Commentarii in Job

What he sets forth, then, is this: that even if it became a mockery, it did not go on to infinity, but it happened when God permitted it to happen, just as also those "given into the hands of those who afflict them." And he said "an appointed time," which is for a man to use such virtue as this, according to which he is also said to be able to wage war. And he calls "houses being plundered" the virtues; for the adversaries hasten to shake and unsettle these through hardships. That "houses" are taken in place of virtues has been said: "Since the midwives feared God, they made houses for themselves." Were they, then, without houses before they feared God? But it is clear that they made the virtues, according to the one who hears the words of Jesus and builds his own house, that is, his life, not on a perceptible rock, but on Christ, who said to Peter: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," Peter, obviously, having a house on such a rock. And the Savior builds the church, being himself both rock and builder; for God works together with the diligent man. Thus also the psalmist says: "You exalted me on a rock." But it is not a great gift of God to be exalted on a perceptible rock, but it is clear that it is by the secure word, inasmuch as again the psalmist says: "You set my feet on a rock." And it should be noted that the righteous man is something else, but the lawless are not. And "to be plundered" indicates the courage of the righteous man when he has been plotted against; it is also said in the Psalms: "They have fought against me often from my youth, and indeed they were not able to prevail against me," as also Paul.

Who will separate us from the love of God?" and the verses that follow. But "houses" in the plural must be understood as the abundance of virtue: self-control is a house, courage is a house, gentleness and the others, inasmuch as it is said: "The fear of the Lord is the stronghold of the holy man"; so also righteousness. There are opposites of these houses, which the Lord pulls down: "For the Lord pulls down the houses of the insolent, but he has established the boundary of the widow." For he pulls down the ways of life of the proud, as it is said: "Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades." And "he who exalts himself will be humbled." "But he establishes the boundary of the widow," that is, the house, the life of those who are widowed from evils according to God. The saying also makes clear: "The houses of the lawless will incur cleansing, but the houses of the righteous are acceptable," meaning the ways of life of each. Nevertheless, let no wicked man be confident that he will be innocent. Will there not also be an examination of all who provoke the Lord? He teaches that even if someone mocks the righteous man and oppresses him, he will not be innocent, even if he prevails over him in appearance. For such a man provokes God. For there will be an examination of what is done, by which he hints at judgment, just as Paul also says: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive according to what he did through the body." He suggests that we understand this: "Even if those who have obtained their request do evil against me, having received authority, not even these are innocent, having become an instrument and 'vessels of wrath,' even if they do this against one who sins." For they rejoice in such service. At any rate, it is said to someone: "I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy" and

I was angry with them a little, but they set upon evil." For God does not hand them over so that they may treat them mercilessly; but they themselves, doing this with great eagerness, act mercilessly. And Pharaoh too was like this toward the sons of Israel. Such is the saying, "Giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing and at the same time insolent." For they rejoice in such things as they serve. But ask the four-footed animals, if they will tell you, and the birds of heaven, if they will report to you; recount to the earth, if it will declare to you, and the fish of the sea will recount to you. He wishes here to make clear the depth of the judgments and the worth of man, saying that the judgments are incomprehensible, of which man receives knowledge "in part." But it is not altogether fitting to take it thus, that one must question the four-footed animals as though receiving an answer from them, but rather, "Examine the creation and the judgments among the four-footed animals and among the birds and in the earth, and consider whether you will be able to grasp the deepest reasons in them." And he says this wishing to draw their attention to the fact that God's governance is hidden and it is not fitting for them to run over it in ignorance, just as they ran over him as though he were suffering because of sin, not knowing the judgment. For in truth the existence of living creatures will not readily present what is reasonable; at any rate, venomous creatures seem to many not to have the reasonable principle of their production. But the saint says, "All things have been created for their use." And he sets forth what is hidden in them: "a...

His works are in secret." For this can be observed also in medicine: the physician applies remedies with skill and knowledge, while the quack is often displeased with the drugs administered by the physician. Who then has not known in all these things that the hand of the Lord has done these things? Having said that the account of each of the things that have happened is hidden—through which he taught the friends to attend also to what is hidden in his own case, and not to say readily that this happened because of sins—he teaches something else as well, showing that the general account is clear, even if the other is hidden; I mean, that "the hand of the Lord has done these things," so as to convey the impression of the other cause, that even if not because of sins, yet these things happen by the hand of the Lord, who permits them. For if the one who demanded it had not received the commission from God, he could have done nothing. From these things one must refute those who introduce chance, [showing] that all things are governed by order and providence. For the concord of the universe is sufficient teaching that the providence of God presides over all things. Is not the soul of all living things and the spirit of every human being in his hand? He confirms the matters of instruction, teaching them that all things are under the hand of God—both the life of humans and death—similar to this is the saying in the Gospel: "Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion?

And not one of them will fall into a snare without the Father who is in the heavens"—by this establishing nothing other than that they should fix their own mind upon the judgments of God and not say rashly that he has suffered because of sin. For the mind discerns words, and the throat tastes foods. Consider whether these things are given in answer to those: "But ask the four-footed beasts, if they will tell you." It is clear from the sequence that it belongs not to irrational or soulless creatures to know the judgments of providence, but to the mind. And he takes an example, that just as the throat is a discerner of foods, so the mind is a discerner of both the things spoken and the things implanted in the nature of the whole. "Discern therefore also yourselves," he would say to the friends, "these things and you will find the manner of the things that have befallen me." In much time is wisdom, and in much life is knowledge. These things too he says most instructively; for lest they should suppose the knowledge of beings to be ready at hand and easy because it has been said, "For the mind discerns words," and should reckon,

Because this is easy for them, since they have understanding, he leads them to diligence in wisdom, saying: "In much time is wisdom, and in a long life is knowledge." From this one must refute those who are unwilling to labor, but think that the mere onset of some knowledge, however it happens, suffices for them. For knowledge of perfect things does not come at the same moment one begins. In addition to this, those who think that learning is by nature are also refuted; for none of the things that belong to man's essence by nature and necessarily is accomplished by time. No mortal, then, qua living being, is added to by time; but being wise comes to one by time: "For when I was an infant, I spoke as an infant, I thought as an infant, I reasoned as an infant; when I became a man, I put away the things of the infant." Against these things someone will set the saying, "Are not the long-lived wise, nor do the aged know judgment," thinking this to be contrary to what was said by Job. But it is possible to see both as said consistently: for blessed Job says that one who begins wisdom and hastens to take it up will receive it not as it happens, but in much time. But Elihu too would say not implausibly: for not even if someone has not desired wisdom, but has advanced in age, would he already be wise; for the old man is not wise by necessity. You will note the saying of the psalmist, whether it contributes to the taking up of wisdom in much time, in his saying:

Make known to me, Lord, my end and the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what I lack." For virtue is shown to be something acquired and not by nature, but also perfected by time, in the words "that I may know what I lack." And what wisdom is, is stated in what follows thus: "Behold, godliness is wisdom, and to abstain from evils is knowledge." And first one must achieve abstinence from evils, so that godliness may then be added, being wisdom. For it is said: "Having desired wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will supply it to you"; for wisdom is added when the soul has been purified. With him are wisdom and power, with him are counsel and understanding. Having said "in much time is wisdom," so that they might not think he was speaking about human wisdom, nor seek it among created things, he teaches how it is found, saying: "With him are wisdom and power." For it is not outside him, but is in him, being consubstantial with him; for he is its source, and the source does not receive from elsewhere. And the power with him is Christ; for "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." And counsel and understanding are present with him, so that these things are not sought by human undertakings, but from him. And all these things are the Son; for "he prepared the heavens in understanding" is said of the Son. If he casts down, who will build up? If he shuts against men, who will open? If he hinders the water, he will dry up the earth; but if he touches it, he has destroyed it, having overturned it. The account concerning providence, as was also said before, he gently teaches those who contradict him.

For even if they set up providence, they nevertheless fell into opposition. He says, then, "Who has resisted his will?" At any rate, one can find one person in poverty, another in distress, another oppressed by disease, and generally others caught in various misfortunes, one after another, and unable to thrust aside what has been decided. For these things happen by the will of God. Not only concerning building, but also concerning the things previously mentioned, there is no one who will be able to say, in the words of the apostle, "Why have you made me thus?" But even those who dare something without the will of God, since they did not call upon him, are brought down, according to "They themselves will build, and I will tear down, says the Lord." And concerning those who have a bad building it is said: "You shall pull them down, and you shall not build them up." So also if he shuts against men, no one will open; for when God does not grant success to some action that someone has chosen, for reasons he knows, who is able to open? He shut off escape for Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and when he opened, he was not found. And in general you will find many such things. For he shuts against what is useful, not allowing them to have enjoyment of human things, but to be in want; and against what? Against their being saved, bringing on hardships. And he shuts in another way against men, when he does not allow them to prosper in evils, and this happens rightly from God, not as the Pharisees did; for it has been said to them:

You shut the kingdom of heaven; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." The kingdom of heaven is shut when those who seem to be teachers, through the evil things they practice, make some people imitators of themselves, so that neither they themselves nor those who imitate them enter into the kingdom. If, then, God shuts the door for one who has shut it for himself, on account of his manner of life, who will open it for him? In the same way also, he who withholds the water and what is perceptible, according to the saying, "One portion will be watered, and the portion on which I do not send rain will be dried up," by withholding he dries up the land; and you have the example of this in the Books of Kings. For he is the one "who brings up the clouds from the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain." And according to his own authority he lets them fall upon the earth, both for irrigation and for the destruction of what is in it, as in the flood in the time of Noah. But if you understand these things with understanding, you will find also the benefit that comes from them. With him are strength and power; to him belong knowledge and understanding. The reasonableness of the demonstration that no other could do each of the things done by God himself except he alone, he teaches through these words, saying, "With him are strength and power." And so that no one may reckon it uncertain that God acts by power and strength alone, he adds, "To him belong knowledge and understanding." For even if someone is displeased with what happens, saying, "Why is this fertile and very wealthy land watered again, while the land that needs it remains without rain?", let him hear, "To him belong knowledge and understanding." For he himself, "having ordered all things by weight and measure," supplies to each according to the principles of his own providence whatever he wills.

