will eat it. This also is vanity and a grievous infirmity." The literal understanding of this text is directed against the avaricious and those bound by excessive greed. Furthermore, the statement "God will not give him power to eat thereof" is similar to what the Apostle says in writing to the Romans: "God gave them up unto vile affections"; not that God himself compels any human being to pursue avarice or intemperance, but that He permits those things which men undertake by the choice of their free will, while preserving the nature and faculty of free choice. ^B In a mystical sense, however, it must be understood thus: it often happens that someone accumulates great riches for himself in the abundance of eloquence and in the knowledge of the Scriptures, and in the cognition of other matters; yet because the foulness of his morals subsequently dissents from his words and his doctrine, it happens that those who encounter his books and traditions gain great profit for themselves, while the author himself perceives no profit, for the reason that he did not possess morals corresponding to his words. The Savior understood such men when He said: "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works." Otherwise: the people of the Jews were once rich, honored by the Law, by prophets, and by the priesthood; yet they did not reap the fruit from these riches, having been seized by the grave malady of the sin committed against their Savior. On this account, strangers came and ate its goods—namely, the people from the nations called into the Church, of whom it is written: "Alienated from the government of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise."

^C VERS. 3-5. "If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with the good of his substance, and there be no burial for him; I say that an untimely birth is better than he: for he came in vanity, and departs into darkness, and in darkness his name shall be hidden; he hath not seen the sun, nor known it: he has rest above this one." Regarding the statement, "If a man beget a hundred children," understand it as spoken by hyperbole. Scripture makes use of this mode of speech when it deviates from a small amount into something immense. For a hyperbole is a statement exceeding the truth so that it might set something more expressively before the eyes, just as the Apostle also says: "And yet show I unto you a more excellent way: though I speak with the tongues of angels, and though I have all knowledge, and understand all mysteries, and have not charity, I am nothing." And yet it is impossible to possess those things apart from charity.

^A But how we are to understand what he says, he himself, anticipating us, taught us when he stated: "I show you a more excellent way." Ecclesiastes therefore says: Even if one were fruitful to the number of a hundred children, which is impossible; and even if he lived to a ripe old age; yet if he led a wicked life, and not one of virtue, and lived so dissolutely that once dead he is not even deemed worthy of burial (since this very thing happens quite often), I would easily say that an abortive child is far better than such a man. For this man truly came into vanity, and goes into darkness, living in ignorance; and his name shall be hidden in darkness, being blotted out from the book of the living, and not being deemed worthy of the Sun of righteousness. But as for the question regarding abortive children, why some are born dead, and others live for a day or two, this must be left to the inscrutable and just providence of God. ^B Mystically, however, understand what has been said above in this way: Judas Iscariot was also an Apostle, and by the words of his teaching he begat many children; but because he was not filled with good things so as to persevere to the end, but turned to iniquity and was filled rather with the spirit of Satan, he even lacked burial: that is, he did not die into the burial of the Savior. For those who are buried together with the Savior in baptism, and keep the gift while living in virtue, they indeed both rightly rise again with Christ. If, therefore, such a teacher—having brought many disciples to perfection (for this is what that hundredfold number signifies), and having remained in teaching for a long time—is not deemed worthy of the aforementioned burial because he did not mark off the evils, he goes into darkness and shall not see the Sun of righteousness. But the divine Paul, who says of himself: "And last of all he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time," ^C was deemed worthy of burial, having fought the good fight, desiring to depart and to be with Christ. Regarding him who lived badly, Jeremiah also wrote: "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass," which is to say, he shall not be deemed worthy of the rest of rational beings, having ended his life in irrationality.

VERS. 6. And if he should live a thousand years, he never saw the return of goodness: do not all things go to one place?

VERS. 7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet his soul shall not be satisfied.

nourishment, that which is from the Word and the virtues. Otherwise: Wickedness is something incomplete and insatiable; the soul, therefore, that lives in company with it, always brings forth wicked things through the mouth, reviling, weaving deceits, and yet it is not satisfied, because of the incomplete and insatiable nature of wickedness. ^B

VERS. 8. “For what has the wise man more than the fool? For the poor man knows how to walk before the face of life.” What has the wise man, he says, more than the fool? Much in every way; for the fool surrenders himself to pleasures; but the wise poor man, who is poor in spirit, walks before the face of Life, that is, he makes his way through the virtues until he arrives at the ultimate object of desire. For he desires to depart and to be with Christ, for He is the eternal life. Otherwise: The foolish and ignorant people of the Jews suspended our Life on wood; but the Gentile people, once poor and empty of the graces of God, ran to the Crucified, ^C walking before the face of Life, and became enriched with faith in Him.

VERS. 9. “Better is the sight of the eyes than the walking according to the desire of one’s soul; but this also is vanity and a choice of spirit.” The Apostle says: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit.” And natural is he who uses the irascible and the concupiscible faculties contrary to what is right. And it is written in the Gospels: “If your eye be clear, your whole body will be clear;” that is, if your rational faculty, that is, the intellect, is enlightened, it is able to use both the irascible and the concupiscible faculties rightly and according to nature. It is therefore incomparably better to have the eyes of the soul discerning and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, than to walk according to the desire of the soul; that is, in the manner of the natural man, who walks in darkness. ^D For such a man is to be considered nothing else but vanity and a choice of spirit, since with a certain choice of counsel he has become a natural man, and has migrated toward vanities. But from the words of the Gospel which we have brought for the comparison of this passage, a doubt may arise, since there mention was made of one eye only, while here mention is made of two. We say, however, that in that place the intellect is indeed marked by the name of the one eye; but here, the spiritual operations of the intellect, namely the practical and the theoretical, are shown by the duality of the eyes: he who uses them piously and dutifully will indeed have a discerning intuition of the eyes. Furthermore, this is most worthy to be known, that it is the custom of Divine Scripture to present to us at times the whole soul by means of one faculty alone; as from the concupiscible, when it says: “And he may eat grapes so as to fill the soul,” that is, the appetite. Or from the irascible, when it says: “A blessed soul is altogether simple, but an irascible man is not shapely.” For by the irascible part, it said the whole soul. When it says again, “Having purified your souls in the obedience of truth,” since the rational part in us is purified through sanctification, from this it called the whole soul; and when it calls the whole soul, it speaks along with the parts, as, “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers.” And here, therefore, from the rational,

power, which it expressed by the duality of the eyes, it says that it is far better for a man to be spiritual than animal. ^B

Vers. 10, 11. “If what was, its name has already been called; and it is known what is man; and he will not be able to be judged with one stronger than he: for there are many words that increase vanity.” There are many words, he says, that increase vanity, which are impudently brought forward against the providence of the Creator. For there are very many who inquire indiscreetly, why God oppressed this man with poverty, but to that one, on the contrary, poured out great riches? Why did He will this one to be beautiful, and this one deformed? And other such inquisitive trifles. Which, in order that our Ecclesiastes might remove from the midst, he says that the reasons for all things that have been made, why they were made so, are stored up with their author, God, who is of such wisdom that He not only knew them to be future before they happened, but also had their names hidden in the counsels of His foreknowledge. For if God brought anything into generation, He already had its reason and its name summarized within Himself. Knowing, therefore, also what was to be profitable to each man, He thus brought him into life; and the conditions of man were foreknown to Him, that he would be mutable, mortal, and weak. Let no one, therefore, speak against Him who knows all things before they come to pass, and who brings each thing into the world in its appropriate way, according to the reasons which He alone knows. For no one will be able to be judged with Him who is truly strong; for the strong will win without any doubt, according to that which is said by the ^C David, “That thou mightest be justified in thy words, and mightest prevail when thou art judged.”

CHAPTER VII

Vers. 1. “What is more to a man? For who knows what is good for a man? What will it be for him? And He made them in shadow; for who shall declare to man what shall be after him under the sun?” He criticizes not an upright life, but the vain life of men, when he says: What more has he who is occupied with vain and perishing things? Will you say that he has a beautiful wife? But to whom is it sufficiently certain whether he will grieve on account of this same wife, or not, or whether she may be caught in adultery or otherwise bring causes of grief? Will you say that he has money? Yet money drove Judas to the noose. Or rather a vineyard? As if it were not on account of a vineyard that Naboth underwent snares and death? For who shall declare to man what is going to happen to him, while he is in this life? Now this present authority of our Ecclesiastes overthrows from the foundation all superstition of divination, and vain astrological ^D inquiries.

For we have learned through the prophets, and through the apostles, and through our Lord, what we know. For the things that shall happen to us in this life are altogether uncertain; but the things in the life to come are very manifest: because punishments await the sinners, and eternal life awaits the just. ^A

Verse 2. “A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death better than the day of his birth.”

Verse 3. “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, because this is the end of all men.”

Verse 4. “And the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart will be made better.”

