Commentary on Job

The Diabolical Envy and the Human Mind§1

1It is appropriate for anyone who intends to conduct an examination of a certain discourse to take the premises of the discourse into account, in what is now being composed, and especially since the presented book, being most useful, does not have an unapproachable intellect. For within it, the whole discourse concerning the judgments of God is moved by Job, and how nothing of the things happening occurs to men except by the concurrence of God, and other dogmatic theorems—and even in the preceding discourse, things concerning patience and endurance and the attitudes of the indifferent—I say, goods and possessions and many children and good upbringing—to these are added the manifestation of free will and the teaching of various dogmas, as we see God giving them according to each of the matters, into which these things are. If, therefore, the premise is necessary, it is sufficient.

A change in the value of things appears to be a variation, this being of bodies decaying and increasing, and this being of a change occurring through choice. And as many as occur according to the body, they show neither an unseemly underlying substance nor a praiseworthy one. For no one is acceptable either in the decay of the body or in its increase; for these things are outside of what is up to us. But as many as are done by the one acting while the reasoning is moving volitionally, these show him either rejected or praiseworthy. And this follows those who change from wickedness to virtue or from virtue to wickedness.

So it has happened that a rational being became an apostate from God, 'having made a neck bowed before the Lord of all' (Job 29:22). And this is the devil, not having become a devil—for 'God did not make death' (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13)—but perfect and virtuous—for 'God made all things very good' (Gen 1:31)—who, having fallen from the right state and blessedness, envies those turning toward this; for 'through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world' (Wisdom of Solomon 2:24). For he reasons as an outcast toward himself that: it is necessary to obstruct the heavenly...

They are a polity, so that those whom I fell from might ascend. For he thinks the progress of men to be a private accusation, because he himself is the 'Morning Star' of the heavens and a star 'rising at dawn' that shines, but because he was preparing those who would be enlightened by the 'Sun of Righteousness' Mal 4:2, he fell from the heavenly regions. But these, as I see, hasten toward the visible polity, who have more inclination toward wickedness.

For 'carefully the mind of men is set upon evil things' 1 Cor 6:3, which the apostle wishes to demonstrate, saying: 'Shall we judge angels?' 1 Cor 6:3; meaning that we, living the heavenly life upon earth, judge those who do not guard their own order, just as the Ninevites judge the Jews for not having believed in the Savior, themselves having been persuaded by the preaching of Jonah concerning repentance. But also that which is said concerning the Queen of Sheba Matt 12:42 is a demonstration of the same mind; for a woman and a queen, standing far off and intending to travel through foreign districts, having surpassed all these things of Solomon's wisdom, she hastened to be obedient, the Jews having the teacher as a pledge and not wishing to be benefited by him, even though Solomon had more. For he was benefited having been instructed by him, but the Savior was shown to be a wonder-worker capable of persuading the most unbelieving ones by the benefit from the words and signs and wonders; for resurrections of the dead, openings of eyes to the blind, cleansings of lepers, and in general a healing of 'every disease and infirmity' Matt 9:35 was performed by him.

This, then, was the diabolical envy, because men were hastening to lay hold of those things from which he himself fell. Therefore also he does not neglect the influence against the race; for our 'adversary the devil walks like a lion seeking someone to devour' 1 Pet 5:8. In this way also, having cast a calculation of love of silver into Judah, he made him a traitor to the Savior, just as into a household.

The Adversary's Strategy against Abraham§2

2Having entered into his mind as a bird's nest

He did not accept the excuse according to the one saying, 'When the evil one turned from me, I did not know' (Psalm 101:4), which indicates that: many times, when the adversary approached, he did not flee, so as to know him being present through the sinning. For he did not fail to know the adversary being present to the extent that the holy man was warring, but thus he did not know it as receiving an experience of his evil memories. And he placed a final assault, the one of the request, thinking through this very blow that he might turn virtue aside, which also he did against the patriarch Abraham, if he would allow a friend to receive the book of the covenant.