For the production or administration of existing things does not have its constitution as it happens, but both the diversity of created things and the understanding of administration are fixed and stand firm by divine intelligence. It must be noted that it is not as though God were composite that "strength and might are with him" and "knowledge and understanding are his" are said; for all these things are the Son, who is simple and incomposite. He leads counselors away captive, and he removes judges of the earth from their place. And these things are works of providence; for by his will and judgment both counselors are led away captive and judges are removed. And if one should call "counselors" those who in public life are puffed up with great things, it is possible to find many even of these led away into captivity; which is clear from the captivity of Israel, concerning which Jeremiah, lamenting in a lamentation over their city, said: "How has the city that was full of peoples sat alone; she has become as a widow, full of nations; she who ruled in lands has become subject to tribute." But if the name of counsel means those who give advice, even so God leads away captive those who do this for evil; and the example of this is Ahithophel, whose counsel and life were perverted. For from this too it is possible to understand the work of providence, that even the most intelligent of those who give counsel, and who follow the aim of counseling, fail in the outcomes, not as having counseled badly, but as providence testing otherwise. So too pilots, having done everything in their power, fail; for the end belongs to God. By his own power he also "removed the judges from their place.

And if "he drove out" means madness, this also happens to those who use the judgment of things not in the way they ought; and God drives such people out of themselves, showing them to be foolish. But "he drove out" can also mean their removal; for by the providences of God the Word himself, even judges are removed. "Setting kings upon thrones." Similar to this is "through me kings reign" and "the Lord sets up kings and removes them." Often he gives these also in anger, according to "I gave them a king in my anger." But that things are unsound when apart from God's judgment, he himself says in reproach: "They reigned and not through me, they ruled and did not know me," on which account such people are again sent away in anger, the concession again providing the permission until a time. But that "throne" is often taken for kingship, though sometimes for teaching, is clear from "the Lord shall sit as king forever," and again: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever," and further: "for with righteousness a throne of rule is prepared." But also to the disciples it was said: "You also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." But when it is said, "the scribes sat upon the seat of Moses," this seat is of teaching. "And he girded their loins with a belt." Unless he himself girds, the one girded has no strength, so that it is God who administers these things too by his own providence. And the belt signifies rule, as "and rulers through me shall hold the earth." "Sending priests into captivity.

If he means those who use the matter incorrectly, he shows that he does not spare even them when the time calls. But if he signifies those who use it as needed, God often sends even these into captivity, as he did Daniel and Jesus the son of Josedek, for the usefulness of the rest of the multitude; for as far as their own actions were concerned, they were not worthy to undergo captivity. At any rate, consider their greatness, that even when they had been brought into captivity and remained in Babylon, they stood unshaken. So even if we see the saints sent out into this life, let us reckon that they endured this not for their own sake but for the benefit of others. The apostle, hinting at this very thing, writes: "Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." But he has cast down the mighty of the earth. For by the judgment of God himself these also undergo overthrow, just as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar did. And God has cast down the devil, the author of evil; for it is said: "But angels who did not keep their own principality he has kept in darkness." Reconciling the lips of the faithful. Some seem to have faithful and irrefutable words, and God reconciles these. At any rate, it is said of Ahithophel, the counselor of the king of Israel, who was formerly David's counselor but later Absalom's—for it was said of him that formerly the counsel of Ahithophel was as the counsel of God—

This was said about him, that he was unerring in his counsels—indeed, David, to whom "the hidden and secret things of wisdom" had been revealed, said in prayer to God: "Scatter my counsel of Ahithophel," which also came to pass. And he knew the understanding of elders. And the elders who have understanding in place of gray hair, and a blameless life in place of old age—their understanding he himself knew; for it was worthy of his knowledge. But "he knew" must be understood with discernment; for he knows even the unintelligent and their counsels. But it is clear that, knowing those—meaning those of the elders according to Abraham—he also receives them. Pouring dishonor upon rulers, but he healed the humble. For it belongs to the one "who sets up and removes"—by setting up, to bestow honors; by removing, to pour out dishonor. And "to pour out" signifies to do this abundantly; for we have often observed this, as in "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts," in place of "has been greatly given," according to what is said: "Ointment poured out, your name

of you," which has become "wonderful in all the earth," according to the psalmist, before this sending forth its fragrance only as far as Judea, but later reaching all, so that it is said: "You have magnified your holy name over all." But also "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh" is indicative of the grace richly given. He says, then, that when wrath is sent according to desert upon rulers, there will be a pouring out of dishonor upon them, while the humble are healed by God; for he himself makes the dishonored honored, the poor rich, the weak mighty, according to "raising the poor from the earth and lifting the needy from the dunghill." But if you take the humble to be those in mind and purpose, "making them into a height," he healed them, setting right the apparent crushing that comes from being despised, according to "who calls the things that are not as though they were." So at any rate he says: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." And again: "The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." For those who have achieved the virtue of humility he brings into the kingdom of heaven; for he himself is the one of whom it is said: "And he will save the humble in spirit," uncovering deep things out of darkness. Having spoken about creation and providence, he goes through also the matters concerning foreknowledge and his inescapability, as also that he knows the things done in secret. Similar to this is what is said by David:

Lord, you have tested me and known me; you have known my sitting down and my rising up; you have understood all my thoughts from afar." For it is not when I think that you come to know my thoughts, but just as you are the foreknower of deeds, so also of thoughts. "For where shall I go from your Spirit, or where shall I flee from your face? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I descend to Hades, you are present; if I take up my wings at dawn and make my dwelling at the ends of the sea, even there your hand shall guide me and your right hand shall hold me." But beyond these things he says something else in "I said: Surely darkness will trample me," meaning "will hide me." But again, teaching this too—that it cannot hinder the knowledge of God—he says that "darkness shall not be darkened from you, and night shall be lightened as day." For to humans night makes a distinction from day, but to you, O Lord, even these things are illuminated, meaning "are manifest"—which the apostle also makes clear when he says: "But all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes." And in Daniel it is said: "He who knows all things that are in darkness, and the light is with him," which is our Savior, who "enlightens every man." Manifest, then, to him are also the deeds of humans that are done in secret and in darkness, making them manifest when it is necessary. And he is able also to reveal the unclear things of the words, according to "He will understand a parable and a dark saying," through illumination that comes to be in the mind. And he brought out into light the shadow of death.

Now he calls evil a shadow of death—the evil that is hidden and worked with deceit by someone—so that the shadow of death is said to be that person himself. For often those who act are signified by the name of the states of character, as the righteous man is called righteousness in the passage "so that we might become the righteousness of God in him." And the apostle indicated those who have love by the name of love, saying: "Love is patient, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not reckon evil, believes all things." But he says these things not about the state of character, but about the one who has love. Then again he adds: "Love never falls." And it is no great thing that virtue "does not fall"—that is not its nature—but he speaks about the one who is founded in it; for as long as one holds fast to it, he is incapable of falling. If, then, he says "to lead the shadow of death into light," he means not the evil, but the one who works it,

according to the saying "for you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord." For when they were darkness, being in ignorance, they happened to be a shadow of death. But when he enlightened them after their repentance, then he led them out from the shadow of death, so that it might be said of them: "among whom you shine as lights in the world," who "having put away falsehood," which is darkness, "speak the truth," which is light. Deceiving the nations and destroying them. Deceit is homonymous. For both error and lawlessness are called deceit, according to the saying: "and they became wanderers among the nations." But God deceives, doing this not unprofitably, but drawing them away from evil.

And if he also says that "to hand them over to an unfit mind" means to lead astray, he does this not inappropriately either, as one may hear the Lord saying: "Behold, I will lead her astray," that is: since she turns to evil things, in caring for her salvation he perverts her—instead of the soul that is prospering in evils. And he perverts her by implanting in her a useful leading-astray. In the same way, when he subjects the wicked man himself either to punishment or through conversion destroys his disposition toward evil, he is said to destroy the wicked. In either way, then, God destroys the nations, either by punishing them or by destroying their wickedness. Thus also "he has come to seek and to save what was lost." Laying low the nations and leading them down. There is a difference among those who posit providence and say that God administers the whole: for some say that God administers the universe, but not the particulars; we, however, say this too. And they use an example of this sort: the market-overseer, they say, takes forethought for the city, makes the wares abundant, and [attends to] the rest of the administration, but not for the people of the city. And concerning the craftsman, they say that he crafts the kinds of beings, but not the particulars. We, however, say this too, hearing "that you made me" and "your hands shaped me and made me" and "before I shaped you in the womb I know you," which they refer to the manner of the shaping, but not to this one or that one, being mistaken. "To lay low," then, means this; for this expression is also employed for those who are enrolled in the citizen body.