^A Migne calls good. But anger that is stirred up not from hatred of sin but from a desire for vengeance for injuries sustained is to be condemned. It is better, therefore, to be angry in this way than to be dissolved in listless laughter. For a grave countenance, neither dissolute nor slack, is an index of correction and prepares the soul for true joy in virtue. In another way, he can be said to be angry who corrects those who sin with severe rebuke. It is better, therefore, for a teacher or master to constrain those under him with speech, than to endure their minds languishing through laughter and flattery; for in the austerity of the countenance—which he calls a vice, though it is quite the opposite—he will himself be improved, and he renders those under his hand good. In the austerity of the countenance, which he calls evil, he himself will reach excellence, and he will convert his subordinates to the way of probity.

^B “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” A wise man, reflecting within himself on the griefs that come from this, that he was born of corruptible flesh and is soon to depart from this life, pursues other mortals who are born under the same condition with pious affection; but he despises whatever things appear before his eyes, as subject to collapse and death. The fool, however, with the dullness of his mind, thinks that those things which are in the world are stable, and does not understand their changeability, and therefore is secure as to the outcome of the future, flowing with luxuries and indulging in pleasures. Observe, moreover, what I have admonished you at the beginning and often repeated by the way, that our Ecclesiastes (not speaking ingenuously from his own opinion, but from the persona of a voluptuary, which he sometimes assumes as it suits him) discourses about dishes and cups in such a way that it might appear to those who do not understand the oblique course of his speech that he is like a certain Epicurean, measuring the good of man by pleasure. But he clearly shows the counsel of his own mind in many places, and then immediately in the place just set out by us, where he says that the mind of the wise dwells in the house of mourning, but that of the fool in the house of mirth.

“Better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than a man hearing the song of fools.” For this softens the soul; but the rebuke of the wise suppresses and strengthens it.

“For as the sound of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools.” Boiling laughter and guffawing, he says, seems very like thorns which, crackling under the bottom of a pot, burn up: first, because just as that crash of burning thorns is clearly perceived by hearing, although it is not seen by the eyes, so also the immodest sound of guffawing easily betrays fools; but then, because from the mass of thorns smoke arises, here also a certain darkness of the mind is recognized from such laughter; there the thorns set fire to the pot, here laughter, not lacking the filth of sin, prepares ^C the soul of the fool for eternal fire: for the wise man scarcely relaxes his face with a slight and modest smile.

“And this also is vanity, that calumny vexes the wise, and destroys the heart of his strength.” He teaches another type of vanity. But if you think the one whom he calls wise here is the perfect man, understand it thus: The senseless in heart who are not confirmed by the grace of God suffer scandal not only in themselves but in the providence of God, so that they cannot abstain from calumnies and blasphemies, because they cannot behold the divine in human affairs.

^A Observe how he has slackened the tensions of the soul, and has suffered something of vanity. But since he was a perfect sage, filled with the Spirit, he brought forward the final end of those who commit sin—how they became a desolation, suddenly failed, and perished because of their iniquity. But if you consider one who has just laid hold of divine instruction, realize that for such a newly-planted soul, the slanders of heretics, diabolical temptations, and what I mentioned above, do slacken the tensions of the soul; and if he does not quickly recover his sobriety, vanity will be added to him as well.

Verse 9. Better is the end of a speech than its beginning.

Better is the long-suffering than the one who is high in spirit.

Verse 10. Do not be quick in your spirit to be angry, for wrath will rest in the bosom of fools.

Verse 11. Do not say: What has happened, that the former days were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you have inquired about this.

neither sees any difference in days, ^A but also understands the words spoken beforehand.

VERS. 12, 13. Good is wisdom with an inheritance, and it is more to those who see the sun, because wisdom is in its shadow, as the shadow of silver; because the abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will make them who have it live.

Otherwise: "wisdom," he says, "with an inheritance"—that is, faith with works—possesses something more than others; what is this "more"? The sun. And silver in Scripture is taken in a mystical sense as the word itself. Therefore, just as the clear and explanatory word teaches us the disciplines of wisdom, so the shadow of wisdom, which is practical virtue—being a kind of shadow—transfers us to perfect wisdom, to the contemplation and understanding of things more divine. And such a possession of wisdom grants us eternal life. [By the shadow of silver, that is, the enunciation of words which is as it were a shadow of things, we arrive at the things themselves and at knowledge. By the shadow of wisdom, that is, the practical life which is as a preliminary introduction to the theoretical, we arrive at contemplating the sublimity of divine things. Thus, indeed, you shall compose the literal sense: "Wisdom is in its shadow," that is, the sublime contemplation of mysteries is in the practical life of its possessor; and because of this, he who first possesses this shadow shall presently also hold wisdom: "As the shadow of silver," that is, acts in relation to the disciplines of wisdom; this is, as words are preliminary and bring one to the disciplines of wisdom.]

^C

VERS. 14. See the works of God, for who shall be able to straighten what God has turned aside, in the day of his prosperity?

^A Ver. 15. "Live in good, and look to the day of evil; look, I say, for this is congruous. To this God has joined a dissertation, so that man may find nothing after him." Live, he says, according to virtue (for this is to live in good), and observe when temptations and misfortunes befall you, in order to see whether God has not done all things harmoniously and fittingly, and has wisely hidden the teaching concerning these things. And he calls it a "dissertation," so that man may not know the things that are about to befall him. For it is done harmoniously, even that which seems to be an evil, after the thing which seemed to be good; and conversely: for instance, someone is in health, and this while living according to virtue; later he falls ill; he is wealthy, then he becomes poor. And why? What is the reason for this? That if we humans were to foresee the things that are about to befall us, divine fear would not subsist. But, being enclosed by uncertainty, we both fear God, and we know that the resolution of evils is from Him and Him alone. And no one can heal the perversity that is in humans, except Himself. That which seems to be disharmonious is therefore harmonious, and that which seems to be unequal is equal, driving all people equally toward divine fear through uncertainty. Then he adds:

^B Ver. 16. "I have seen all things in the days of my vanity." I have examined these things, he says, as a wise man, in the days of vanity. He calls the present life the day of vanity: first, because the majority of men do not pursue what is just and pious in it; and then, because it also passes away. For this reason, urging us toward the desire for the future and unending life, he says:

Ver. 17, 18. "Do not be excessively just, and do not be excessively wise, lest you be amazed; do not be excessively impious, and do not be hard, lest you die before your time." Each virtue, being measured, has vices sitting on either side through excess and defect. Do not be, he says, "excessively just"—that is, by an excessive hatred of vices, do not cast away all benevolence toward those who sin, becoming rigid and inhuman. Nor should you be "excessively wise," or inquire into more than is necessary, ^C lest you be amazed. Things that are beyond the limits of divine doctrine are superfluous and excessive. Do not, therefore, he says, seek for those things which the divine Word has wisely hidden from us for our benefit. For to seek these things is a kind of stupor and a sickness of a frenzied mind. And do not be "excessively impious"—that is, excessively—concerning the dogmas and opinions of sects; but strive to find the truth, and to wash away your faults through repentance. And do not be, he says, "hard," that is, unyielding and resisting the teaching of the Spirit. Then he adds generally: "Lest you die before your time." A man dies before his time if he is not perfected in virtues, but

who lives and dies in sin. He, however, who has attained the fullness of virtues, like a grain of wheat that is ripe, falls in his own time.

^B

Vers. 19. "It is good that you should take hold of this; but do not defile your hand with this, for he who fears God shall come forth of them all."

Vers. 20, 21. "Wisdom will help the wise man, above ten that are mighty in the city. For there is not a just man upon earth, that works good, and does not sin."

Vers. 22, 23. "Also apply not your heart to all words that are spoken, lest perhaps you hear your servant cursing you; for often your own heart knows that likewise you also have cursed others."

that you too have frequently reviled and cursed others; and therefore, coming to a better frame of mind, clothe yourself in the oblivion of all curses and injuries.

VERS. 24, 25. *All these things I have tested in wisdom. I said: I will become wise; and she was far removed from me, far more than she was. It is a deep depth, who shall find her?* When Ecclesiastes had touched upon the knowledge of spiritual and sensible things, and had from one part glimpsed the great mysteries of wisdom, and looked upon its vast open sea—noting that the further one progresses, the greater the spaces that are left behind—he erupted into such utterances: an experience we see happened long after to the Apostle Paul when he exclaims with admiration: ^B *Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!*

VERS. 26, 27. *I turned myself, and my heart, to know, and to consider, and to seek wisdom, and the reckoning; and to know the foolishness of the wicked, and the turbulence and error. And I find the woman to be more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart a net, her bands are hands. He that is good before God shall be delivered from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.*

The wise man, when he directs his powers toward understanding something, surveys all things in a circuit with a collected mind, ^C observing and weighing himself and his own faculties. Then he also best consults the object placed before him, the matter to be understood, and does not stray from the truth through a perverse judgment of the mind. Nor is he carried in a straight line to look upon sensible things, but with the windows of his senses closed and retreating into the recesses of his own mind, he walks in a circuit: there, through a hidden reflexive action, the intellect returns to itself, examining itself and that which is presented for understanding. In this way, therefore, gathering myself together (says Ecclesiastes), I sought to know what the wisdom of worldly things might be, and the reasoning for it: whether he understands by that reasoning the calculation which is performed by set tallies and numbers, ^D as happens in the art of arithmetic; or rather the numbers serving for genethliacal observations, or simply all the reasonings that are gathered through numbers by secular students and Gentile philosophers. I sought, therefore, to know what this foolishness and turbulence, and inconstant error, and the circuitous wandering of the mind of many sophists might be; and I finally found that this wisdom of theirs is like an adulterous woman. For just as she entices young men with bland and deceitful words, so also this one hunts the foolish, weaving a net of syllogisms. And just as she breaks the soul with soft touch, and once broken binds it fast, so also does this one, bringing the same evil with the tickling concept of oratory. The sinner, therefore, is without any contest or defense easily drawn into her captivity; but the pious and faithful man, supported by the help of God, is drawn out of her snares. He asserts, moreover, that such wisdom—or rather, as it ought to be called, foolishness—is even worse than death; and it is more detrimental to our soul to the degree that it is worse to deliver the soul over to death (which this wisdom performs) than to set the same soul free from the bond of the body, which is the function of temporary death.