Having attempted many and often against the holy man and having been defeated in all things, since he hoped to turn away Abraham, who was lying near and beloved, he brings forward the request for the child, which God performs by himself to shame the adversary, desiring to say: 'Take your beloved son whom you have loved' (Gen 22:2), through various words, stirring up the father's natural affection, so that he might make his courage manifest, which he maintained, neither bringing the coming thing to the wife nor to the children, so that it might not become an obstacle to the upright man. But also toward the words of the child he did not flee, the child saying: 'Father, behold the fire and the wood; where is the lamb for the offering?' Therefore, believing that even if the child becomes dead, God is able to raise him up, he did not give him according to the command, but he would have slaughtered the only-begotten, if God, having accepted the readiness, had not saved the son for him.

For such a scheming intention belongs to the devil, and we are instructed from the Gospel, the Savior saying to his own disciples: 'Behold, Satan has asked you to sift you like wheat' (Luke 22:31). And the book also has the inscription 'following,' since the whole book contains the history concerning him, without any other being brought alongside. And they add 'following' there, as if some were seeking whose the book might be. And some attribute it to the holy Ezra, and others say even when it is written at the end of the book 'following, following,' as if in the archives, since kings being friends of Job, being pleased with the upright man, they deposited the writing concerning him. Let the lover of beauty seek concerning...

The Fellowship and Purity of Job's Children§3

3The text continues, unless he approves these things. But Job is the fifth from Abraham, as this very thing is said at the end of the book.

There was a certain man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job (Job 1:1). And that man was true, blameless, righteous, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing. And there came to him seven sons and three daughters, and his cattle were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys wandering, and much service, and he had great works upon the earth.

Consequently, the word is about to narrate a virtue surpassing that of the blessed Job, and it remembers the place and the manner of blamelessness and many children and good upbringing and wealth both in flocks and in other things, in order to teach how he did not despise them through over-confidence—for indeed, not possessing them, he did not think highly of them—once all these things were taken away in the trial. And having announced also his pureness of soul, it shows how the devil did not seek a man who was negligent. For it was necessary before the struggle against the opponent to record the greatness of the athlete, to show that, abstaining from every evil thing, he had not been satisfied even unto this, but was also caring for perfection, which is a subversion of those saying that even children and irrational animals abstain from evil things. For this man was both righteous and blameless.

This very thing is also said regarding the first Psalm, where those standing against him are refuted. For they say that 'to be blessed in not walking in the counsel of the ungodly and not sitting in the seat of scoffers' (Psalm 1:1) would also apply to irrational animals and infants. But they are refuted by what is presented; for it is said: 'But his will was in the law of the Lord, and in his law he shall meditate day and night' (Psalm 1:2), which does not apply to infants and irrational animals.

And it is also good that he dwelt in Uz, which is interpreted as 'will'; for the righteous man does nothing without purpose, but his house and city is pure will. 'And that man was noble from the rising of the sun' (Job 1:3). And this is possible regarding the sensible. But if one intended an ascent, it might be said that the righteous man acquires nobility, not from men, but from the light of the 'sun of righteousness' (Malachi 4:2).

"And the sons of him, going along with one another, were making a drink for each day, taking along at the same time also their three sisters to eat and drink with them." The sons of Job, being well-nourished, did not seek social pleasures with others, but among themselves, according to that which is said in the Psalms: "Behold, how good or how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1). They were steadfast in virtue and in sensory things, moving "toward one another" and not away; for their gatherings "in the house of their eldest brother" were not only according to time, but perhaps also according to virtue, as they were being educated for benefit by him. And it is also good to take along one's own sisters, which is a clear sign of temperance and grace.

"And as soon as the days of the drinking were completed, Job would rise and cleanse them, rising in the morning and offering about them sacrifices according to their number, and one calf for the sin concerning their souls." According to the one saying: "From the night my spirit cries out to you, O God" (Isaiah 26:9), and: "My God, to you I cry out in the morning" (Psalm 5:3), and: "In the morning I will present to you and look upon you" (Psalm 5:3), the blessed Job rose in the morning not for some other work, but to present a sacrifice to God on behalf of the children "according to their number," which is to say, individually and in good order; for nothing is poured out in haste. But after this, he also presented the calf on their behalf in his own way, providing for the children's guidance. Thus, after the feasting was completed, he cleansed them, demonstrating both the sensory cleansing and the intellectual cleansings that complete the process.