What he says is that by the providence of God all things are well and orderly, and he does this also in the case of individual things; for this is especially made clear from "guiding them." "But indeed I will speak to the Lord, and I will reprove before him, if he wishes." Having accused them as being mistaken, he says "I will speak to the Lord," showing his own boldness in speech. And "I reprove before him" is instead of "I demonstrate my own circumstances, if by hypothesis he wished it; for I know that he himself understands the cause of the affliction." Similar to this is "For now do I persuade men or God?" and "But he who examines me is the Lord." And it is not of a small but of a perfect man, and as God testified in the beginning, "righteous and blameless," to say "I will speak to the Lord" and "I will reprove before him, if he wishes." For without his will it is not lawful to do such a thing. "But you are unjust physicians and all healers of evils." An unjust physician is, in the obvious sense, one who applies remedies other than those beneficial to the sick. And this happens in two ways, either from the inexperience of the physician or from malice. But these who are being reproved were saying to Job from ignorance rather than from wickedness that "you suffer because of sins," thinking to bring words of consolation; unjust, then, in that they did not know the cause. And "all healers of evils" would be said against those who think great things of themselves, as being able to heal the circumstances that befall others. "And would that you would be silent, and it will turn out for you as wisdom." He prays that they may have knowledge of the times when they ought to speak and when they ought to be silent, knowing that they are mistaken.

For this will be for them the beginning and prelude of wisdom. For if they should learn that there is also another way of being afflicted, for the sake of revealing the virtue that is within, it will be wisdom for them. ... to hold back ... as is said in Proverbs: "To the foolish one who has asked for wisdom, it will be reckoned as wisdom." For whenever someone recognizes that he needs instructions and a teacher who enlightens, it will turn out to be wisdom for him. For just as the one able to speak about wisdom and to teach is wise and a teacher, so in part the one who is able to ask what ought to be asked is wise. He called him "foolish" not as though he were wholly deprived, but as having something lacking. Similar to "would that it be for you to be silent" is "a time to be silent" — and "a time to speak." Hear the reproof of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips. He says "mouth" and "lips" instead of "word." The holy one reproves as holy and judges as is fitting for him; he employs reproof and judgment in a knowledgeable and lawful manner; for the righteous man does not have an untimely reproof, nor does he do this falsely, but with discernment. "For the mouth of the righteous will meditate on wisdom, and his tongue speaks judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps will not be tripped up." For because the law of his God is in the heart of the righteous man, he meditates on wisdom, and his steps are not tripped up, that is, "the powers of the soul that are capable of movement." Something of this sort is also signified by the saying of Proverbs, "the thoughts of the righteous are judgments." And since the thoughts are of such a kind, it follows that the word is also of such a kind.

For the good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good." Is it not before the Lord that you speak, and before him that you utter deceit, or will you conceal it? He begins the refutation from their own conscience, teaching them that everything they bring forth they utter while God sees. But he also declares to them that the deceit is brought forth as it were in his presence, for the sake of correction, so that they may cease from such a disposition, since they have the Lord as an overseer. And so he restrains them from their audacity, because they were concealing God as though he were a man, hiding their deceit and speaking before him. But "deceit"—the words are useful against those who lie and employ deceit, concerning whom David also says: "those who speak peace with their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts." "But you yourselves become judges." It is good, if he searches you out. One might say: "How is it that to those to whom he just said, 'But you are unjust physicians,' and 'Is it not before the Lord that you speak, and before him that you utter deceit?' he now says, 'But you yourselves become judges'?" To this it must be said that each of those who sin, charmed by pleasure, does not regard the overseeing eye of God. But whenever a righteous and wise man, or even another who is not such, challenges the conscience of the sinner, bringing him to the state of realizing that God sees the thoughts of each, he strikes him into awareness. This very thing, then, the holy one does when he says: "But you yourselves become judges.

Fine indeed, if he searches you out." For those who are conscious of wrongdoing in themselves do not wish to be searched out even by a righteous man, much less by God. For such is the saying of the saints according to David: "Purify my reins and my heart." For if, doing all things, you are added to him, none the less he convicts you. "And even if, having done all things that it is necessary to do, you are added to him"—instead of "you are established as his own"—"you are subject again to conviction because of ignorances." This, at any rate, the blessed apostle was saying: "I am conscious of nothing against myself, but I am not justified by this." For it is possible for me to overlook something among my ignorances, and I am not justified on that account. But insofar as I seem to be conscious of nothing against myself, I seem to be free from accountability. It is not my own judgment that shows me to be justified, but God's. The blessed David also confirms this, saying: "Who will understand his trespasses? Cleanse me from my hidden faults." For in truth, sins one knows, but trespasses—which are in a certain way involuntary—one understands with difficulty. "And so," he says, "even if you do all things for purity, you will have conviction from involuntary faults, since God judges." For this reason the Lord also said to his own disciples: "When you have done all things, say: We are unprofitable servants; what we were obliged to do, we have done." But if you also secretly admire persons, will not his terrors stir you up, and fear from him fall upon you? The best judge is an examiner of matters; he does not look at the persons of those being judged.

For if those being judged are rich or rulers or preeminent in some other rank, he does not look at their person, but at the deeds which he judges. This is also borne out in the catholic epistle: "showing partiality for the sake of gain," and it is clear that those who take bribes justify the ungodly for the sake of gifts and take away the right of the righteous. But God, when he commands, does not will it so, but legislates: "You shall judge the great and the small alike; you shall not show partiality," clearly toward the rich man, and "you shall not pity the poor man in judgment." And elsewhere it is said: "You shall pursue justice justly." For one must neither side with the rich man nor, pitying the poor man's want, overlook justice. And it is the task of a righteous judge, just as is also handed down in the account concerning David, that after the judgments and the outcomes of affairs, if it should happen that the poor man is either the one who was ignorant of justice or the one doing injustice, to exhort the rich man to show kindness toward him. And he will be more ready for this, accepting the judge's uprightness. Thus, then, it is said concerning David: "doing judgment and justice." Job, being a lover of... "if even in secret you show partiality to persons." For every taker of bribes does not openly accept the persons of those who give, but secretly, often even under a pretense against that man... he wishes to come together. And he brings in fear, saying that even if someone dares to conceal the act of showing partiality by deceit, yet God, being angered, will through the infliction upon those who sin confound them, which means "he will give them a trial of his wrath.

He calls a "whirlwind" the onset of anger with impulse, by a metaphor from waters swirling in eddies, so that what he says is briefly this: "Or do you bring his motion, if he is provoked to anger?" Similar to this is what is said in Zechariah to those who sin: "The Lord will go forth in the tossing of his threat." By "tossing of threat" he means the anger because of their sins—for he himself is that. And "will go forth" would perhaps be similar to what is said in Genesis about Adam, that he heard God walking when he had just sinned; through this very thing he receives a perception of God's withdrawal, because he has nothing luminous left in himself. For those who distance themselves from God hear: "The Lord is far from the wicked," not said in respect of place, but because God is good and the wicked man is far from him. And these things are said because of "he will go forth in tossing." We must return to the beginning: those "who secretly admire persons," whom the anger of God according to a whirlwind will also whirl away, as has been explained; and fear from God also falls upon them, and this for their benefit, so that they may know that a threat is brought against them as sinners. But of this fear—I mean the fear according to the threat—there is another, of which it is said: "The fear of the Lord surpasses all things," which is also properly reverence. For the fear of God is nothing other than intensified awe, through which those who have it become lacking in nothing: "For there is no want to those who fear him." But the passive fear follows those who sin.

For another [punishment] of this kind is said to be sent upon sinners for chastisement. Consider whether the name "fear" signifies nothing other than the avoidance of anger.

This is not a passion of God; for it is said: "You sent forth anger"—a passion is not sent forth. But your boasting shall become like ashes. The word makes plain the condition of sinners after anger, when they are made contemptible in the manifestation that comes through anger, which swallows up the presumption of those who judge in secret. That ashes signify contemptibility can be learned from one of the twelve prophets, who says: "And you shall trample the lawless, and they shall be as ashes under your feet." For ash is a thing that has been burned, having lost its own power. At any rate, a threat concerning burning is brought forward in Deuteronomy, as when fruits are hindered because the earth has lost its own power. But it is for the benefit of someone that sins be reduced to ashes; just as thorns and briars, when burned, bring no small harm, so too sins, if they are burned according to what is said—"lawlessness shall be burned as fire, and as dry grass it shall be devoured by fire"—no longer corrupt the soul, but are called forth to repentance, according to what is said in the Gospel: "If the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes." For if someone receives in his mind the saving fire, of which the Savior said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled," it reduces former sins to ashes.

Sitting down, instead of "having ceased from sinning," he turns to repentance, having chosen a strict and laborious manner of life. And the body is clay. Man is composed of soul and body. And sometimes the body is enslaved by the soul and in a certain way is no longer clay, being led †subject with rational things†, serving thereafter a soul that acts with reason and with mind. But whenever someone takes no thought for the salvation of his soul, having turned to vice and thereafter serving the flesh, doing such things as differ in no way from an irrational animal, he shows that his body is clay, as being in no way helped by the soul's movements. For the body is of a different nature from the soul, as the Savior himself taught, saying: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." Since they can kill a man's body but not the soul, it is clear that the substance of soul and body is not the same. Whenever, then, the soul is hindered from its own proper impulses, then the man appears as a clay body—not that the soul changes into a body, but because its actions are no longer heavenly but bodily, just as Paul also calls "those who walk according to the flesh" and "according to man" men, saying they have human and not divine activities. At any rate, it has been said by the blessed Paul to all those who have given themselves over to bodily things and for this reason are human:

For where there is strife among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to man?" But when "walking on earth they have their citizenship in heaven" and "bear the image of the heavenly one," they are not a clay body. Be silent, that I may speak and be refreshed from wrath. Urging them to attend to what is brought forward by him, he says these things, adding the reason in saying, "and I may be refreshed from wrath," teaching that, if they obtain correction from his having conceded to speak, he will be refreshed from his own wrath, which he had righteously against their folly, being angry not in a passionate way, but as the law lay, to be angry against those who sin. And the word "silence" signifies speechlessness, as in "I was dumb and did not open my mouth, because you are the one who made me." For not speaking he calls dumbness. And again: "When the sinner stood before me, I was dumb and was humbled and kept silent from good things." For when the sinner, who is the devil, having persuaded a soul to sin, stands before

Reproaching her for it, "being an enemy and an avenger," then, ashamed, she is silent, undergoing deafness. He says, then, "Hold back your much speaking," so that by his saying it, discipline may come to them. "Taking up my flesh with my teeth." In a certain way he gives them rest. For since he himself previously accused them of being "comforters of evils"—for they were not comforting as they ought, but rather were stirring up the grief and pain of the one supposedly being comforted—he says, "'I take up my flesh with my teeth,' I am no longer angry against you, but against myself." May the name of "flesh" be thus made level. For often, when someone wishes to report to himself a crushing that has occurred, he mentions "flesh," as it is said: "when evildoers drew near to me to eat my flesh," in place of "to afflict me"; for they had not eaten his flesh that is under the skin, but had afflicted him. Similar to this is also "then they would have swallowed us alive," showing the violent assault of those who use force. He might be saying: "'I take up my flesh with my teeth.' Thus I feed on my pains. And just as food taken up into the teeth is thinned and shows its benefit, so also, feeding on my pains and digesting the afflictions from them, I receive an increase of benefit." But if he is displaying endurance by saying "taking up my flesh with my teeth," in place of "having no concern at all for the affliction," consider it as well. "But I will place my soul in my hand, if the ruler should overpower me," since he has also begun.