VERS. 28-30. "Ecce hoc inveni," saith Ecclesiastes, "one by one to find the account, which my soul sought, and I found not: a man among a thousand I found; but a woman among all these I found not. Nevertheless, behold, this have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." This whole passage should be interpreted in a mystical and moral sense; that is to say: As I was examining, he says, the universal female race—not by corporeal sex, but by an enervated and effeminate female disposition—in none of the women did I find the account which my soul sought, that is, a manly one; for this is what the wise man seeks. But when I made an inquiry even into those who appeared not to be effeminate, I found it rare to discover a truly human and virtuous man. Then, reflecting whence such a difference arose, I found that God indeed made every man upright and unperverted, but they themselves have been divided by many inventions; as one is mastered by fornication, another by avarice, and another by some other passion.

CHAPTER VIII.

"Who knoweth the wise men? and who knoweth the solution of a word? A man's wisdom will illuminate his face, and the impudent in countenance shall be punished." It is impossible to recognize the wise, the truly wise, unless one has been fashioned according to wisdom and has received this gift from God; for he who has received this gift of discernment knows who are the truly wise, and who are they that are not, but only appear so. This man also solves problems and the subtleties of words. This man has the face of his soul illuminated by the brilliance of divine wisdom; but he who is not truly wise, yet is impudent in countenance—that is, he who offers contentious arguments—is hated when he is refuted.

"Keep the king's mouth, and do not be hasty concerning the word of God's oath; and you shall walk from his face." (Other books have "to walk.") It is considered good for a man to be obedient and subject to the earthly and mortal king; but it is better for him to guard and keep the mouth of the King of all, God, even as the Scriptures command us to keep it. Moreover, to keep the mouth of the King, God, is to conceal divine mysteries in silence, and not to set them forth to unworthy and profane listeners. It is also good for a man to faithfully observe the commandments of the law which God pronounced with His own mouth. It is likewise good to take heed not to use the holy name of God in swearing rashly and lightly, and not to be eager to walk apart from the face of God, but to perform all our works as if God were watching us, as a present judge and inspector. According to the other reading, you should punctuate these words thus, namely: "And concerning the word of God's oath do not be hasty," instead of "Do not run to oaths, but even from his face,"—that is, from the oath—"you shall walk,"

^A nor endure to admit an oath into your mouth. Nor stand in an evil word, for whatsoever he shall desire, he doeth. As a king having power, he speaks, and who shall say to him: What have you done?"

Simply and absolutely, it is a good thing for the soul not to be seized by any evil prejudice, nor to offer resistance to things that are in any way base, whether spoken or imagined. But since the following passage makes mention of commandments (as you shall soon be able to see), you should understand the matters I have just proposed to be expounded in this way: namely, that since the King of all, God, who has authority over all things, has legislated, and it is not permitted to anyone to speak against Him, do not stand there passing judgment on the commandments, wondering "Why did He ordain this, and not that?" For this is wickedness; rather, in fear and faith, fulfill what has been ordained.

^B VERS. 5, 6. "He who keeps the commandment shall not know an evil word. And, The heart of the wise man knows the time of judgment, because for every matter there is a time and judgment." He who keeps, he says, the commandment of God shall not know an evil word; that is, he shall not do an evil deed. For knowledge is twofold: the one is generic, in the pure understanding and apprehension of the mind; the other is that which proceeds and emerges into action, according to what is written: "Adam knew Eve his wife"; not that he did not know her before, but when he had approached her for carnal union, then he is said to have known her in deed. Therefore, he who keeps the commandments according to this knowledge in action is, ^C beyond doubt, ignorant of evil, because he does not perform it. But according to the former, simple, and latent knowledge in the intellect, he who knows the good immediately knows also what evil is, and conversely, he who is not ignorant of evil knows what the good is. (For the knowledge of opposites is the same, not indeed by use, but by the power and faculty of knowing.) Therefore, the wise man, he says, who performs and disposes every matter in judgment and at the appropriate time, knows that there will be a time of universal judgment in which God, the just Judge, will allot to each person according to his merit.

"Because the knowledge of man is great upon him; [VERS. 7] because there is no one who knows what is to come. For who shall announce to him how it shall be?" Since knowledge itself is immense, it presses upon and overwhelms man. For if he wishes to know everything, it rushes upon him with a vast weight, constricting and suffocating his mind. There are, however, certain things necessary for salvation, from the knowledge of which man is by no means barred: such as man being a rational, mortal animal, whose soul is immortal; that there are rewards prepared for the good and the evil; and those things which finally pertain to the instruction of faith. Furthermore, that man was created in the image of God, and that it is his duty to preserve that image pure and immaculate. But as for the things that shall come to pass after him, to know this belongs to God alone, ^D and to those to whom the same God has willed to make them known. But because Ecclesiastes makes mention in this place primarily of the final judgment, you should understand all these things thus: "Great is the knowledge concerning the reasons of the judgment; and no one has announced to man the precise reasons concerning it"—such as when it is, or where the judgment seat is established, or how God examines the life of each individual; or how those who are at the eleventh hour are the first to receive their reward[.]

[.] ^A And those, too, whom we deem evil are recognized by God as good, and vice versa. Therefore, do not be overly subtle about all these things, lest you be confounded.

"There is no man that has power over the spirit to restrain the spirit; and there is no power in the day of death." The meaning of "spirit" ^B is widely applied; for the soul is called spirit, and the wind, the air we breathe, and the gift of the Holy Spirit are all signified by this term. In all these aforementioned senses, no one has power over the spirit except God alone. For it is not the power of any other but of God only to animate a body, or to render a soul lifeless, or to rouse the winds—the south or the north, for instance—or to bestow or take away a spiritual charism, or to corrupt the air or render it temperate. There is no one, then, who has power over the spirit to restrain it. And there is no one who has power ^C in the day of death.

"And there is no release in the day of battle." Literally, when a war has seized a city and country, it is not opportune to be sent out or to sail abroad. In a mystical sense, understand it thus: him whom God has ordered to die in battle, there is no one who can send back or recall to this life here. Otherwise: when someone begins to feel the battles of his own sins in the judgment of conscience, there is no one who can say, "Send me back to life that I may repent." Nor, while about to die, can one say, "Grant me leave to live, that I may repent." For there is no one with power in the day of death.

"Neither shall impiety save him who is subject to it." That is, he who is tyrannized and held captive by impiety. Knowing then that there is no one with power in the day of death, and that there is no release in the day of battle, let us not be impious.

"And I saw all these things." ^D The Master declares that he has known these things accurately, so that, as one conscious of and experienced in all things, we might have faith in his words.

"And I applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun, that I might see all things that man has potently wrought upon man, to afflict him. And then I saw the wicked brought into their graves, even from the holy place." Attentively, he says, I applied my mind to know the works of men, and by what reasoning man harms man. Then, because it is often considered unjust that the wicked are powerful and prosperous, having examined it more deeply, I saw the fall of the wicked and the death of the soul. For "into their graves" is now used in place of "into punishments." And nothing shall profit them.

nothing of the fact that they were once considered just and holy, nothing that they performed sacred ministries and offices in the temple of God. Ecclesiastes therefore teaches us not to be scandalized, because we perceive an enormous discrepancy of status and condition in the lives of men; since we ought instead to look toward that retribution which is in the future age. ^A

• And they proceeded, and were praised in the city, because they had done so. • "These men," he says, "who seemed to be pious and holy, yet walked and proceeded in their impiety, nonetheless received praise from men, whether because they were ignorant of their impiety, or because they were deceitfully flattering them." But the pretense of piety or the praise of sycophants profited them nothing; for this whole business ended in vanity, since the wretched men fell into their graves. And as for what he says: And this also is vanity; it could be distinguished from the preceding sentences and aptly transmitted to the following verses, so that it might be read as follows: ^B

VERS. 11. ‹ And this also is vanity. Because there is no contradiction to those who do evil, quickly, therefore the heart of the sons of men has been filled in them, to do evil. › This, he says, is what increased and confirmed the vanity, because there are none who contradict those who do evil, "quickly," nor any who refute them; so that "quickly" here may be referred to those who contradict, signifying that they [should] contradict assiduously and vehemently and restrain them with sharp reproof: or else [that] "quickly" refers to those doing evil, as if they were sinning swiftly and studiously. Therefore he says: Because the wicked are not refuted, but are rather lifted up by praises and applause, for this reason the heart of the sons of men, established in an evil habit, has been filled, so that they strive to do evil. ^C He fittingly said, "of the sons of men": for the sons of God do not do evil.

