Scholia in Job

Athanasius. The statement of Scripture, "He had seven sons," will also be of use to us against the Ariomanites, who hold as a great support for their heresy what the Apostle says about the Only-Begotten, "Faithful to the one who made him," and they contend that the Son of God is a creation. But this support is a broken reed for them. For when the essence is a product and a creature, then "he made" and "he created" are properly said of them and signify a product; but when the essence is an offspring and a son, then "he made," "he begot," and "he created" are no longer properly applied to it, nor do they signify a product, but one uses the verb "he made" indifferently instead of "he begot." So the Arians will condemn themselves if they learn the idiom of Scripture; for if parents were to say that those born from them are "made," "begotten," and "created," they would no less not deny nature. Thus Hezekiah, as it is written in Isaiah, said in prayer, "From today I will make children," using "make" instead of "beget," and speaking of those born from him. And there is no difference. And here concerning Job it is said, "He had seven sons," just as Moses says in the law, "If they are born." One must first inquire whether it is a son. For if this is demonstrated, the suspicion of a product and a creature ceases, and it becomes clear to all that the expression saying "to the one who made him" is not for the benefit of their heresy, but rather for its condemnation.

For it has been shown that the word "made" is used in divine Scripture also of genuine and natural children. Hence, when the Lord is demonstrated to be a natural and genuine son, even if the term "made" or "became" is said of him, it is not said as though he were a creation, but the saints use the word indifferently. And God said to the devil: "Whence have you come?" Athanasius. But in these things it is also established that, although all created things exist in divided places—luminaries in the firmament, clouds in the air—and for men he set boundaries of nations, and angels are sent for services and ascend and descend on the ladder, yet here it says: "They came to stand before the Lord." And an inquiry is made to the devil: "Whence have you come?" So they are in a place, and where they are sent, there they are present. Only God is uncircumscribed. They seek him who is everywhere present, that they might find the unbounded confined in some place. But "to stand before" means to be formed by his wills and to be wholly stretched toward him. For before God is all creation, even the apostate and most wicked, according to the uncircumscribed nature of that essence; but especially the angels are present to God, according to the insatiable love of divine affection. Athanasius. So Job was contending, and the trial was great; but the athlete appeared greater than the trial. And the tempter flowed mightily, and the combatant was harsh; but the one tempted appeared more courageous, conquering the attacks and assaults of the evil one by the greatness of his mind.

A mark of manliness is endurance. For by this each of the saints, bearing the painful and grievous events that befall in life, prevailed against the devil. The Spirit, wishing us to possess both, commands, saying in the Psalm: "Be a man, and let your heart be strengthened, and endure the Lord." For the one who endures is manly, and the manly one would be patient. Therefore also the blessed Job was strengthened through endurance, and because he bore the pains manfully, he endured, and he repulsed his wife, who had been deceived by the serpent and corrupted in her thoughts. For since the inventor of wickedness is wholly a hater, and appears only seeking whom to seize and devour, for this reason he himself conceals and covers what he is; but pretending by illusion the truth desired by all, he injects his own venom into those who follow him. Thus he deceived Eve, not speaking his own words, but pretending the words of God and perverting their meaning. Thus he also suborned Job's wife, persuading her to pretend love for her husband, but teaching her to blaspheme God. Thus the crafty one toys with men by illusions, stealthily drawing each one into his own pit of wickedness. If he does not trust concerning his own children, he devised something crooked concerning his angels. Of Athanasius. The nature of things begotten and created is changeable, since it is outside the essence of God and subsisted from non-being. Therefore every man is a liar; and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The devil, being in the midst of the cherubim and having become a seal of likeness, fell from the heavens like lightning. And we judge angels, that is, those who did not keep their own beginning. And here, if he does not believe concerning his own children, and simply, the creatures have such a nature, and it changes. Only the divine nature is unchangeable. Beyond papyrus, and reed, and bulrush. Perhaps through the reed and the papyrus, Scripture hints at the cheapness and poverty of the devil. His entrails are bronze shields. Athanasius. Formerly, then, the enemy was great, acting craftily against men, and with his illusions he deceived many, and the detection of his deceit was difficult; so that the Spirit says concerning him: Who will uncover the face of his garment? and so on. For he did not appear as what he was, but according to what he contrived, he presented himself in that form. Therefore many were deceived by him; but when the Savior came, then all his illusion was exposed; for what he formerly did unknown, these things are known by the grace of Christ, and in those things by which he formerly deceived men, he is trampled upon by them. For faith is stronger than every diabolical attack and madness of demons.