Along with the words "taking up my flesh with my teeth," one must also take "and I will place my soul in my hand," so that he is saying: "I even despise my own soul, in order that I may benefit you in some way, submitting to the one who overpowers me and has already begun this," indicating God, who has permitted him to the one who asked for him. "I am ready, then, to be handed over to death." But if he says this of the change that is going to happen to him, it is worth considering, bearing in mind whether "since he has also begun" is not opposed, calling God a ruler because he rescues from those who oppress. "Indeed I will speak and I will convict before him, and this will turn out for me unto salvation." Throughout, his zeal is to teach his friends the cause of his hardships, so that he may win them over not to hold contrary opinions. For he reckoned this to be salvation—that they should know the account of providence concerning this very matter, which, wishing to make clear, he said "and I will convict." For often "conviction" signifies "proof," inasmuch as Paul also says: "All things that are convicted are made manifest by the light," and again: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," meaning "proof." For no deceit will enter before him. Wishing to establish his truthfulness and his reverence, he says: "What I say, I utter with God seeing. For it is not possible for any deception to arise in God, so as for deceit to enter before him." But this could be understood in two ways by the juxtaposition of the similar, which stands thus, being evangelical:

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." For either the shadowing thing is dissolved, not subsisting at the presence of the light, or whoever brings deception, when he comes near the light, is turned away as the deception is dissolved, and altogether he does not overcome it. For every zeal of those who deceive and contrive is unprofitable; for they will not grasp the beauty of the truth. Deceit, then, does not draw near to the fountain of truth, because those who use it do not dare to bring it near to it. And in another way, deceit is not in God; for it has not naturally come to be in him. "For God is faithful, and there is no injustice in him." And again: "If we deny, he remains faithful." For he is unchangeable and immutable. Hear, hear my words; for I will declare them while you listen. He doubles the word, so that he may call them securely to

listen. For it is possible that, when the hearing has been struck by the voice, because the mind does not attend, they have not heard. For this reason the Savior, rousing his hearers to listen genuinely, said: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." And again he says to others who do not attend: "You have neither heard his voice nor seen his form," and interpreting this in some way he adds: "nor do you have his word remaining in you," which would have been the case if they had listened genuinely. And so also the blessed Job, wishing to prepare their hearing beforehand, said, "Hear" — for thus, when you have been well prepared, I am pleased to speak — desiring them to become wise hearers; "for the ear is the desire of a wise hearer." Behold, I am near to my judgment.

He is now laying for them a foundation of teaching, instructing them that it was not because of sin, but because of a contest, that he was judged to suffer in such a way that he even knows the time at which the judgment will cease. I know that I shall appear righteous. For who is he that will judge me, that I should now keep silent and fail? He says this not out of boastfulness, but in order to teach them not to hold any other view concerning him besides the true one. For sometimes a person says good things about himself without intending to do so, when he is otherwise disposed toward himself. For suppose someone had been entrusted with a ministry to fulfill for those in need, and someone slandered him as appropriating something for himself; would we not blame him if, in the form of a defense, he said, "I provided all my own possessions to those in need," when he had not said this before? Thus Job is not to be blamed for self-love, but for the reason stated, saying these things and saying them with clear boldness: "Who is he that will judge me, that I should keep silent," instead of "that I should be silent," "and fail," instead of "that I should cease speaking." But you will deal with me in two ways: then I shall be hidden from your face; withdraw your hand from me, and let not your fear terrify me. The obscurity of the present passage might be smoothed out thus, as he says: "If you deal with me as my friends say, showing me to be worthless, I shall be hidden from your face; but if as I say, withdraw your hand from me and let not your fear terrify me." And everyone who sins, doing things unworthy of him, is hidden from the face of God, just as Adam also was hidden from the face of God.

Contrary to this is being hidden by God, according to what is said: "You will hide them in the secret place of your presence from the tumult of men." This too is saving, when God covers the earnest man, so that he may not fall away through human tumults. The secret place of God's presence would be the mystical contemplations, set in contrast to what is manifest. For to see God from the works of providence and of created things is not in the secret place, but in the manifest. It is said: "For what is knowable of God is manifest in them; for God made it manifest to them. For his invisible things, understood from the creation of the world, are clearly seen in his works." Being hidden by God, then, as was said before, is saving; but hiding oneself like Adam is unprofitable. Since this does not happen because he is not subject to sin, he says: "Keep your hand from me," and what follows, "so that these may be instructed that I suffer this not because of sin." For his friends thought nothing else than that he suffered because of sin. Then you will call, and I will answer you; or you will speak, and I will give you a reply. Through many things he makes known his boldness toward God, so that by this he may lead them up to the true knowledge of the things that happen concerning him. For this is also a proof that he is righteous. You have this also concerning the hierophant Moses, who was deemed worthy to speak with him in the words "Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice." But one must not think that the answer that comes from God is a bare voice, but divine energies, from which he speaks to God with good boldness. How many are my sins and my iniquities?

Teach me what they are. Again he says such things on their account, so that they may learn that the one who has sins and lawless deeds has not escaped God's notice. And he himself, having said, "I know that I shall appear righteous," speaks to his friends cautiously, as before God: "Teach me how many my sins are." Similar to this is "I am conscious of nothing against myself, but I am not thereby justified; the one who examines me is the Lord." And it is good also to learn one's errors, so that from them we may turn away. Why do you hide from me, and consider me your adversary? This too is spoken with a view to their opinion; for God, dwelling in him, was not hidden from him, but because they thought this, these things were said. «For these men suppose this, that you are my adversary, thinking that I suffer because of sin.» Or, will you be cautious of me as a leaf moved by the wind, or as grass carried by the spirit, do you oppose me? The whole of the thought would be as follows: «Why do you hide from me, considering me to be your adversary, and a leaf moved by the wind, and grass carried by the spirit?» These things are indicative of a fickle character and of baseness, according to what the Savior said concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?"—instead of «something contemptible and shifting under whatever comes along.» And these things, as was also said before, Job says with a view to the opinion of his friends. Because you have written evils against me, and you have wrapped around me the sins of my youth. It is clear that he speaks with a view to their supposition; for "evils" here he means the afflictions.

For this is what the friends think, that he suffers because of sin; he himself, by "you have written down evils against me," joined "you have wrapped around me the sins of my youth," signifying that "from the things on account of which my friends, pursuing me, are disposed toward me as one who suffers because of sin, they have as a consequence the belief that the sins of my youth have now been wrapped around me." You have placed my foot in a hindrance. He does not say these things according to his own will, but in response to the one who supposes that everyone who is afflicted suffers this because he has sinned. And "being made smooth" would be as follows: "My power of walking, according to which I set things right, supposed by them in another way, as though I had sinned and for this reason shared in circumstances, you have placed in a hindrance." For in a certain way he himself brought this about, delivering himself over to the one who asked, from which it came about that his foot was placed in a hindrance, hindered, as has been said, among them because of sins, since they do not wish rightly to understand the progress of the righteous man, which is the foot. And that it is customary for Scripture to speak of things that come about from the intention of the one acting as though from God, because he has permitted them, will be clear to you from "God handed them over to passions of dishonor" and "to a reprobate mind" and "to the desires of their hearts." But if also because of the whole-body affliction no longer permitting him to perform by himself what is needed either for those in need or for certain others—as indeed he has said, "But my door was open to everyone who came"—consider whether he was saying this, which he did not fail to know had come about for him because of the struggle.

For God does many such things for the sake of what is beneficial, as one can learn from the events concerning his people, whom God led through the desert—by a useful detour—over three days, so that they might not think the return to Egypt was quick. Consider, moreover, whether he is saying this also of the soul's association with the body, which is a burden and comes about through an ineffable dispensation, since the highest purity is not attained. And this again is from some cause; for neither we nor God are to be blamed. You have watched over all my works. The blessed man, being holy, knows what was said by David, that God does not keep watch over all the lawless deeds of those who stumble, but disciplines them again; for this reason—that it is for the sake of a contest—he has said what is set before us, as though God had watched over all his works and had thus brought upon him

the grievous things, so that from this they might understand that the magnitude of so many afflictions is not because of sin, but because of a contest and a purpose of courage. The word "you have watched over" here is not in place of "you have kept," but "you have observed." And if he speaks of the "sins of his youth" and of "you have watched over all my works," giving the impression that he has sinned, this is not strange; for all the saints, both for the sake of moderation and of good sense, utter such expressions, just as the men in the furnace and the blessed David saying: "Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorances." You have reached the roots of my feet. Instead of "you have examined all things concerning me so as to observe the roots," that is, both the causes and the beginnings of my practical steps, "in order to bring punishment upon me.