VERS. 12. ‹ He who has sinned, has done evil from then, and from his youth. › Sin has been introduced into the world by the deceit and fraud of the devil: on this account we conclude the Lord's Prayer, praying, *But deliver us from the evil one*: that is, from the devil. He, therefore, who sins, executes the command and will of the devil. But the devil from then and from his youth, that is, from the beginning, was the leader and author of sin. Alternatively: Sin is not, he says, recent, but very ancient. Hence it is that even Noah heard God saying that the mind of men had already sat down and been confirmed in being diligent in sins, and in vehemently doing evil. ^D Understand "youth" in this place, not as referring to age, but by a certain likeness to rash manners, and by a youthful disposition toward those who lightly wander from the path of reason: which manners can be said to be those of the devil, the authors of sin, and the wicked and sinful men who follow in their footsteps. Alternatively: He who has already contracted a habit of sin, and has already proposed in his mind to sin; he begins to sin from the moment he gave the assent of his will; even if he later brings that proposal into action much later, or even does not produce what he had planned, perhaps being delayed not by a change of counsel, but by some intervening impediment. Alternatively: He who sins and does evil, even if he is known to us only from the result, yet to the eyes of God’s foreknowledge he was known from of old to be a sinner.

^A

And I know that it will be well for those who fear God, so that they may fear from his presence. And it will not be good for the wicked, and he will not prolong days in shadow, who does not fear from the presence of God.

There is a vanity that is done upon the earth, that there are just men, whom it reaches as the work of the unjust: I said that this also is vanity.

And I praised with joy, that there is no good for man under the sun, except to eat and to drink, and to be joyful: and this itself will accompany him in his labor during all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun: in which I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the occupation that is done upon the earth: for day and night there is no one who sees sleep with his eyes. If you still think that a pleasure-loving person is speaking, he considers and declares that the joy of man is stored up in the pleasure and use of sensible things. But if anyone proposes to hear the Ecclesiastes speaking to him, he will immediately perceive what is the true food and drink, since we faithful Christians have already received in the present life the earnest of the Spirit. As for what he says: "I gave my heart to know wisdom," our Ecclesiastes, having contemplated with the most acute eye of his mind, understood and saw that no man is devoid of occupation and anxiety, and that none ^D

^A is praiseworthy for being occupied with divine things; but he is blameworthy who labours for human things. And the just man gives no sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, but he watches while it is day, and does not fall into the darkness of ignorance; neither by day, that is, in a time of prosperity; nor by night, that is, in a time of temptations. But the unjust man, joining the ensuing night to the days, does not take sweet sleep, being anxious either about how he may acquire the things he desires, or fearing the loss of those he has already acquired.

Vers. 17. « And I saw all the works of God, that a man shall not be able to find the work that is done under the sun: how much so ever a man shall labour to seek, and he shall not find: yea, and if the wise man shall say to know it, he shall not be able to find it. » That hidden knowledge of God, according to which all things were made, can be comprehended by God alone. But we mortals, whatever we write or say, or think we understand about these matters, we know in part, being illuminated by a certain participation in His grace. No one, therefore, whether instructed in worldly science or divine wisdom, or even as far as is permitted to man, can perfectly understand the substances of things, nor the measure of heaven, earth, and sea, or how these very things have coalesced, or by what supports they stand. But if perchance any wise man should seem to offer probable reasons, he will nevertheless be utterly unable to find the inmost truth itself.

CHAPTER IX

Vers. 1. « All this I have laid to my heart, and my heart saw all this, that the just and the wise, and their works are in the hand of God. » He said above that the knowledge of certain things is abstruse, so that he might avert us from the useless and vain solicitude of searching; but now he sets forth in what matter the gaze and knowledge of the wise man can satisfy itself: namely, that just and wise men, together with their works, rest under the shadow of God and the protection of His right hand. For God does not permit them to be devastated by the powers of the violent. For upright men and their commendable works are protected by God: but regarding the impious it is written: « And they themselves have been thrust away from Thy hand. »

« There is no man who knows love and hatred: all things are before his face, vanity in all. » Symmachus, instead of what we have brought forward, « vanity in all, » interpreted it thus: All things are uncertain in their sight: that is, man does not know whether he whom he now most hates will, with the changing of fortune, prove a friend and benefactor; and conversely, whether he should fear at some time from him whom he now pursues with love. But by a higher understanding: whoever still savours of the things of man, and does not fully surrender himself to God, does not know by a discerning judgment what things are worthy of love, and what are worthy of hate. For arduous and difficult virtue is worthy of love, but pleasure in sensible things is worthy of hate. He who perversely and inversely understands things, has all things as vanity before his face, not perceiving the things that are as they are in truth, but as pleasure suggests.

^A VERS. 2, 5. "Eventus unus justo et impio, et bono et malo, mundo et immundo, sacrificanti et non sacrificanti: sicut bonus, sic et peccator; sicut jurans, sic qui jusjurandum timet. Hoc malum est inter omnia quæ sunt sub sole, quod videlicet et idem cunctis sit eventus." It has often been set forth in the preceding pages that those things which are intermediate are indifferent—sickness and health, wealth and poverty, and things of the same kind—happening commonly to both the just and the sinner, insofar as all are mortal animals. However, in that they are rational beings, they differ greatly from one another, since by the free choice of their will, some perform what is pious and right, while others are carried away toward impiety. Note, however, that he has placed the person who swears among the sinners. But that he designated this commonality and equality of events as "evil" is to be understood in such a way that these words are spoken from the perspective of those who judge perversely of things themselves; since on account of equal and common casualties, they think nothing differentiates the just from the impious. For both alike endure labors as long as they are under the sun; but after the course of this life, to each is rendered what is according to his deserts.

^C "Ipsum quoque cor filiorum hominis impletum est malitia, et circuitus in corde ipsorum, et posteriora ipsius ad mortuos. [VERS. 4.] Quoniam quis communicat ad omnes viventes?" The heart of the sons of men is filled with malice, wandering hither and thither, and they do not cease to be weary until they themselves also reach the dead; for there is no one who can have a perpetual and unfailing society with the living. For the common end awaits everyone, whoever he may be. Otherwise: "Sons of men," that is, the common and vulgar sort, seeing the just and the unjust vexed by a common lot, are filled with iniquity and malice, and their mind is carried away in wicked labors until, being dead in their deeds, they are numbered among the dead, having no communion with those who lived according to virtue, who are now called living in the proper and true sense, because they have arrived at the eternal life laid up for them.

^D "Est spes, quoniam melior est canis vivens leone mortuo." The beggar who lives according to God has a better hope than the proud and arrogant man who is dead in his sin. Otherwise: The people from the Gentiles, who were once a dog and unclean, having come to the faith, and being regenerated in the Lord, have a better hope than that royal people of the Jews.

"Viventes noscent se morituros esse, mortui vero penitus nihil cognoscunt." Those whose intellect is irrigated by the living moisture of understanding, when they consider the temporal course of this life, live diligently, being confirmed by the hope of eternal life; but those who are dead in sin, occupied by the nebula of ignorance, live without reason, in the manner of brute beasts. "Neque est amplius illis pretium, quoniam desiit

^A memory of them." For what reward is there for sinners, of whom it is said that God does not even remember them? For the Lord knows only those who are his own. This ought to be applied also to the Jewish people.

VERS. 6. "Amor quoque ipsorum et odium et zelus jam perierunt." Those who are dead in their trespasses, of which number the people of the Jews also are, neither keep their love toward God anymore, nor their hatred toward wickedness; nor are they able to say, according to that saying of Phinehas: "I have been very zealous for the Lord." "Neither have they any more a portion in anything that is done under the sun." The Jewish people lost the land of promise, which fell to them by lot, and the city of Jerusalem itself, and the dignity of the priesthood, so that they have no portion ^B even in this present life upon the earth.

"Vade ergo, et comede in lætitia panem tuum, et bibe in corde bono vinum tuum, quoniam approbavit Deus opera tua." In the literal sense, one is said to use in gladness and a good heart the goods granted to him by God, when he uses them modestly and according to the needs of nature: for this is the proper use of a rational creature. Therefore he says, "eat your bread." For those who serve their gullet and belly with insatiable desire, follow rather the life of beasts. In the mystical sense, however, the bread and wine of the rational creature are the very virtues by which souls are nourished. ^C Otherwise: The Word made flesh encourages the human race to the mystical participation of his body, which was brought about properly for our sake, since he who was without flesh assumed it for our salvation. He therefore approves that this should occur, and rejoices in the mysteries and rites of the Church.