And the Lord said to the Devil, "Whence have you come?" Here also it is established that all created things are in divided places: luminaries in the firmament, clouds in the air; and for men he set boundaries of nations, while angels are sent for services, and ascend and descend on the ladder. And here, it says, they came to stand before the Lord, and an inquiry is made to the Devil: "Whence have you come?" So they are in a place, and where they are sent, there they are present; only God is without circumscription. Hence they do not seek the one present everywhere as if in a place, in order to find the indefinite confined in a space; but to stand before him is this: to be formed by his wills, and to be wholly stretched toward him. For before God is all creation, even the apostate and most wicked, according to the uncircumscribed nature of that essence; but especially the angels are present to God according to the insatiable love of divine desire. 10. If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil things? So Job struggled, and the trial was great; the athlete appeared greater than the trial.

And the tempter flowed abundantly, and the adversary was grievous; but the one being tempted appeared more courageous, conquering the enterprises and assaults of the evil one by the greatness of his mind. A sign of courage is endurance; for by this each of the saints, bearing the painful and grievous events in life, prevailed against the Devil. The Spirit, wishing us to possess both, commands, saying in the Psalm: "Be courageous, and let your heart be strengthened, and wait upon the Lord." For the one who endures is courageous, and the courageous one would be enduring. Therefore also the blessed Job was strengthened through endurance, and through bearing the pains courageously he endured, and he repulsed his wife, who had been deceived by the serpent and corrupted in her thoughts. For there the inventor of wickedness is wholly hateful, and only appears to seek whom to seize and devour; for this reason he conceals and covers what he himself is, while pretending in appearance to be the truth desired by all, he casts his own venom upon those who follow him. Thus he deceived Eve, not speaking his own words, but pretending the words of God, while perverting their meaning. Thus he also suborned Job's wife, persuading her to feign love for her husband, but teaching her to blaspheme God. Thus the deceitful one toys with men through illusions, stealthily drawing each one into his own pit of wickedness. He who wears away mountains, and they do not know, he who overturns them in wrath. Mountains are the prophets, Moses and those after him. And the Scripture is clear: "I lifted my eyes to the mountains, whence my help will come.

The one who gave his intellect to the words of the prophets raised his eyes to the mountains, seeing that his help would come from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, through the words understood in the prophets, having filled the pure heart of the prophets with mysteries. Therefore, as long as the New Covenant does not come, the prophets were not old, for nowhere before this is it said contrary to a covenant; but it is Christ who makes mountains old, Moses and the prophets. And they do not know: Who then do not know? Those to whom he said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe in me; for that was written about me." If the Jews had known that the mountains are being made old, they would have abandoned them, that is, the antiquity of the letter, they would have changed and come to the New Covenant; and they would have served God in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the antiquity of the letter. He therefore adds: The Jews therefore know neither the one who made old, nor the things that have been made old. Therefore, he says, the one who destroys them in wrath, that is, the Jerusalem according to the letter or the letter itself. Where is the perceptible altar? Has my Jesus done something paradoxical? Coming, he has both made his own prophets old and renewed them. He made them old, how? The ministry of death was imprinted in the letter, he says. He renewed them, how? The law, he says, is holy, and its commandment is holy and just and good; but those who had not learned the spiritual name did not know these things. The one who shakes the region under heaven from its foundations. It is Christ who has shaken the region under heaven; many earthquakes occur in part; an earthquake has occurred here; but those in the nearby city did not know it.

But in the case of Christ, it did not happen partially; therefore, the one who shakes the region beneath heaven from its foundations; and its pillars, being shaken, evidently the apostles were shaken at the time of the passion: "All of you," he says, "will be scandalized by me on this night." 7. The one who speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, but seals against the stars. And this happened at the cross: "But seals against the stars" is adduced because in the three hours during which the sun failed, stars appeared in the sky as at night. The one who makes the Pleiad, and Hesperus, and Arcturus, and the storehouses of the South. These matters are beyond me. For there being many stars of the Pleiades, both planets and fixed stars, misnamed by those who do not know as they suppose (there is also Hesperus, and Phaethon, and Phaenon, and Stilbon, and Phosphorus), why then did Job, speaking in Spirit, from among so many stars in the fixed sphere name only the Pleiad? And from among so many so-called planets mention only Hesperus? And another one, Arcturus, which is in the Bear, called by some the Bear-watcher?