If the "calf" offered on behalf of all signifies the "Cross" which remained for the sake of the human race as Savior, consider that He is also "fit for eating" in the parable of the Gospel, because of the nourishing nature of the divine teaching. Do not marvel if the calf alludes to the Savior; for Job was not unaware of the coming of the Savior; for concerning Him he said: "he who is about to grasp the great whale" (Job 3:8). For Job said: "perhaps in their mind the sons..."

The Devil's False Presence§4

4"They thought my evils toward God." Great purity is shown in this of the children; for not seeing any perceptible sin of theirs, they offered the sacrifice regarding the intellect, considering that human weakness and softness in youth often have a slip. Therefore also the holy Paul said: "I do not even know within myself, but not in this have I been justified" (1 Corinthians 4:4), and the Psalmist: "From my hidden things cleanse me" (Psalm 19:12). Therefore it must be observed, not that they were struck down by such a death because of sins. "Thus Job did all the days of his life" (Job 1:5).

the steadfastness of the holy one's character is shown here, as never perhaps and never not the virtue in action. This also David says about himself, singing: "I will bless the Lord at all times" (Ps 34:1). "And as this day happened, and behold the angels came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came with them." The form of the word shows the discourse becomes more narrative in its account of the angels' presentation in the phrase "and as this day happened", following our understanding of the time and the appropriate state of the presentation before the Lord of the angels, providing their own ministry and their own labor toward God. While they were standing, the devil also stood by.

Even if he is manifold and many-sided, he does not escape God. It has been said, as he himself also came with the angels, not merely "to stand before" him, but he himself is also known by the eye of God which oversees all things. And let the hypocrisy of the devil also reveal the explicit truth, "transforming" himself "into an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14) and these things hiding from the born creatures, but not being able to escape God, the creator of all things and the one 'through whom all things' were made] and the Holy Spirit;. Just as it is said concerning the Word as "he is a critic of the thoughts and notions of the heart and there is no creature invisible before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes" (Heb 4:13), so also concerning the Spirit: "for the Spirit searches all things" (1 Cor 2:10). And concerning the Father it is said among the apostles: "You, Lord, are the knower of hearts" (Acts 1:24). And appropriately, belonging to divinity alone is that which governs the thoughts...

To see. For if this were even evident to born beings, they would have distanced themselves from the sinners as if not to help them, but to turn away out of fear of the greatness of evils, lest they themselves be endangered while acting as ambassadors for such. But even if he had grasped the devil's intention from certain proofs, rather, since they also 'stood before the Lord' (Job 1:6) when he came, and the devil was with them with hypocrisy, it was expected that they would bring to God the judgment concerning his standing, which indeed happened.

For God himself says the following to him: 'And the Lord said to the devil: From where have you come?' (Job 1:7) He said this to him so that hearing it, we might understand: 'From where have you come?' These angels, our own, being appointed to perform divine service for me, were performing this, standing before me, acting instead of a true standing—for their standing is not local—but you, from where? For you are not my minister. 'From where' then 'have you come?' You would grasp what was said to Adam by God as similar to this: 'Adam, where are you?' (Genesis 3:9). The 'from where have you come?' was a rebuke of the devil's futile movement.

'And the devil answering the Lord said: Having gone around the earth and walking up and down under the heaven, I am present' (Job 1:7). If the devil's intention was to constitute an answer to the question under God, his answer would be seen as being before God. For God, desiring to speak his own will to his born one, implants it in that one's intellect. But the devil, answering the Lord, is said to answer not thus, but as he chooses to answer. And what is his answer, let us see.