He says this again according to their supposition: that which grows old like a wineskin or like a moth-eaten garment. "You," he says, "remembered those former sins of theirs, which have grown old like a wineskin." A wineskin that has grown old is ineffective for the use for which it was made; for it does not hold the liquids poured into it. So too the sins of youth have grown old, and like a moth-eaten garment no longer serve their purpose. Sins grow old when virtue succeeds them; for when virtue is at work, they always remain young, even if the one practicing them is long-lived—he himself is called younger because of the character that makes one young. But man, born of woman, is short-lived and full of wrath. He wishes to set before them the cause of his own affliction, as they compare the magnitude of the visitation with human life. For after setting out that "you have wrapped around me the sins of my youth" and "you have watched all my works," so as to send so many things upon me, he adds, as though to establish that the matter is not so, "But man, born of woman, is short-lived and full of wrath." For upon one short-lived and full of wrath because of the wretchedness of life, he would not have brought such great punishment, unless it happened for the sake of a contest. For if they had considered the goodness of God together with the short-livedness of human beings, they would no longer have reckoned that he suffered these things on account of sin. Consider also whether it has this meaning: he who has not become God through virtue, but remains in the condition of a human being, this one is in wrath and short-lived, having hoped, in a manner of speaking, "in this life only.

But the one who believes in the Savior, so as to become from this a god, is not subject on this account to the anger that is according to punishment, even if he is afflicted—affliction being called anger in another sense. So he would say: "Even if I too conducted myself as a man, consider, so that from this you may conclude that I fell under anger." Or, "Like a flower he bloomed and fell away, and he fled like a shadow and shall not stand." These things must be joined to what precedes. For that to a man who passes away like a flower and a shadow he brought such great affliction is not, in the present life, on account of sins. "For if you should watch for lawless deeds, Lord, Lord, who will stand? For with you there is propitiation." So it must be understood that it was [the view] of the friends that these things happened to him not because of errors, but, as was said before, because he was set forth as a model of courage. And these things are according to the first meaning. According to the second, it might be said thus: like a flower falls away "the one who walks according to the flesh," and like a shadow, resembling a mere accompaniment and doing nothing that is primary. And that shadow is taken as equivalent to something without substance, the [passage] "my days pass away like a shadow" makes clear. Did you not also make account of this one and cause him to enter into judgment before you? One might say that these things are in agreement with the former interpretation, joining them thus: "Even if one born of woman is short-lived and full of trouble, so as to resemble a fallen flower and a shadow that flees quickly, yet indeed you made account even of this one, not overlooking him, so that even into judgment—

to enter before you." A proof of this would be what is said by God: "My people, what have I done to you?" and again, "Behold, I am judged against you." Therefore God, who introduces such care for human beings, would not in this way inexorably and implacably demand satisfaction from man, as his friends supposed he was punishing him. But he brings these things forward to establish that he suffers for no other reason than that he might appear righteous, according to "Do you think that I have dealt with you otherwise than that you might appear righteous?" For who is clean from filth? Not one, even if his life on earth is a single day, and his months are numbered before you. And these things he added so that they might understand that he does not suffer because of sin. For if this were so, no one would be outside affliction, even if he lived only a short time. But these things are said so that the friends might be taught the cause; for he said this as though an objection would be raised against what had been said by him, when someone objects saying, "Even if you are short-lived and pass by like a shadow and fall away like a flower, still nothing prevents you from suffering because of sin." To this he said most directly: "For who is clean from filth? But no one," so that, as has already been said, all ought to suffer. But another might say that filth and sin mean the same thing, while another says that filth is less than sin. You have concerning filth and sin in Isaiah as follows: "The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion and will cleanse the blood from their midst," where blood signifies sin, the unclean thing, and filth signifies involuntary faults, which the Savior, having come, cleansed by themselves.

That blood often signifies sin is stated to the devil, the author of evil: "As a garment defiled in blood will not be clean, so neither will you be clean." For he did not happen to be defiled in blood, but it is clear that the blood signifies to him the "sin unto death." He, then, who has a fault that can be washed has filth; but he who has something, as it were, unrepentant, like the one who "blasphemes against the Holy Spirit" and the like, is not under filth, but under sin—and so too the one who transgresses the commandments knowingly. But the phrase "not even if his life on earth were one day" might be taken in two ways: there is the one now being born who has Adam's sin by succession, and there is the one beginning to judge matters by reason, when he also completes the reason of man. Not even such a one will be pure for a day, since ignorance attends the one who has now begun to distinguish the avoidable from the good, whether he lives a day or numbered months. The worthless man, then, "blotted out of the book of the living," is not counted before God, but the earnest man is counted by him. "Even if such a one," he says, "be supposed, not even he is free from filth." Similar to this is "I know nothing against myself, but I am not justified in this" and "cleanse me from my secret faults." For you have set a time, and he will not overstep it. Here he makes clear the providence concerning man—that he does not remain in life at random and as it happens, but by the judgment of God he does not overstep the time appointed by him.

But these things must not be said as though fate were in control, but as though the will of God "has ordered each thing by bounds and measures." And if he also says allegorically that the one guided virtuously by God does not overstep what is fitting, because virtue is measured, consider it as well. Depart from him, that he may be at rest and be pleased with his life like the hired servant. Since God is present to him through toils, the "depart" has been said instead of "cease your anger." For God's drawing near is of different kinds, both that by participation and that by anger. For when his friends supposed that he was suffering because of sin, and had spoken so harshly the earlier things—that man "is short-lived" and "like a flower falling" and "like a shadow," and that "God makes account of him"—he shows them that he is not distressed because of sin, saying, "Depart from him." For if he lays upon him such a multitude of afflictions, man has no leisure for repentance. He therefore instructs them, that they do not understand this sensibly, through the words "Depart from him, that he may be at rest." For neither can he, amid so many circumstances, have leisure nor be pleased with his life—so that he may give him his wage as to a worker. And in another way he hints: if he were suffering because of sin, the rebukes would have been sufficient, so that from this there might be rest and he might henceforth work like a hired servant. But these things are said again with reference to them, it being clear that God gives forbearance for repentance, as Paul says—

Or do you despise his forbearance and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” And that “to be still” is said instead of “to cease from evil and take up virtue” is clear from “You have sinned; be still,” and from “the earth feared and was still when God arose for judgment.” For when people received the understanding that God is judge, they became still from sinning. “For there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, it will bloom again, and its shoot will not fail.” Through many considerations he demonstrates that he did not endure these grievous things because of baseness, the argument thus becoming clear; for let this be so by way of hypothesis: the punishments have been sufficient so as to leave time to depart from evil. For the things of repentance have not been given up, nor does God punish without measure as though the will were unchangeable. For the capacity lies within souls, even if a great outpouring of sins should occur; repentance can therefore take place. He calls man a tree, as also in many places of the Scriptures, according to what is said: “Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And again: “Either make the tree good and its fruits good, or make the tree rotten and its fruits rotten.” Having set this forth once, we will not leave it unexamined. For the Savior does not command anyone to become a rotten tree or to bring forth rotten fruit, but that the disposition of each one be made manifest through his activities, and that one not prejudge his hypocrisy. But this can also be understood in another way:

The Jews were saying about the Savior: “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Therefore the Savior himself says to them: “Either make the tree good,” and what follows. For if casting out demons is good, the one who does this is good; but if the one who does it is worthless, then what has been done is also worthless. For “if its root grows old in the earth, and its stem dies in the rock, from the scent of water it will blossom, and it will produce a harvest like a new plant.” When the tree is transferred to the human being, it will be clear that the soul endures weakness, which is indicated by “if its root grows old in the earth.” Again it has the hope of repentance, even if its stem—clearly, the human being’s—dies in the rock. For even if sin dashes against the soul so as to cause death in it and drag it down from the height of virtue, which the stem indicates, it does not cut off the capacity for virtue, which the Lord was indicating when he said: “The kingdom of God is within you,” signifying the power that lies within, which the present reading also teaches. “From the scent of water” means “from the divine word, which is fragrant.” For “your name is ointment poured out.” It takes up drink and grows afresh through repentance, so as even to produce a harvest, just like those who from the beginning hear the word without falling away, so as to say concerning them: “And coming, they will come with exultation, carrying their sheaves.” And it is clear also from the fact that the tree is said to produce a harvest, that this is not said about the perceptible tree.

For one would not say that trees are reaped, but rather that they are gathered, so that the verses set before us were spoken concerning the labors of a soul that has been neglected and that shines forth through repentance because of the saving word. — of that word which the Lord, calling it water, spoke: "He who believes in me, rivers from his belly shall flow of water leaping up to eternal life." But a man, having died, has departed, and a mortal, having fallen, is no more. Consider whether this does not fit the words "Depart from him, that he may be at rest" and what was said concerning them, in this way: for if the friends were saying that he was distressed because of sin, he would reasonably say "Depart from him" in the sense of "grant a respite from evils, so that from this there may come the being at rest, that is, that the soul become virtuous in calm." Then, in sequence, as if an objection followed — "Why do you not repent long ago, but now, having been held in sin for a long time?" — he adds "For there is hope for a tree" and what follows, to which he appended as a consequence: "But a man, having died, has departed," and what comes after it, indicating that as long as he remains in this life, according to the branch and the tree he has the expectation of repentance; but when he has died, he hears: "Now you repent, when it is not the time for repentance," so that it may be like "Do not bring me up in the midst of my days." For the saint does not think, as do those "who have hoped only in this life," that the continuance is even until the things here, when he says in what follows: "I will wait until I become again." But in time the sea grows scarce, and a river, having been made desolate, has dried up.