VERS. 8. "In omni tempore candida sint vestimenta tua." This signifies the actions and works that follow the norm of virtue; as well as the garments handed down to us through the laver of regeneration, which are beyond doubt kept white for all time as long as we abstain from the filth of sins. One is also said to have white garments who washes his bed every night, and waters his couch with his tears, thus cleansing the stains of sin ^D through penance.

"Et oleum tuo in capite non deficiat." In the literal sense, the Word intends that those who exercise virtues should be mild and most human, so that they do not emaciate and discolor their faces with the feigned austerity of hypocrisy. By mystical understanding, however, oil provides these two things: that it fosters light, and strengthens weary limbs. Both of these are brought by the anointing of the Holy Spirit; for it illuminates the mind of the faithful and establishes them in solid tranquility. We shall surely have this anointing, unless we resist the Holy Spirit himself in a troublesome and ungrateful manner. Otherwise: Our head is called Christ in the holy Scriptures; and he accepts as if offered to himself whatever alms are given to the poor. Let us not cease, therefore, from anointing our head, that is, from undertaking a merciful disposition toward those in need.

^A Ver. 9. "Enjoy life with the wife whom you have loved." If you take these words simply, understand them mystically: With the beloved wife—that is, the Church, which is the bride of Christ—in her, indeed, eternal life will be found. But if you refer this to the wife of any man, then in the literal sense it will admonish us that, according to the law of monogamy, we should be content with one wife. For conjugal chastity and observance is also for us a conciliator of eternal life. "Enjoy life," therefore, and live with the wife whom you have loved; as if he were to say: Beware lest you be deceived by your wife, just as Adam was deceived by his wife Eve; do you, on the contrary, strive to turn the weaker part of the association (that is, the woman) for the better yourself, in order that you may turn it toward life eternal. In the mystical sense, however, our wisdom is called a wife: if we live with her, we shall undoubtedly enjoy eternal life.

^B Ver. 10. "Whatever your hand finds to do, work according to your ability; for there is no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the underworld, to which you are going." He exhorts us to set about the practical virtues with all exertion and zeal, yet not laboring beyond our capability. For whoever practices what he can in these things lives according to congruent knowledge, and is found worthy of the gift of knowledge and wisdom, as much as God imparts according to one's usefulness. But in the underworld, since practical operations, which we exercise by means of the senses, cannot exist, those who have lived in sins—being buried in the underworld, not being able to perform the practical virtues anymore—can neither become wise nor otherwise dutiful and upright; for they have been brought to the underworld only for this: to be tormented with eternal punishments.

^C Vers. 11, 12. "I turned, and I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the prudent, nor grace to the knowledgeable; because time and chance will happen to them all; nor does man know his time." "I turned," he says, that is: I contemplated another thing; that to win the prize in the race is not for just any light and nimble person, nor is it for all who are powerful to show themselves outstanding and invincible in war, nor do riches devolve upon the wise and prudent men and the industrious, nor yet do those who know many things necessarily obtain grace; for the chances—that is, the uncertain outcomes of things—happen to all in common. ^D And there is nothing ever sufficient for men, nothing perfect on every side, nothing equal, and almost all things are terminated by a dissimilar end. For all things pass by and are changed by the unapproachable judgments of God. But neither does man, he says, know the time of his own end; therefore it is necessary to be vigilant and to work at virtues. But in the mystical sense, whoever is agile and nimble in virtue, and whoever is powerful, who is wise, who is rich, must by no means trust in themselves. On the contrary, indeed, they ought to say what those who are truly wise testify: "Unless the Lord build the house, in vain have they labored..."

For truly, no one possesses grace from God if he does not receive it from Him, nor does he know the time for action unless he be enlightened by the divine light.

"As fish are caught in an evil net, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are the sons of man snared in an ^A evil time, when it falls upon them suddenly." An evil net is the net woven from manifold wickedness. But there is also a good net, namely the seine, which is woven from the ancient and new precepts of our Savior. Therefore, those of mankind who plow the flowing and unstable sea of this life, following various allurements of pleasure, like fish lacking reason, are entangled in evil nets. Those, too, who are proud and puffed up because of the vain opinion of knowledge, appearing to themselves to be elevated and walking on air like flying birds, are hunted by the snares of ^B demons, and they fall into the evil time of infernal punishments when sudden destruction comes upon them.

VERS. 13. "I have also seen this wisdom under the sun; and in my judgment it is great: there was a small city, and few men in it; and a great king came against it, and surrounded it, and built great fortifications against it; and he found in it a poor wise man, and he saved the city by his wisdom; yet no man remembered that poor man. Then I said: Wisdom is better than strength; yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not ^C heard." This passage pertains to the person who suffers scandal, who, as if speaking to himself, says he has seen a great wisdom under the sun: a certain small city inhabited by few men, which was besieged by a great king, but was saved by one of those within—a poor man, indeed, yet wise—by whose ingenious counsel the arms of the besieger were defeated. Yet the citizens were ungrateful toward that humble and poor wise man. For men are usually unmindful of benefits, and they make light of the counsels of lowly men, however useful they may be, while they flatter the rich and powerful and carry their words to heaven with ^D praises. "But I," says the wise man, "abhorring the vulgar opinion, shall say otherwise: that wisdom is far better than power." And these things indeed pertain to the literal understanding. But by a higher, mystical sense, you shall understand it thus: the small city is the Church militant on earth, small, I say, in comparison with that which triumphs in the heavens. Few in this city are the men, namely the holy and elect of God; the great king, the head of iniquity, is the devil. He assiduously circles this city, that he may reduce its citizens to servitude. But the poor and wise man in this city, by whose counsel it is saved, is Christ, the wisdom of God the Father, who says to his holy citizens: "Take courage; I have overcome the world."

^A And the words of this poor man are not heard by foolish Gentiles and perfidious Hebrews; but the wise Ecclesiastes, understanding in the spirit that God, not by the power and virtue of His divinity alone, but by using the fellowship of wisdom, and by making the Word flesh, was about to cast down the tyrant devil, leaving him no excuse for refuge, so that just as once he had overcome the ancient man Adam, so at last under the new man he might be broken by Adam and fall. Therefore, now inspired by the Spirit, he revealed this mystery long before, breaking out into these words:

"Good is wisdom over power. The words of the wise are heard in rest, over the clamor of those ruling in folly." Do not take what is said as a comparison; for wisdom and folly are not compared. For the comparison is of like things, not of opposites. He says, therefore, that the words of the wise are heard in rest, that is, when the listeners joyfully accept what is said, and rest is produced in the souls of those who hear; but the clamor of the foolish is worthy of condemnation, even if they possess great power. For a soul that is filled with folly brings forth words with clamor and turbulence, without peace or any order or stability. ^B Otherwise: The divine apostles, the ministers of wisdom, gave rest to the souls of those who heard them; but the discordant clamor of the foolish Jews, of those who cried, "Take, take, crucify him," destroyed both them and those who followed them.

"Good is wisdom over weapons of war." Good is every prudent counsel, above the assistance derived from arms. And by way of anagogical interpretation, the power of the Wisdom Itself, of our Lord Jesus Christ and God, was shown, casting down the weapons of war, that is, the devil and the demonic phalanxes; and demonstrating that all forms of wickedness are ineffectual.

"And one who sins will destroy much goodness." Adam sinned, and caused sin and death to be passed on to the entire human race, and he himself lost the image of the good God, and made many others like himself. And one who sinners simply, both loses his own goodness, which he perhaps acquired through previous virtues, and draws many into a similar imitation.

^C

CHAPTER X

"Dead flies corrupt the preparation of sweet oil." "Prepared oil" is the ointment, as Aquila also has rendered it; but the fly is an unclean animal, settling on wounds and rotting places, and seeking out the cuts of the body. The fly destroys the perfumed oil by throwing itself into it. For it dies itself, and extinguishes the power of the oil. The Jews, therefore, having become delirious regarding their own souls, are dead flies, having been eager to rot the sweet-smelling word of the Savior, and desiring to find pretexts against him.

^A

<A little wisdom is more precious than the glory of great folly.> Many have gained glory through folly: he who is clever with his tongue in an unjust defense; he who is worldly-rich and appears illustrious; those who are endowed with secular wisdom and have labored over useless questions. But incomparably better is he who begins the wisdom that is according to God, and is introduced into it, and begins to touch it, and—demented regarding the glory that is in folly—begins to taste it, regarding all the glory of the foolish as of little account.