'Having gone around,' he says, 'the earth and walking up and down under the heaven, I am present' (Job 1:7). One should not be surprised if, being a subtle spirit, he passed through the aforementioned places. For even God did not rebuke him as a liar. And also the 'having gone around' is good; for he is not encompassing. But he goes around as 'one seeking someone to overthrow,' so that he might drag those who are persuaded by his evil deceptions, and he might seek out those who oppose him, which also happened regarding Job. Therefore, he does not use force, nor does he come upon us by power. For he is appointed to stand against those who are able to resist.

The Rationality of the Devil and Job§5

5"Stand firm in the faith," and: "If a spirit of the one exercising authority rises upon you, do not leave your place."

For it is also said that God provides the power, He who will give "and the outcome of being able to lift up."

It should be noted, however, that the earth and the places under heaven are different places; the earth being under heaven, the places under heaven are not necessarily earth. And the devil, rejoicing in the "spiritual things of wickedness" of the demons, encircled those places. These, he says, having come around, he stays beside, which should be understood thus: having come through all these and finding the blessed Job unable to gain anything from us, he stays beside, which is to say: I wish to show my hidden thing to your unchangeable eye, desiring him to ask it of me.

And the Lord said to him: "Pay attention therefore with your mind concerning my servant Job, for there is no man on the earth blameless, true, God-fearing, turning away from every evil thing."

Thus, the Lord said to the devil in the same way as to those who are stumbling toward error, not withdrawing; if it is what God wills the devil to understand, it enters toward his rebuke most difficultly, because God did not cease reasoning. For it should not be ignored whether the conversation of God toward the devil is just; for nothing is just on the part of the one who has arranged all things, but even this is toward the benefit, so that he may be disgraced by the reproach of the righteous and blameless man.

The Lord has called Job "servant" according to both significations; for his servant was according to what was said by the Psalmist: "I am your servant and the son of your maidservant" (Psalm 116:16), and a son from the service and of the genuine slavery of the Spirit, having been made worthy of grace, and he himself saying according to the wise Paul: "the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). For "he who does righteousness"

"He was born of God." It is also an explicit indication of the devil being rational to say: "Pay attention to your mind" (Job 1:8); for to think is proper to a rational being. Not only is this said about the devil here, but also in: "But you said in your mind: I will ascend to heaven" (Isaiah 14:13), which, as it is said, is a demonstration of him being rational himself.

And if thinking happens through him, it must be sought whether repentance also happens. For after thinking comes thinking and repentance. And just as thinking lies within his will, let it not be that repentance also lies there. But he who does not grant these things, let him not hide, making God the cause of his evil—for if he does not possess reason and mind. And even if he has been led astray by something, he still participates in the nature of those who are thus, in being rational. For even if men are mortal, we say that their participation is not according to mortality, but according to the rational, which exists common to both the immortal and the mortal.

And thinking is not accessible only to the serious or only to the wicked. Just as the use of sensation is common to both the serious and the wicked—where the serious man, planning well, has not used it like the wicked man looking up to heaven and making himself a god—so also thinking: being found in the serious and the wicked, it has been led astray according to its use. "Pay attention, therefore," he says, "to your mind concerning my servant Job, for there is none on earth like him" (Job 1:8). It is not a vain thing to say: "of those on earth." For there are rational things concerning him and on his behalf that happen regarding the earth. For it is not the same to say: "there is none like him" as to say: "there is none on earth like him." For how did he not exceed all those on earth, with the God of all things testifying to him in: "A blameless man, true, God-fearing, turning away from all evil deeds" (Job 1:8)? And he turns away...

The Hand of God and the Nature of Touch§6

6One is said to mainly abstain from wickedness by nature. For praise has its place when one, being able to be base, abstains from wickedness through hatred of it. Not everyone who does not use wickedness is called to abstain from it; for infants, not using such things, no one would say they mainly abstain from wickedness, for the one doing this acts by judgment and word.

But the distinction between wickedness and virtue requires skill. Nor would anyone say a child abstains from intemperance or is prudent, for he has not yet reached the discernment of these things. Having discussed these matters in the previous passages, when we were setting aside the things from the first Psalm, we rebuked Job as being God-fearing according to it. For he is truly God-fearing, one honoring a life of reverence, whereas those honoring things not sacred are found impious.