Pay attention, even if this fits the previously given thought in a manner that silently expresses what they say: "For what sins are they paying the penalty, and why do you say, 'For there is hope for a tree'?" For they do not think that such a great surge of evil can arise. Wishing to show that even those entangled in many evils are able to come to repentance, he added: "But in time the sea is drained." For the manner and character resembling the sea and the most unstable surge, and its settling, as it were, by reason—likewise also a river, which signifies the flowing affairs of life, when deprived of what activates it, is dried up, the didactic word bringing this about. But a man who has fallen asleep shall surely not rise, until the heaven is not rolled together, and they shall not be awakened from their sleep. For would that you had kept me in Hades, and hidden me, until your wrath should cease, and you had appointed me a time in which you would make mention of me. There is an emphasis made clear from what is set before us, of the greatness of the distresses, from which they present to the friends the notion of the cause of what is brought upon them, who think that such great punishment would not have come upon one who had not sinned. And he shows that he was distressed beyond measure, from the fact that he chooses rather the stay and keeping in Hades—not the one that is for punishment, but to be hidden there until the wrath passes by—with God promising to remember him, so that he might say more clearly that he would rather await the time of resurrection in Hades than endure such pains.

For in truth, a righteous man who finds himself in Hades, in the time before the coming of Christ, fares better in each respect, inasmuch as he has been released from the perishable and sickly body and is about to receive it incorruptible. For the Savior alone, according to his humanity, was not subject to being in Hades, even if he did go there for the sake of others. For it is said in his person: "I became as a man without help, free among the dead." For indeed guiding angels lead away the saints, but angels of darkness lead away the wicked. But the Savior had no need of angels, being free and their master, and being served and led by the hand by them. At any rate he said: "No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself." But also in the Song of Songs, calling death myrrh through symbols, he says, showing his freedom: "I will go of myself to the mountain of myrrh." But also the phrase "of the nations there is no man with me" shows his freedom from need, even according to his humanity. In place of this another translator's rendering is transmitted: "I alone drank the cup." But also when Peter said, "For you I will lay down my soul," he rebuked him, saying: "Will you lay down your soul for me? Before the rooster

He will deny me three times." That the saints are enlightened by angels and the wicked by dark demons has been said: "Fool, this night they will take your soul from you," clearly meaning punishers. And concerning Lazarus it has been said: "It came to pass that the poor man died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom," clearly by good angels. For if a man dies, he will live, having completed the days of his life. Not unreasonably does he set departure from here as preferable to a painful life, being convinced concerning the resurrection of the dead and knowing that it is better "to depart and be with Christ," saying: "For if a man dies, he will live, having completed the days of his life," from which is established both the doctrine concerning the resurrection and the judgment of each one's life in this world, death not occurring idly or by chance. But consider also whether "having completed the days of his life" can mean the days before the resurrection, after which eternal life will follow. I will wait until I come to be again. By the same sequence of arguments he sets forth both the opinions of those who previously spoke to him, who held opposing views, and the true ones, so that, when they are placed side by side, we may see which are being refuted and which are being established. For in the first place he spoke against their erroneous opinion:

Man, having fallen asleep, shall surely not rise," and "A man, having died, is gone, and a mortal, having fallen, is no more." For the nature of man was not as those men supposed—that a man, having his subsistence only until the present life, once he has lost this life is no more, in the same way as irrational animals. For the souls of irrational animals are sown together with their bodies, and therefore they also perish together. But since the soul of man is not sown together with the body, neither does it perish together; for it is immortal. And since his friends were not disposed as it is possible through struggle to undergo grievous things, just as happened to the blessed man himself, reckoning that he was suffering because of sin, contradicting their opinion he says that the thought of enduring grievous things is to be born again. "I will wait," he says, "until I am born again," signifying the resurrection, which those who say the soul perishes together with the body do not accept, and some of those who maintain its nature to be perishable. But "I will wait until I am born again" is opposed to "For if a man dies, shall he live again, having completed the days of his life?" Holding this understanding, the blessed Paul also wrote: "If in this life only we have hoped, we are more pitiable than all men," and "If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what profit is it to me, if the dead are not raised?" Thus, with regard to the opinion of the friends who did not hold that it is possible to suffer for the sake of virtue, "Man, having fallen asleep, shall surely not rise" was said, while "I will wait until I am born again" was said by him who opposes the view of those who claim—

Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." But the phrase "until I come to be again" must be expounded thus: the resurrection is a kind of birth. For it is for this reason that "regeneration" was spoken of by the Savior. For the former birth, having a different manner, came about through a change of matter—either of dust, as in the first-formed man, or of the rib, as in Eve, or of seeds, as in those who are born, or from a virgin without seed, she having turned something of herself into the saving temple—the change coming about in this way. So also the times of the resurrection, either when the body has passed into dust or into something else by a change of these things, raise up the risen body incorruptible. Therefore it is a kind of birth. Then you shall call, and I will answer you. Wishing to show that not only the body rises, but also the soul, which has the thoughts concerning God, he says, "Then you shall call, and I will answer you." For to answer when God calls is proper to a rational nature. And the works of your hands do not

You have made him a reprobate. Having taught about the resurrection of the whole man and the immortality of the soul, he instructs his friends so that they may not think that he has been judged worthless before God. "You have numbered my pursuits, and none of my sins shall escape you." By these words teaching that his knowledge is inescapable, he also in a certain way instructs his friends, who are disposed to think that he suffers because of sin, how one ought to repent and not boast in the purity that exists within him—for the sake of his own moderation and of rousing them to repentance, he says these things. "You have marked, if I have transgressed anything unwillingly." Again he says these things to them as being disposed to think that he undergoes these sufferings as one who has sinned, both in moderation and for their instruction, so that they might imitate him, who is thus pure and yet utters words of repentance. "You have sealed my lawless deeds in a bag." That is: "You have encompassed both their quality and their number." These things must be understood similarly to the preceding. "And except a mountain falling shall fall." Believing in the cause of all things, that he will bring the contest to success when the mountain that has been demanded—called here the mountain—is crushed, he says to them that "he will be weakened so as to fall away from the expectation which he expected, trying to take me." For it is not possible, as has been said before, but he knows that the counsel of the adversary will fail. "And a rock shall grow old from its place." Even if the adversary thinks he is a rock, yet "he shall grow old"—in place of "he shall appear stale"—when the success has been made manifest.

He is called a rock because he sends forth an impression, as being invincible, and because he is shaped to be Christ and an imitator of the true rock, concerning which it is said: "And the rock was Christ." And here he calls the place the state in which he wishes to take the virtuous man. And that "place" is said also in place of a rank is stated in the Acts: "Lord, knower of the hearts of all, show which one you have chosen to receive the place of this ministry from which Judas departed." But if, after saying, "You have sealed up my lawless deeds in a bag," and after he had spoken the things set forth above as though about himself as a sinner, he added, "But a mountain falling shall fall, and a rock shall grow old from its place," making clear that "even if through pride, that is, through hardness, it becomes a mountain, its condemnation shall be"—consider this together. Waters have worn away stones, and waters have overwhelmed the upward-facing parts of the earth's dust; and have you destroyed the endurance of a man? By these things he confirms what was said before, showing that repentance is strong. For through "waters have worn away stones" he establishes that the one who begins repentance and persists in it, like the water that removes the excess of the stone, frees himself from the superfluities of sin, so as no longer to have the roughness that comes from it, and, as it were, with the dust of the earth lying upward-facing, he brings about the flood of sin. "But if these things are so, do not give up on the endurance of a man, nor say that it is destroyed, having saved him, and has gone away to the end." He transfers the discourse to God.

For after saying that repentance is possible and that one ought not despair of a man's endurance, he adds, "You thrust him away, and he perished utterly," teaching that unless God is a fellow-worker, the things of endurance are in vain. "For unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it have labored in vain." But God thrusts away not the unworthy man, but the one who is subject in such a manner, saying: "Depart from me, workers of lawlessness, I never knew you." You set your face against him and sent him away. It is said: "The face of the Lord is against those who do evil"; and again the saints in prayer say: "Show your face, and we shall be saved"; and elsewhere: "May he show his face upon you and give you peace." When, then, through God's great longsuffering, the sinner in his insensibility persists in his errors, let him not think that there is a God, but suppose that he escapes notice, and say: "Darkness covers me on every side, and the walls—who sees me?"—God says: "I am a God who is near and not a God who is far off. Shall anyone hide in secret places and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." Having set his face against the sinner, he sends him away, which means "he shows him to be estranged from himself," according to the text "God will drive them away, because they did not listen to him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations," and "like the wounded cast down, sleeping in the grave, whom you remember no more, and they were thrust away from your hand." Though his sons become many, he does not know it; and if they become few, he does not understand.

Consider, does not the incomprehensibility of God's judgments make these things clear? But rather his flesh suffered pain, and his soul grieved. He shows that when the wrath against the sinner proceeds according to the secret reasons of providence, the one who falls into it suffers pain and grieves, but is ignorant of the reasons of the tradition. And these things are instructive, so that the friends may not say as though they knew that he suffers because of sin. Therefore the one who does not endure suffers pain and laments when he falls into distresses, but the brave man, even if he perceives the distressing things, nevertheless bears them nobly, looking to the goal. For only the one who looks to nothing good or useful suffers pain, if he is afflicted. But the virtuous man, like a crowned athlete, considers the toils nothing because of the hope of the crown. And Eliphaz the Temanite, taking up the argument, says: "Will the wise man give an answer of the understanding of the spirit?" And this man also, being of the same opinion and thinking that he suffers because of sin, begins his words saying that it belongs to the wise man to answer with understanding, hinting that Job does not answer with understanding. Therefore this man also is burdensome, striking the saint for his lack of understanding. "And he filled the pain of the belly with words of reproof, which one ought not," and with words in which there is no profit. As has been said, he begins in a striking manner; for he says that it belongs to the wise to answer understandingly, but "he filled the pain of the belly with words of reproof, which one ought not," instead of "from the pains which he had in his heart and could not contain, he brings forth words which one ought not, and words in which there is no profit," mocking his words as unaccomplishable and sent forth in vain.