VERS. 2. <The heart of a wise man is on his right, and the heart of a fool is on his left.> By "heart" should be understood the mind; for the physical, fleshy heart is situated in everyone in that part of the body called the thorax. Thus, the mind of the wise man always inclines toward the right and praiseworthy paths of virtue; but the mind of the fool is carried toward the left, and toward those things which can easily be blamed. ^B

VERS. 3. <And also when a fool travels on the road, and his heart will be sluggish, all things are folly.> In this life, which you might truly call a road, the fool, walking while having his heart on the left, always lags behind, not pursuing toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling; nor stretching himself toward what lies before, nor hastening toward the end. But even if he seems to make progress, he will lag behind, doing and thinking everything imperfectly and irrationally. And if he should also attempt the road of justifications, or pretend to practice it—that is, the divine commandments—since he has not inclined his heart to the right, he fails, neither understanding what has been commanded, nor doing anything according to the will of the lawgiver. ^C

VERS. 4. <If the spirit of the one having power should rise up against you, do not leave your place, for healing will cause great sins to cease.> The "spirit of the one having power" is the devil, the prince of this world and lord of the sons of disobedience, who, not by forced necessity, but by the election of free will, have subjected themselves to his dominion and tyranny. He says, therefore: If, while you are lifted up in thought and study toward the blessedness of the heavenly fatherland, the spirit of the one having power rushes upon you from the contrary side, trying to drive you down to the lower paths of this world, preclude all access; block all the operations of the senses, so that he is not admitted through the ears, or the tongue, or from any other quarter. For when the primary principles of the passions are removed, the effects are groundless. But if, even regarding your mind, he should suggest something, do not abandon your place, closing off fornication through temperance, and repelling hatred through love; and similarly fortifying every place of the virtues. ^D For if, he says, you allow the spirit of the one having power to settle in you—that is, to rest upon you—you will bring many and great sins upon your soul. Otherwise, if you provide beforehand for your soul through the care of the virtues,

you will calm most of them; for such is the cure of the virtues, that it can restrain the spirit that has power, so that it does not come upon you and trample you underfoot.

^A Verses 5, 6. *There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were a non-spontaneous departure from the face of the ruler. The fool is set in great heights, and the rich shall sit in lowliness.* ^B In the literal sense, he says he has seen another evil in human affairs: that princes and magistrates, often even against their will, as if constrained by the fear of some greater power, honor those who are foolish with glory, while the fortunes of wealthy citizens are confiscated through involuntary decrees; for often, princes of the state and magistrates are compelled to obey royal edicts against their own will. In the mystical, however, men who have once entered upon the path of pleasure by their own will and choice are soon compelled to do many things against their will, urged on by the devil, who has power over the children of disobedience, so that they detest and accuse the most just providence of God as if it were unjust, asking foolishly: "Why are the senseless elevated to sublime ranks of dignity, while those who were perhaps nobly born and wealthy by family possession are cast down into poverty?" Since, therefore, we blind mortals fall into this state, first by our own will, as if drunk after having drained the cup of pleasure, that crafty one who has power then creeps in and subjects us to things we do against our will, possessed by the mist of drunkenness; of this kind are being defiled by base desires, quarreling, and striking. For those who get drunk do not think they will do such things, but once they have become drunk, they are compelled even against their will to perpetrate such outrages. So too, those who are given over to the pursuit of pleasure are often scandalized by the inaccessible judgments of God, and rashly wag their tongues against divine wisdom.

^C Verse 7. *I saw servants on horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.* He sets before us for contemplation the mutability and changeableness of life, that he may turn us from unstable, worldly things to that stable, heavenly blessedness.

Verse 8. *He who digs a pit shall fall into it.* This passage belongs entirely to mystical interpretation. For it does not always happen in history that he who digs a pit falls into it. He says, therefore, that the sinner first torments his own soul: *For he who loves iniquity, hates his own soul*, and each one is punished by that from which he has sinned. The lawgiver Moses indeed decreed that this should be done in the case of a murderer, namely: *Do to him in the same manner as he acted maliciously against his neighbor.*

^D *And he who breaks down a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.* The hedge of the soul is the divine law and fear, and the true knowledge of legal meanings. He, therefore, who despises the fear of God and transgresses the commandments, or falls into sin through falsely named knowledge, of which the crafty serpent himself is the artisan—he, being unguarded and stripped of divine grace, shall suffer the bite of the serpent.

^A Ver. 9. "He who extracts stones shall be troubled by them." He who builds his house through the virtues gathers stones and builds well; but he who destroys what has already been built, out of laziness and slackness, extracts stones, and he becomes distressed, suffers, and is in danger. Otherwise: Holy stones, according to the prophet Zechariah, are called holy men. He who extracts these—that is, persecutes or even kills them—is troubled, which means he draws destruction upon himself, just as Herod did when he slew John the Baptist.

Ver. 10. "He who splits wood shall be endangered by it, if the iron should fall out, and he himself has troubled his face, and he shall strengthen forces, and the surplus is the wisdom of the brave man." Through symbols and sensible things, he leads us toward things perceived by the mind. He says, therefore: He who uses the discourse of doctrine as a kind of iron, attempting to split and divide the divine Scriptures—those fragrant woods—if he falls away from the goal ^B of the Holy Spirit and does not interpret them correctly and faithfully according to the mind of the Lawgiver, but wanders far from reason, he is in great danger of falling into pernicious heresies, and he confuses the face of his own teaching and the souls of those who hear him. And "he shall strengthen forces"—which is to say, he makes those who dispute against him more robust; for through the errors that some interpreter and master may admit into the doctrine of the word, those who argue from an opposing position become stronger. But the man who is brave in word and deed, bringing forth his discourse with wisdom, has something of a surplus, namely, not being endangered in splitting the wood. For he who is powerful in speech and has a versatile tongue, but is merely a sophist and has not been enriched with divine wisdom, will—when the iron falls out—be endangered in the cutting of the woods mentioned above.

^C Ver. 11. "If a serpent should bite in silence, there is no surplus for the charmer." He who sins secretly and not with a loud voice—that is, with boldness—either by doing wrong or by harboring a tenet of impiety, provided he has not become openly shameless, is able to attain correction. And it is not for nothing that the teacher labors, charming him with the things of salvation. Or, understand it thus: If the serpent of sin bites in silence, that is, if the sinner is unwilling to come to confession, he who attempts to charm him will bring no profit to one who is unwilling to confess and repent.

Ver. 12, 13. "Words of the mouth of a wise man are grace, and the lips of a fool shall drown him. The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly, ^D and the end of his error is evil; and the fool shall multiply words." Paul the Apostle, desiring that those whom he instructed in the faith be wise, wrote to them thus: "Let your speech always be in grace, seasoned with salt." For the word of the wise man is neither harsh and inhuman, nor soft and dissolute; rather, it is both...

^A gracious and seasoned, so that it might be cultivated in equal measure and not allow its hearers to slip away. But the lips of the fool—that is to say, his words—become the occasion of death for him. For he harms both his own soul and that of those who are persuaded by him. For the "sinking" here spoken of refers to eternal punishments, according to that word: "Precipitate, O Lord, and divide their tongues." The fool, beginning from the words of his folly and being carried about in his own lack of understanding, then possesses an evil word. But, he says, the fool also "multiplies words"—that is, he chatters in vain, whether he speaks much or little. For "multitude" in this place is used in place of folly; for he who speaks nothing good, speaks nothing useful, and even in a few words he engages in folly. ^B And even if he seems to say something useful, if he does not have deeds that harmonize with his words, he is in this way engaging in folly, knowing neither what he says nor about what things he is making assertions. For it is necessary that he who speaks should first do, and then teach. "Multiplies words," therefore, means that whether he speaks much or little, he is troublesome in his discourse.

VERS. 14, 15. "A man knows not what has been, and what will be after him; who shall announce it to him? The labor of fools will weary them: he knows not to go to the city." Although we know many of the things that have happened before us, having heard them from men filled with God, such as the statement, "In the beginning God created heaven and earth," and many other things; and although we also have knowledge of things to come, ^C regarding the just and the unjust, knowing that these will rise to eternal life and those to eternal punishment; yet even if we know some things, we do not know everything. "For we know in part," says Paul, "and we prophesy in part." But who will announce to us the things that are yet to come? That is: such things as whether we shall have children, or whether we shall lose the children we have already borne; whether we are to die in our homeland or in a foreign land; whether we are to live for many years or for few. Wherefore, those who are anxious to pry into these things through the passing of the ages, and through astrologers and false prophets, or those who are eager to learn other such things—since we have not received the knowledge—they labor in vain and take up fruitless and unavailing toils. ^D These things, however, happen to fools because they have not known how to go to the city; that is, they have not taken up the best way of life, nor followed the simple faith of the Church, nor journeyed to the beautiful city, the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the builder and creator is God.

VERS. 16, 17. "Woe to thee, O city, whose king is younger, and whose princes eat in the morning. Blessed art thou, O land, whose king is the son of free men, and whose princes eat at the proper time in strength, and shall not be ashamed." According to the literal sense, it considers a city miserable whose king possesses an unstable character, after the manner of the young, and whose princes, having dismissed political duties and cares, abandon themselves to drinking and carousing at the first break of dawn.