And to the blessed one is added 'true' according to the theory of truth and the lack of hypocrisy in ethics; for one who seeks virtue through opportunism is not true. 'And the devil answered and said against the Lord' (Job 1:9). It is possible to say, regarding 'against the Lord,' that he spoke against the testimony of God being a lover of evil, or that he thought with audacity; for wickedness is shameless. Thus also, what he brings forth from a lover-of-evil mindset brings forth the deficiencies of the virtue of the righteous.

For what does he say? 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not encircled him and his house and all that he possesses on every side? Have you blessed the work of his hands and made his livestock many on the earth?' (Job 1:9-10). It is characteristic of lovers of evil, who loathe virtue, not to consider the beauties of those nearby as genuine, but to say instead: this one is just through an inability to do wrong, this one is prudent through the so-called foolishness, this one does not have wealth and resources because he is unsuited to them, even while considering the gentle hypocrite as such; and in no way does anyone base accept anyone's virtue as genuine.

The devil, being the leader of wickedness, conceiving such things concerning Job, made these things manifest to the one who knows the hidden, saying that Job is just because of external goods. And 'encircled' (Job 1:10) was said to him instead of security, providing emphasis, as if because of these things he is unassailable and has no vulnerability, the multitude of the un...

Since he is considered to have wealth as the cause of his virtue, he was rebuked for not speaking well. For having these things removed, he remained similarly unblemished. In truth, possessing wealth contributes something to virtue for one who uses it well, but wealth itself contributes nothing to it.

The blessed Job showed unshakeable virtue both in poverty and in wealth. 'But send your hand and touch all that he has; surely he will bless you to your face' (Job 1:11). One may call his hand in two different ways: either the punishing and service-oriented power, which the divine Scripture is accustomed to calling 'vessels of wrath,' or the protective and guarding power, as it is said: 'No one is able to snatch from the hand of my Father.' It is also possible to take the Son into a hand that protects and supports those under it, as it is said: 'The Lord's right hand exalted me; the Lord's right hand made strength' (Psalm 118:16).

And as for 'to touch,' let it not mean here to strike instead of bringing affliction; for we commonly have this expressed in Scripture. For 'do not touch my sheep' does not forbid simple contact, but the audacity against the saints to harm them. And 'he who touches you touches the apple of his eye' (Zechariah 2:8) similarly means one who touches for evil. Even if the one through the devil has become an apostate and 'stiff-necked before the Lord of all' (Job 15:25), yet he still has some reverence toward the Creator of all things.

For he says: 'Surely he will bless you to your face,' instead of cursing or blaspheming, using this expression so that the harshest words might not be brought against God, as is foretold. 'Then the Lord said to the devil: Behold, all that he has I have given into your hand, but do not touch him' (Job 1:12). The words placed here seem to mean not to fall into trials apart from divine permission. For God says: 'Behold, I have given all into your hand.' But so that it may become clear that He also exercises permission with measure, it is added: 'but do not touch him.' Therefore, circumstances occur neither by fate nor of themselves, but by the permission of God, according to what has already been laid out for the demonstration of Job's virtue, and also for another reason, concerning which in the following sections...

Job's Undisturbed Endurance§7

7It will be said: 'And the devil went out from the Lord.' This is spoken more literally concerning the devil, because he becomes one who is outside the Lord, even more so than Cain. For concerning him it was said: 'And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord God' (Gen 4:16). And to go out signifies that he has become invisible to God. Therefore, this one will always be found among those on the outside, even if he came in a feigned manner among the attendants of God.

'And it was as this day; the sons of Job and his daughters were drinking wine in the house of their elder brother' (Job 1:18-19). Consequently, he remembers both the day and the gathering of the children, so that their death might also happen in a continuous way at one time, following the fall of the house, having died. In custom, it is often written that many, as they come together into such assemblies, are thought to be drinking, not only drinking but also eating and talking as if in a banquet. And through allegory, examine the placed texts, lest they were 'drinking wine'—that which 'gladdens the heart of man' (Psalm 104:15)—from the elder brother who was beginning the divine instruction.