Did you not also reject fear? What was said before is confirmed; for he accuses him, ostensibly, of not having fear—clearly, of God's fear—again insinuating, this one too, that because he did not have fear but was in sins, he suffered these things, and that it is not for one who has fear to use such words. For they considered them bold, not knowing his virtue, thinking that he says these things because he has rejected fear. And have you completed such words before the Lord? Perhaps because of the ready fluency of his words, which he brought forth from a pure conscience, he says these things which this one considers blasphemous, supposing a false premise—that he suffers because of sins. You are liable for the words of your mouth. He converses with him boldly, bringing forward his words as against one who is not righteous. And he thinks to convict him also from his own words, saying, "You will be convicted by your own words." Nor did you distinguish the words of dynasts. Consider whether he calls dynasts those who excel in understanding, either in his own time or in the time before him, as it is said in what precedes: "For inquire of the first generation, and search out according to the race of the fathers," so that what he says is something like this: "You did not distinguish the words of the wise so as through them to order your words and your whole life." For it has often been said that they reprove him as one who suffers because of sins. Your own mouth will convict you, and not I; let your lips testify against you. These things too are brought forward from boldness; for he did not have it in him to convict him thus. For these things too are brought forward with a view to the original assumption. For what? Were you the first of men born, or were you brought forth before the hills?

They want to establish for him that "you do not differ from other men, nor are you outside their nature, so as to have grasped something more than others," in order that they may present themselves as having attained to precision, for which reason he grieves. And those who introduce the soul as being sown together with the body will make use of this, among whom are the Hieracites and Stratiotae and the like, saying that "if it was not fixed before the sands"—instead of "before the earth"; for he named the whole from a part—"it was fixed after the sands," from which they will think it follows that the soul is sown together with the body, while another overturns them by understanding the "fixing" to be a concretion of moisture, which does not fit a soul but a body. Or have you heard the ordinance of the Lord, and has wisdom come to you? By putting forward the inscrutability of his judgments, he thinks from this to overturn him into not supposing that he suffers on account of another or on account of sin, being himself caught in this very thing. For neither had he himself heard an ordinance of the Lord, nor did he have wisdom as having come to him, so as to have a judgment about the holy man, that he suffers on account of sin. For what do you know that we do not know, or what do you understand that we do not also? He makes him common with all men, reasonably, since he is ignorant of the greatness of his virtue, from this, as has been said before, ostensibly overturning his supposing himself righteous; which he too, being ignorant, ought not to have prejudged the judgment and to have been persuaded that he is distressed as having sinned. And indeed he is old and indeed advanced in days among us, heavier than your father in days.

Even if," he says, "you are an elder and are older among us, so as to be weightier than your father"—instead of "more aged"—"you have come to be, you do not know anything more than we do." And he says these things from arrogant presumption. We have "weighty" used instead of "old" in the Books of Kingdoms; for indeed, wishing to show concerning Eli who fell that he was old, the text says: "and the man was weighty." It indicates both honor and abundance, as when it says: "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, in a great assembly; in a weighty people I will praise you," instead of "in an honored and numerous one." You have been scourged for a few of the things you have sinned. He says this: "You sinned, and for this reason you endure scourges. But since, while undergoing this, you attach injustice to God, your sin has become weightier for you." And he says these things not intelligently; for he did not know what was in his own case, so that he spoke falsely. And falsehood is manifold. For it is possible to lie without lying; for often we are disposed concerning something as being so, and we say it having a disposition as about something true, and what is reported is by its own nature false, yet it is not said by one who is lying. And it is possible, without knowing anything at all, to utter a false word from boastfulness, which has happened to this man. And there are those who lie in another way, as one who has attended to knowledge. You have spoken greatly and exceedingly. What did your heart dare, or what did your eyes endure? And being disposed concerning him as having sinned, and hearing his words of frankness, they brought these things forward.

For since the blessed man was uttering words from a state of purity, they regarded this as audacity and an excess of arrogance, vainly and foolishly. "Because you have burst forth in anger before the Lord, and have brought forth from your mouth such words." They regarded as anger the exceedingly great frankness of speech that came from purity—which happened to them because of their own rotten foundation, which they themselves laid down for themselves, considering as blasphemy the reasonable freedom of his words, as has been set out above. "For who, being mortal, shall be blameless, or as one who shall be just, born of a woman?" It is characteristic of those who do not possess virtue to reckon the acquisition of it as difficult and to be disposed as though no one possessed it, just as the one presently speaking also says, erring through the weakness of the body, as is likely. But if he had looked according to the soul and according to the mind, he would have contemplated the greatness of human nature, which the psalmist, knowing, teaches both things, saying: "What is man, that you take account of him? Man has been likened to vanity," which, toward

He has spoken of the weakness of the body, comparing it to divine things. And teaching its greatness, he says again: "You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor." And again another oracle says, "Great is man, and honorable is a merciful man," which he does not have by being born, but by having a nature in the composite that is receptive of righteousness. If he does not trust against holy ones. Similar to this is the saying, "If he does not trust against his children, and against his angels he devised something crooked." Therefore he here calls the angels "holy ones," showing that "even if angels are mutable, how is it possible for a man to be blameless?" It should be noted that "to trust" often signifies firmness, as it is said: "All his commandments are faithful." And he interprets their faithfulness, saying: "Established forever and ever." And again: "Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance." And further: "God is faithful and there is no injustice." For God is not faithful by partaking of faith, but by having firmness. And the heaven is not pure before him. As neither are the stars in comparison with God, who is light and has no darkness at all, and heaven itself is not pure, not absolutely, but in comparison with God. And it is possible to call "heaven" here those very ones who "left the heavenly dwelling," whom he called "his children, against whom he does not trust." At any rate, God himself says in Isaiah from his own person: "My sword has been made drunk in heaven." And the sword signifies punishment, as it is said:

My sword will devour the blood of the wounded, and my arrows will be drunk with blood." So among the angels who have transgressed, he says, the sword is made drunk—calling the heavens, and bringing punishment upon them. This heaven, then, is not pure before him. But let a man be abominable and unclean, drinking iniquities like a drink. And even if someone, being a heaven, becomes earthly through transgression, he is likened to a man no longer deemed worthy to be an angel, because he regards iniquity as his drink; for the unjust man fills himself with iniquity without measure. This shows that evil is not by nature; for evil is an intrusion. At any rate, he says that heaven is not pure in relation to God. And if this is so, man would be ranked among those who drink iniquity. Here he calls iniquity the general vice; for there is also a particular injustice concerning transactions, just as particular righteousness and every virtue are often so called. I announce to you, and you hear me. He seems in some way to say these things to Job boastfully—or perhaps not with a boastful intent, but because he thinks him to be in sin and for this reason to need his exhortation. What I have seen I announce to you, which the wise will say and their fathers did not hide. He wishes to use the argument of supposedly illustrious persons, so that from these he might seem to speak persuasively. For he says: "What the wise will say, who have heard from their fathers, who did not hide their teaching from them." And by these words he shows that he is moved with goodwill toward Job himself. Similar to this is "For inquire of the first generation, and search out according to the race of the fathers." To them alone the earth was given, and no foreigner came upon them.

This man seems—even if not by divine knowledge, yet by admiring those who excel in understanding—to be saying something similar to the saying that states: "To the faithful man the whole world of wealth belongs, but to the unfaithful not even an obol." For even if the unfaithful man is possessed of many things, he is not their master but their slave. For he serves mammon. But the righteous man has his mind unenslaved. Therefore "no foreigner comes upon them," which means "they are not taken captive either by an invisible power or by man." For "love never fails," which means "the one who loves." For even if the righteous man is at some time held in captivity, yet, as has been said before, he is unenslaved in his reasoning. And it is proper to foreigners—both invisible and visible—to come upon. Every life of the impious man is in anxiety. He wishes to say that the righteous man is in all

rest, so that the land is given to them and no foreigner comes upon them, but the impious man is in anxieties. And if he did not say this according to what has been said, he would have had reason. But since he said that he is a sinner, he hints that "for this reason you are in anxieties, because you are not righteous, to whom along with those like him the land was given and no foreigner comes upon them." How this man spoke this, then, has been made clear. But the Lord, commanding his own disciples, says: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." And it is a command that "we cast all anxiety upon the Lord." And if he also calls wealth "life," this man too is "in anxiety." And numbered years are given to the ruler. And his fear is in his ears. He says this: that even if someone exercising rule is emboldened, let him know that he has numbered years.

His dominion does not make him long-lived; for a span of time is measured out to men by God for His own judgment. So even if the ruler boasts, yet his life and his years are few and always fearful, having fear in his ears because of the instability of his condition. Such a man has the fear that belongs to the passionate nature. For when he is among those who are anxious about life, he is afraid even of death. But the earnest man, knowing that it is better "to depart and be with Christ," is of good hope, since the base man is not so, but is afraid; for it has been said that "the ungodly flees when no one pursues." When he seems already to be at peace, his overthrow will come. And even if someone is in great prosperity, like the one who says in the Gospel: "I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many good things, eat, drink, be merry," yet the Lord says to him: "Fool, this night they demand your soul from you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" For when he seemed to be at peace in his wealth, his overthrow came. These things, then, the divine word suggests. But it seems that this man says these things from hearsay of the wise, being mistaken in this respect, that he was hinting at them concerning Job. Let him not believe that he has been turned away from darkness. Similar to "when they say: Peace and safety," is "when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come." "Then," he says, "sudden destruction comes upon them as travail upon her who is with child." — Job 15:22a For it has already been commanded into the hands of iron, and it has been appointed for the food of vultures.

