Fragments on Job
A *And God said to the devil: Whence comest thou?*
Athanasius. In these things it is also present, even if all created things are in divided places; lights, indeed, are in the firmament, and clouds in the air. And for men he has established the boundaries of the nations; but the angels are sent for ministries, and they ascend and descend upon the ladder. And here it says, "I have come to stand before the Lord." And a question is put to the devil: "Whence comest thou?" Therefore, they are in a place, and where they are sent, there they are present; but God alone is uncircumscribed. They inquire for him who is present everywhere, that they might find the unconditioned one enclosed in some place. But to stand [before him], this is to be shaped according to his will, and to be stretched out wholly toward him. For all creation is before the face of God, B even that which is apostate and most wicked, according to the uncircumscribed nature of that substance; but the angels are present with God in a special way, according to an insatiable love of divine charity.
Athanasius. Job was indeed struggling, and the temptation was great; but the athlete was seen to be greater than the temptation. And the tempter poured forth in abundance, and he who fought was fierce; but he who was being tempted seemed more valiant, overcoming the attempts and assaults of the wicked one by the greatness of his mind. A hallmark of courage is patience. For by this, every one of the saints, bearing the painful and sorrowful things that occur in life, was strong against the devil; which things, since the Holy Spirit wishes us to possess both, he enjoins, saying in the Psalm: "Act manfully, and let thy heart be strengthened, and wait for the Lord." C For he who waits is courageous, and the courageous man would be patient. Therefore, also, the blessed Job was strengthened because he endured, and because he bore his labors manfully he persevered, and he rejected his wife, who had been deceived by the serpent and corrupted in her thoughts. For since the inventor of malice is entirely hateful, and is only seen seeking whom he may snatch and devour, for this reason he hides and conceals what he is; and pretending in his fantasy the truth desired by all, he injects his poison into those who follow him. So he deceived Eve, not by speaking his own things, but by pretending to speak the words of God, and perverting their meaning. So he threw down the wife of Job, having persuaded her to pretend love toward her husband, and having taught her to blaspheme against God. Thus the deceitful one plays with men D by fantasies, tricking and dragging each one into the pit of his own malice.
*If he does not trust against his own children, but against his own angels he has devised something crooked.*
Athanasius. The nature of things begotten and created
is mutable, inasmuch as it is outside the substance of God, and exists from things that do not exist. Therefore, *every man is a liar*, and *all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God*. But the devil, who was in the midst of the cherubim, and had become a seal of likeness, fell from heaven like lightning. And *we* will judge *angels*, those, of course, who did not keep their own principality. And here: if he does not believe against his own children, and simply speaking, created things are of such a nature that they are changed. But the divine nature alone is immutable.
*Beside the papyrus, and the reed, and the sedge.* Perhaps by the reed and the papyrus, Scripture adumbrates the vileness and the poverty of the devil.
*His inward parts are shields of bronze.* B Athanasius. Formerly, the enemy was very much occupied in devising frauds against men, and with his phantasms he deceived many, and his frauds could with difficulty be detected; so that the Spirit said concerning him: *Who will uncover the face of his garment?* and the rest. For he did not appear as what he actually was, but he assumed for himself, though fictitiously, whatever form he wished to use for fraud. Wherefore many were deceived by him; but when the Savior arrived, then all his imposture was exposed. For his deeds, which formerly lay hidden, are known through the grace of Christ; and those things by which he had formerly deceived men, are now trampled underfoot by men. For faith is stronger than every diabolic assault and the fury of the demons. C
ADMONITION TO THE SUBSEQUENT FRAGMENTS ON THE CANTICLE
Photius mentions the expositions of Athanasius on the Song of Songs in these words: He edited, he says, commentaries on Ecclesiastes, and on the Song of Songs, just as he did on the Psalter and on many other things. These fragments, moreover, come from the expositions on the Canticles published by Johannes Meursius in the year 1617.
*In the flocks of thy companions as one wandering.* D He addresses her thus: Know thyself first, that thou mayest be able to know me also. If thou canst not know [thyself]: if thou hast not known, nor dost thou understand thyself, go forth by the heels and footprints and feed thy kids; and instead of virtues, thou shalt nourish sins. *In the tabernacles of the shepherds*, in the concupiscences of the opposing powers, which feed thee.
*I called him, and he did not answer me. I will rise and go about the city.* Athanasius. I will read the Law, I will read the prophets; I will investigate the Gospels. But she, pricked by divine love, says this: *Upon my bed in the nights.* He calls the bed the more perfect participation in the good, and night…