^A For those who cram themselves with undiluted wine and gluttony, and who are light-minded and little consistent with themselves, are fit neither for carrying on a kingdom nor for holding other principalities. But he considers that region blessed whose king is "the son of free men"—that is to say, one who has been carefully and liberally educated, and who maintains the customs of an upright education, so that he may desire nothing at all that is servile, nor illiberal, nor shameful; and whose region’s princes concern themselves with every endeavor to see to those things which pertain to the well-being of their subjects. Furthermore, they eat modestly and at the proper time—not those things which are prepared for the gratification of the belly and throat, but those which bring forth and preserve the manly strength and good health of the body; that is to say, those things which are necessary. For such princes, bearing justice implanted in their hearts and rendering righteous judgment, shall never be confounded with any ignominy. Mystically, however, and figuratively, the rational soul is a city; the king of this city is the intellect: if he should be youthful, light, and inconstant, and should have his motions—which are as it were princes—indulging in the pleasures of gluttony, he will undoubtedly have woe annexed to him. But if the soul and its king, the intellect, be nurtured by sacred disciplines, he is truly a son of free men, and has motions of the reason which perform all things at the proper time, both those things which pertain to the care of the body and those things which are fitting for the soul and the quickness of the mind. And if a soul such as this—which is figuratively called a land and a city—should live in this way, and should thus govern itself, and be strengthened by good progress, it will never be defiled by any shameful mark or ignominy. ^B

VERSE 18, 19. "In slothfulness the structure is humbled, and in the hands' idleness the house will drip; in laughter they make bread, and wine gladdens the living, and money obeys all things."

By this parable ^C he instructs us, urging us not to neglect to perform good, so that the structure of our spiritual house (that is, the soul)—which is to say, its firm and connected reasonings—may not be humbled and fall, in such a way that the house itself drips, being disturbed by the vices flowing in from all sides; and thus, if we possessed any virtues before, we might lose them through sloth and inertia. We ought, therefore, to inspect this house of ours assiduously, and not only look upon those things which we have accomplished well up to now, but raise our eyes to the structure—that is, to the ultimate end. For those who are sluggish in laying hold of the virtues look with their eyes and mind only toward pleasure, and occupy themselves with that which most men think to be sweet and joyful, and they openly boast that one must acquire money, saying that all things are subject to silver. Otherwise: Slothful and idle men allow their house to drip; but those who are led by the holy institutes of the Church are sustained by a certain mystical bread and ^D wine; strengthened by the power of which, they can easily laugh at the snares of the opposing demon, knowing that the machine of the entire world is subject to silver: that is, to the Word of God incarnate for us, whom Holy Scripture calls by the name of silver. Indeed, it must be known that by the name "bread," the same Scripture is accustomed to designate all dry food, just as it calls wine or water "moist" because it has an inherent humidity. Moses wished to signify this when he was receiving the law, for he said, "Forty days I did not eat bread, and I did not drink water"—meaning instead that he had partaken of no food, neither dry nor moist.

^A VERS. 20. "In your conscience do not curse the king, and in the secret of your bedchamber do not curse the wealthy; for a bird of the air will carry your voice, and that which has wings will report your speech." By the "bird of the air," some say, is meant the soul itself, or the spirit implanted in us; and by "that which has wings," either the Holy Spirit who appeared in the form of a dove and who fills all things and knows all things, or the holy angels themselves. Others, on the contrary, take "that which has wings" to be the devil, and the "birds of the air" to be his aerial demons. But according to the understanding of all, the sense is such: Do not curse, he says, a king or a wealthy man, not even in a hidden place; for report, spreading abroad, brings your reproach to the ears of the one whom you have cursed. To curse someone, we say, is to ask for evils, whether for oneself or for one's neighbor. ^B

CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 1. "Cast your bread upon the face of the water, because in the multitude of days you will find it." It is written: "Break your bread for the hungry." But by the name of "bread," every kind of almsgiving is signified. Therefore Ecclesiastes says: Do your almsgiving with tears—that is, with a merciful and compassionate disposition—for the fruit of this will remain with you forever. Alternatively: Scripture is accustomed to call the gatherings and congregations of men "waters," according to that text: "Deliver me from many waters, from the hand of foreign sons." Therefore, he says, O you who are a teacher and doctor of divine doctrine, impart the nourishment of the Word, which the grace of the Holy Spirit has liberally given to you, without any intermission to the poor and needy, that you may receive the reward of this ministry and live united with God the Word for all ages. ^C

VERS. 2. "Give a portion to the seven, and also give to the eight, because you do not know what evil will be upon the earth." He who accepts the Old Testament, because of the Sabbath observance contained in the old law—which is then fulfilled by spiritual sanctification when we desist from sins and rest—has given a portion to the seven. But he who receives the New [Testament], according to which the Sunday of the Savior’s resurrection is both the eighth and the first, having the beginning of the age to come, has given a portion to the eight. Accept, therefore, he says, both Testaments. Alternatively: The present life is divided into a week. For God rested, he says, from all His works which He had done on the seventh day. But the beginning of the age to come is the eighth day, of which the Sunday of the resurrection is the symbol. Live, therefore, he says, with dignity in the present life, and treasure up for yourself for the age to come through the performance of good works, providing a portion both to the seven and to the eight. Alternatively: Isaiah knows seven energies of the Spirit. Therefore, the people of Christians can also be called "the seven" in an inverse sense, because they have been enriched by the energies of the Spirit. And "the eight" [is] that of the Jews, ^D

^A Give a portion to these seven, and also to these eight. Otherwise: Isaiah counts seven gifts of the Spirit. The Christian people may therefore be designated by the number seven, since they have been enriched with the seven spiritual gifts. By the number eight, however, the people of the Jews shall be designated, who received the sign on the eighth day of circumcision. He says, therefore: Bestow alms upon all people. And that which he says, "because you do not know what evil will happen upon the earth," can be applied to all the expositions which I have just brought forward, namely this: Receive the two Testaments, so that you may drive the darkness of ignorance and of wickedness far from you. Or, conduct yourself modestly in the things that pertain to the duties of this life, thinking assiduously also about the future age; for you do not know how heavy are the torments reserved for those who have given their portion neither to those of the seven nor to those of the eight. Bestow alms upon all in the simplicity of your heart; for you do not know which of these men is truly in need, or who might be asking under a pretense of poverty through avarice.

Vers. 3. "If the clouds are filled with rain, they pour it out upon the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where it falls, there it will remain." The first part of this passage can be referred in a literal sense to almsgiving: for just as clouds by divine command shower rain upon all people, so it is fitting that alms be distributed to all men. However, in a mystical and more sublime sense, the clouds are taken to signify holy men, one of whom was Moses, who says: "Let my speech be expected as the rain." Sanctified, therefore, and filled with the divine Word, in the way that it came to Hosea and other holy men, they pour out the fruitful rain, not upon Judea alone, but upon all the earth into which their sound has gone out. This, then, regarding the first part of this passage that pertains to the rain. Trees, however, are signified in the Holy Scriptures to mean sometimes just men, and sometimes sinners; the south is understood as the bright and luminous place, or as that most true light which is our Lord Jesus Christ, our God; conversely, the north is taken for the murky place full of darkness, and for the devil himself who dwells in darkness. Therefore, in whatever place—whether bright or dark, that is, whether in an unseemly state of sins or in an honorable state of virtues—a man is found when he dies, in that grade and order he remains forever. For he either rests in the light of eternal happiness with the just and with Christ, the King of all, or he is tormented in darkness with the wicked and with the prince of this world, the devil. ^{B C}

Vers. 4, 5. "He who observes the wind does not sow, and he who considers the clouds will not reap. Just as there is no one who knows what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are knit together in the womb of the pregnant woman: so you will not know the works of God, whatever he is about to do." Those who observe the winds do not sow. For it often happens that the wind blowing today will be quiet on the morrow; or on the contrary, that which is quiet today will be raging tomorrow; if it rains today, tomorrow the air will be serene. Therefore, one ought not to observe the winds, but to sow in good hope, trusting in God, the author of all good things. For if, through the observation of clouds and winds, we delay, we do not reap. We cannot, however, accurately observe the state of the air, since we are ignorant of the way of the spirit.

^A Migne's rendering of this passage signifies that God wisely and variably directs all things concerning us. Thus, we are as ignorant of God’s dispensations toward us as we are of the bones being formed within a pregnant woman. For who knows whether the child being carried is male or female, or if it is formed whole or imperfect in some part of its body? And if we do not know what it is that is being knit together in the mother’s womb, much more are we ignorant of how that mass which they call an embryo coalesces and is fashioned into the body of an animal; and likewise, how the bones are assembled, and how the harmony of the whole body is fitted together. Therefore, he says, do not be so anxious by curiously inquiring to whom you ought to give alms and to whom you ought not—supposing, for instance, whether one is a believer or an unbeliever, a just man or an unjust one. For if you hesitate in your mind while investigating these things, you will lose the time for sowing, and you will not find anything to reap at harvest time. Therefore, without any delay of time, bestow your alms in simplicity of heart; for you do not know whether the Spirit may vivify someone whom you perhaps consider unjust, or conversely, repel someone whom you consider just.