For from this the sinner has stored up punishment for himself, which is signified by the iron and the vultures. And one should not be surprised that he says such things. For it has already been said that perhaps he brings these things forth from things heard of old. Job 15:2 He knows in himself that he remains for a fall. He says that the conscience of sinners knows the expectation of base pursuits, that this is a fall. Job 15:5 A dark day will trouble him. Instead of "he is disturbed by punishments." You have in Amos concerning this day: "Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord, and why is this day of the Lord for you? And this is darkness and not light" Amos 5:18–20 "and gloom where there is no brightness" cf. Job 10:1. Job 15:6 Distress and affliction will seize him. He says, then, that the wicked will fall into these things, establishing through all things that he suffers these things because of sin. Job 15:7 Like a commander, a leader falling. Even if it is not Job who says these things, yet he had some knowledge of the devil, which it is likely he had from the words either of Job or of other ancients. He calls him a leader and commander because he is the originator of evil. He says, then, that thus distress and affliction, spoken of in the preceding, will seize him, he will be like the leader and commander; thus he too will fall, being the originator of evil. Job 15:8 He ran against him in insolence. — It is made clear by his not working it secretly, but against the Lord. And insolence can be both arrogance and all injustice; for it makes those involved worthy of insolence. The one who insults someone speaks words and

These are worthless. But he does not in every way make him worthy of outrage; for neither does praise make a good man nor blame a bad one. In the thickness of the back of his shield. That boldness is in the wicked man, he shows by this: for as though unconquerable he uses his shield, employing its thickness and fleshly practices. So too the false prophets, clothed in sheep's skin, were "inwardly ravening wolves." Concerning the devil it is said in this very book: "Who will uncover the garment of his face, and who would enter into the folds of his breastplate?" For rare is the one who uncovers his wickedness. And just as the actor on the stage, having one mask, shows himself to others as another, so too the devil, "transforming himself into an angel of light," deceives and carries off, and not as a devil; for if he appeared openly, they would flee from him. So too the harlot personified in Proverbs injects her venom with pleasant words. And he would enter into uninhabited houses. These things seem to be said concerning the devil or concerning every evil and opposing power and a soul that partakes of the same wickedness; for the things receptive of the same things are of the same substance. And if anything is said concerning the devil as wicked, as a malefactor, it is possible for this wickedness to be spoken also concerning another evil power. In general, then, we say concerning every evil thing that it enters into uninhabited houses; for where there is a diligent dwelling, the evil one has no place. And we have this to set forth from the Gospel:

When the unclean spirit," he says, "has gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it." And the waterless places in these words are the souls that have been deprived of evil. For in many places the moisture of evil is called water: "So our soul has passed through the water that cannot be withstood." And the devil is "king of all that are in the waters," not of the perceptible waters—for these are God's creations—but of the evil and sinful, who are held fast in that water about which it is said: "Many waters will not be able to quench love," meaning "evil does not hinder love." When, then, the unclean spirit, cast out from the man, seeks another house, seeks where it may lurk, it passes through waterless places, meaning "it does not settle in a soul"—for it finds it deprived of the foul moistures, so that one may speak boldly in this and say: "My soul is like a waterless land"—"and it does not find rest there." The psalmist somewhere says something analogous: "When the wicked one turned aside from me, I did not know it." So "uninhabited houses" are those souls from which every virtue has been separated; when virtue is absent, God is absent, and His Word, and the Holy Spirit; and into them the devil, the opposing power, enters. But what those men prepared, others will carry off. Having spoken about opposing powers in the singular through "and it should enter into uninhabited houses," he continues in the plural:

But what those men prepared, others will carry off." For whatever the wicked prepare for evil, others—being holy—receive, snatching them away from those who hold them through the divine proclamation, which the blessed apostles did when they were sent "to make disciples of all the nations." And note that he did not say "what those men built," but "what those men prepared," and they prepared through wickedness, through pleasures, through the other evils. Neither shall he be enriched, nor shall his possessions remain with him. When the things prepared with zeal are demanded back, how would he still be rich? For he is poor and a stranger to the good things prepared by his own deceit. Similar to this is "The partridge cried out, it gathered what it did not beget; at its end they will abandon it, at its end it will be foolish." He shall not cast a shadow upon the earth. Bodies are the makers of shadows, and it is impossible for a shadow to exist without a body. And so this one too, since he has come to be in some manner, does not remain—I do not say that his substance does not remain, but as he willed to be, he does not remain—therefore he does not

He casts a shadow; "for neither was evil from the beginning," he says, "nor will it exist forever." Nor shall darkness escape at all. And rightly so; for the one who is the cause of evil in others has an inescapable punishment. May the wind wither his shoot. Even if he seemed to sprout in the things in which he deceived and in which he fulfills his evil, yet this shoot is withered by the wind; for it has no root. For evil is not of the essence, but came in from outside, which by the assault of temptation—which is called a wind—is exposed and falls and withers. And may his flower fall off. The flower is the beginning and prelude of fruit, and so this too falls off. For even if the one who partakes of evil boasts, yet a little later he is humbled. And this is often even beneficial, just as the physician often cuts out with the knife the infection that has grown upon the body, and does not even cease applying painful remedies until he fulfills his aim, which is health. Let not the impious man, he says, consider his own affairs secure, since he stumbles against God. For they will turn out empty for him. For all his action is vanity, because it has nothing substantial. His cutting off shall be destroyed before its time. Therefore his flower falls off and his shoot withers, because it does not remain until the time of perfect fruit. Similar to this is "Do not become hardened, lest you die in your untimely season." Some, disturbed by such expressions, introduce fate and say that "we are under time in the things we do." But "before its time" here means "before the bringing to completion," in the sense in which we say that there is a time of vintage or of harvest.

Thus at any rate Job "has come to the grave like ripe grain gathered in due season." And it is a benefit from God that the shoot of evil be destroyed before its time. And his branch shall not be thick with foliage; may it be plucked like an unripe grape before its time, and may it fall like the flower of the olive tree. Its flower is not permitted to come to full fruitfulness. None the less, as has been said before, this too is advantageous and useful—that evil should be [checked] among those who practice it. But the things of the righteous are not so; for the branches of the true vine, remaining in their natural union, sprout and bear fruit. For the death of the ungodly is a testimony. Having gone through what came before, he declares the end of the ungodly to be death. For the completion of evil brings about death—not the common death, but the death of punishment. And fire shall burn the houses of those who take bribes. And in its plain sense it is beneficial, because those who take bribes assuredly endure this on account of their injustices and impieties. For it has been said: "The ruler demands, and the judge has spoken peaceful words; it is the desire of his soul." But how the house of the bribe-taker is burned, one must consider. It has been said: "And I will take away their goods as a moth devours and walks on a rule in the day of visitation." For in the examination of matters there will be repayment according to what has been said: "Go into the eternal fire." And there are times when repayment also comes about in this life against those who take bribes. For since "judgment belongs to God," as many as pervert the judgments of God, these fall under punishment. And in the womb he shall conceive pains. This means that he will be a father of evil offspring, becoming the cause of punishments.

But the divine recompenses are not what man begets; rather, God bestows them: "For the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us." And we do not say this, that the earnest man is not a cause of good things, but that the graces of God and his gifts are provided by him with incomparable excellence; "for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." And that the things of punishment follow upon the wicked, as it were bringing them upon themselves, while God extends his graces to the earnest, it has been said: "Those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me shall be dishonored." For the despising of God brings dishonor upon them. This Paul also writes: "To those who by perseverance in good work seek glory and honor, eternal life" God gives, "but to those who are factious and disobedient to the truth, wrath and fury" follow. But his plans shall come to nothing, and his belly shall bear deceit. For his every action, as has been said before, is filled with vanity, since he conceives pains in the womb. "For he conceived toil and gave birth to iniquity," evidently because his belly bears deceit. And here he calls deceit every wickedness. Deceit is indeed also a form of wickedness, but no less is every wickedness called by this name, according to what has been said: "O full of all deceit and all villainy," and "therefore, putting away all deceit and hypocrisy." And one must understand the belly as that which is disposed together with the wicked or the good. And Job, taking up the discourse, says: I have heard many such things.

All are comforters of evils. By these words he shows that, being with men, he knows much from having heard. And since they bring consolations indiscriminately to those in difficult circumstances, while regarding them as worthless, reasonably—just as the three friends also did—he added, "All are comforters of evils," signifying either that all speak otherwise than they ought through ignorance of what has happened, stirring up rather than diminishing their distresses, or he called the three "all"; for from this number comes the multitude. For what? Is there not an order in the words of the Spirit? – – – Job 16:1 For if I speak, I will not feel the pain of the wound. He wishes to display his genuine disposition, that "I care for your salvation, so that even if I suffer, I employ exhortation." For if others also, suffering and distressed, are content with their own distresses, yet for this man the salvation of friends must be preferred. Job 16:2 But if I also keep silent, how shall I be wounded the less? "If also by silence," he says, "I should wish to endure reproaches, I shall not only fail to carry off the reputation of philosophy, but on the contrary I shall be judged more greatly as a transgressor, since silence is thought to come from consciousness regarding what is said." Job Now he has made me weary, a fool, one rotted according to them; and he says this, asserting that this has happened to him from God; but the matter was not so. For even if God permitted it, at any rate he did not do this as a primary act, but when the adversary had asked for it. And "fool" here means insensible; for he joined to this "rotted.

Job 16:1. And he took hold of me; the phrase "he took hold of me" was used in place of "he laid hold of me." But this became a testimony to me. For in truth the courage of the blessed Job was set forth as heard of by all.