^B **Vers 6.** "Sow your seed in the morning, and do not let your hand rest in the evening, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that: and if both tend to the same end, this is good." He who drives the darkness of ignorance far from his intellect, when he is in the very beginning of virtues, sows in the early morning, according to the text: "Work while it is day." But if he also remains until the end, pursuing active virtue, his hand has not left off, nor has it ceased doing good works. Therefore, having begun a virtue, remain in it until the end; you do not know which of your good works will please the Judge, those which you performed near the beginning, or those performed when you have already arrived at the goal. But if both are approved in the same way, such an activity will be considered full of goodness and perfection.

Alternatively, understand it this way: Practice virtue from your earliest youth, and do not say, "Now, while I am younger, I will enjoy the delights that life has to offer; but later, when I have reached old age, I will convert to repentance." For you do not know at all what will happen to you, or when the end of your life will be. It is therefore worth the effort to always practice virtue and to strive with the greatest intensity to attain it. ^C It is also necessary to often pray to God, so that the things we ourselves do may be pleasing to His majesty and goodness.

**Vers. 7, 8.** "The light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun: if a man lives for many years, he will delight in all of them, and he will remember the days of darkness, for they will be many, and everything that comes is vanity.” By this passage, Ecclesiastes teaches us what that morning is in which he has exhorted us to sow—that is, a morning entirely mild and sweet to the eyes of the intellect itself; a morning, I say, which the Sun of righteousness produces, illuminating our souls with internal splendor. For just as those who see this sensible sun observe ^D visible things by its light, and thus apply themselves to their various tasks, whereas those who do not see the sun cannot even act, because they do not see those things that are beneath

^A they are enlightened; thus, those who look upon the intelligible sun are enlightened by it, so that they may see and perceive what they must do according to His will, and what they must avoid. He who lives according to the will of the Word, even if he passes many years in this life which seems difficult to all, has his soul flooded with pleasure and joy, since he not only understands and grasps in his mind what he must do in the practical course of life, but also, with a most peaceful mind, gazes upon those most beautiful forms which, separated from matter, are perceived by the intellect alone. ^B Such a person speculates upon these things, being illuminated by the most radiant brightness of the Sun of justice. Nor does he gaze only upon these things, but he considers in his mind the days of darkness that are to overtake the impious in the world to come. And when he remembers that those days will be everlasting, and that sinners themselves will receive emptiness—that is, eternal punishments—he avoids evil with all his zeal and effort and performs good.

VERS. 9, 10. *Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart blameless, and in the sight of your eyes.* When he says: *Walk blameless in the ways of your heart*, he clearly indicates that he is here exhorting the young man to spiritual joy. By "young man," he understands one who is robust and strong in spirit, and who can safely and fearlessly descend into the field against the wrestlings of the devil, putting off the old man and putting on him who was made in the image of God. ^C He who walks blameless in the ways of his heart, that is, keeping his soul in a safe place and purifying his mind, certainly also has the senses of his body pure, and becomes most fit for contemplating admirable beauties, perceiving supreme joy in spiritual youth and in the clear vision of his internal mind. But because Scripture very often uses the masculine nomenclature in those places where it exhorts women equally with men to virtue, it must be known that it addresses the discourse from the more principal part and sex; for the head of the woman is the man; but the substance of the soul is one for both, and we are all one in the Lord, since the difference between the female and male sex pertains only to the body. Wherefore, even if you see only a young man receiving the exhortation in this place, consider that by the law of this exhortation, women are equally comprehended as are men themselves. Think that the words of the Apostle Paul, by which he says: *I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ*, pertain as much to men as to women. And know in all these things that God will lead you into judgment.

CAPUT XII. ^D *And remove anger from your heart, and put away wickedness from your flesh, for youth and foolishness are vanity.* [VERS. 1.] *And remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of affliction come, and the years in which you will say: There is no pleasure.*

mea in eis. » ^A At this point he brings the divine judgment back to our memory, and says, as one endowed with free will: "Remove anger from your heart"; for you are able, by using your reason, to bridle anger. And he takes "malignity of the flesh" to mean every sin. For the Apostle calls the works of sin the works of the flesh. Especially, however, the malignity of the flesh is lust itself; and the passions that we speak of are the motions of an inconstant and youthful mind. To this youthful mind, madness is almost always annexed, which is nothing other than vanity. ^B Therefore, he says, if you wish to put off this youthful mind, and to restrain the motion of petulant pride with a bridle, keep an indelible memory of God. The "days of youth" signify the days of the present life: truly, days of foolishness, if they are compared to the perfection of the future life. For if in the present life you cast away the memory of God and do things according to inclination, the time of punishment hangs over you, which he calls the "day of affliction," since sinners are to be punished then; and then you will say: "There is no will of mine in them." For no one, when he is being tormented, would not want to be free from torments. He, therefore, who in this life has not followed the Lord's commandments but his own desires, out of madness and imperfection of mind, does those things which he wills: in the time of punishment he is tormented, in such a way that he does not will it.

[VERS. 2-4.] « Antequam obtenebrescat sol, et lumen, et luna, et stellae, et revertantur retro nubes a pluvia, in die in quo commovebuntur custodes domus, et in obliquum depravati fuerint viri fortitudinis, et cessaverint molentes, quoniam ad paucitatem redactae fuerint, et obtenebrescent quæ aspiciunt per foramina, et occludent januas in platea in infirmitate vocis molentis. » I have heard someone who thought that the words of this passage pertained to the particular death of each individual; another, who thought they pertained to the universal consumption of the world; and another still, who referred them to a higher sense; ^C all of which I will explain to you briefly. Think, he says, O you who are being admonished, as long as you have free will, and can incline yourself toward virtue for your own salvation. For after the present life, you will be punished, not as you will, but as you do not will. Therefore, take thought for yourself before the day of your death, before the sun, and the moon, and the stars grow dark for you—which things happen at the death of each person, as he is seized by a state of invisibility—and before you are dissolved into the kindred water and earth. For this body, which now lies upon the soul like a cloud, is dissolved into the kindred elements, the earth and the water. ^D On the day of death, the "keepers of the house," that is, of the soul, are shaken, and the intense reasonings—called "men of strength"—are turned aside, while they agonize over the fearful departure of the body. It is possible also to understand the "keepers of the house" as the physical eyes, which lay aside their power of sight at the time of death. Then also the "grinders" cease, that is, the teeth which grind the food: not that they will necessarily be diminished in number, but because they will lay aside their proper activity. And the pupils of the eyes...

which look out as if through certain apertures, are shrouded in darkness, when all the passages and paths of the operations which we have used in life are completely closed. For then man begins to speak with a thin thread of voice and a feeble sound, with difficulty and distress, as he draws his final breath. Before these inconveniences of death take hold of you, take care to be in your duty, and practice virtue. ^B Otherwise, you will be able to apply these things to the universal faith of the world. Just as by the Word of God the creature of the world was created, so also by the divine command it will eventually be dissolved. For when the world has reached the end of the ages, the use of the luminaries will be superfluous; then there will be no need for rain to irrigate the earth, but the clouds will in a certain way be turned back from the rain—that is, they will yield no rain, or will be dissolved together with the rain, and will vanish, since there will be no future use for clouds or showers: or else they will then obey the Lord God for some other ministry, perhaps becoming vehicles to carry the saints. Then also the guardians of the house will be shaken: that is, the saints, called men of fortitude in this place, who will then incline a little bit into the oblique and withdraw on account of the Antichrist, not because they are going to abandon the rectitude of justice entirely or fall away. For they are the guardians of the Church and of this world, by whose protection it stands and is preserved. Then also the grinders will be reduced to ^C a small number. By the grinders we must understand the Jews themselves, who, like those grinding in a mill, draw the heavy and laborious yoke of the law. They will be reduced to a small number, because, except for a few, all the others will have been converted to the faith of Christ. For then "all Israel shall be saved," that is, the majority of Israel. Then those few who have not approached the faith of Christ, who can now be said to see something small through the apertures of the legal letter, will grow dark and blacken with the ultimate blindness, when they have been completely confirmed in error itself, and living in obstinacy and stubbornness have closed the door of salvation to themselves. Understand the "street" or "forum" as the present life. The Jews suffer what was said above because they have remained stubborn in the weakness of the grinding voice, that is, the legal letter. For the law is heavy and also weak and feeble, since it can justify no one; as the Apostle also says: "For the weakness of the law, in which it was weakened on account of the flesh" [Rom. VIII, 3], and what follows. ^D "And it shall rise at the voice of the little bird, and all the daughters of song shall be humbled [Vers. 4], and they shall see from the height, and there shall be wonder in the way." In this place our wise Ecclesiastes speaks of the final day of judgment, when the dead will rise at the command and voice of the trumpet of the archangel [1 Thess. IV, 15; 1 Cor. XV, 52]. The command, however, is that of the sparrow, that is, the Word who assumed a fleshly body, who on account of his solitary dwelling on the cross said of himself through the prophet David: "I have become like a sparrow solitary on the housetop" [Ps. CI, 8]. Then the daughters of song will be humbled: that is, the rational souls of mortal men, which in this life have enjoyed luxury and indulged in revelry, as much in the sound of instruments and songs