'And behold, an angel came to Job and said to him: The pairs of oxen were plowing and the females were donkeys grazing with them. And the raiders having come, they raided them and killed the children with swords. But I alone, having been saved, have come to announce to you' (Job 1:14-15). It is presented through these things how the raids occurred in a single day: 'the pairs of oxen and the donkeys grazing were plowing.' And the messenger who announces is to be welcomed, just as it is written in the Kingdoms. It is worthy to understand how the things of the announcement, having happened continuously, have a weight in the narrative and an overflowing tendency toward grief; for the plowing of the pairs of oxen being raided works a double sorrow, and added to the loss of the animals is the loss of the nomadic donkeys, which did not provide a brief approach, and from the expected destruction of livelihood and property, an addition of excessive misery, and the slaughter of the children by the raiders was also announced along with the others. Sufficient to...

Therefore, even if it were falsely reported, it would have been immediately disturbed. However, despite the harshness of the occurring calamities, the holy man was not at all disturbed.

It has been said in one of the Psalms concerning a holy man: 'From an evil hearing he shall not be afraid. His heart is prepared to hope upon the Lord.' And even as it was said according to the blessed Paul: 'Who shall separate the faithful from the love of God? Neither tribulation nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine or sword' (Romans 8:35), following this, the most manly Job remained inseparable from the love of the Lord, having withstood so many attacks. For anyone might say that, as far as possible, one should despise the irrational and the work coming from them.

But having heard even concerning the slaughter of the children, to have taken this up manfully demonstrates the manliness of the holy man and his patience. It should be observed, lest the one being saved alone, in order to announce, was being saved for greater temptation. For if Job, having endured the occurring things unshakeably even until the stretching out of his own body, was not so unperturbed by the lesser things while the greater pains were present, then the lesser were not so unheeded.

'While he was still speaking this, another angel came and said to Job: Fire fell from the heaven and burned up the sheep, and the shepherds it devoured likewise. And having been saved, I myself came to announce to you.' The successive announcement of the pains demonstrates the excessive and marvelous manliness of the blessed one. For see the observation, how while the one announcing the former things was 'still speaking,' the second one did not come for their healing, but was announcing for an escalation, announcing harder things, as it is customary for the announcement of pains to overturn the reasoning and to hollow out and thus disturb, as if to make one move outside of the proper state, being drawn toward the various sorrows.

But the holy man was not such a one. But as an unbreakable wall, remaining likewise unshaken against the majority of those attacking who were able to see him, so the holy Job, having 'the foundation' upon 'the rock' of salvation, was not moved when the temptations fell upon it. And it is worthy to behold also the things of the second announcement, how it raises up the distress toward an escalation. 'Fire,' he says, 'fell from the heaven and burned up the sheep and the shepherds it devoured likewise.' For even if the holy man...

The Succession of Calamities and the Second Messenger§8

8He accurately understood the doctrines of truth, knowing that the administration of trials did not occur without God, but that what was happening brought him the greatest sorrow because of those being stumbled, as also God was acting against him.

For the simpler people might have reasoned that the ones coming to capture, having taken the livestock and being able to slaughter the children, were doing this not from God, but by the law of enemies coming in disorder and acting out of hatred. When fire was announced as having descended from heaven, there was fear, lest any of the weak should reason that virtue is nothing and that God punishes one possessing it.

But even when this happened, the holy man did not falter, being entirely mindful of God. For even the devil does not have the authority to bring down fire from heaven, but this has happened by divine judgment, so that God, who gave Job the authority, might present him to the devil, to show that the blessed one among men cares for nothing, even if he weaves many schemes.

For indeed God has caused that which is not possible by him to happen, in order to expose the adversary by presenting the greatness of the athlete; Job, bravely enduring, was not facing a small or trivial blow, but the destruction of tens of thousands of sheep, and with the shepherds, it turned out not to be a few.

And the angry one was being guarded again, for which cause we have previously mentioned. 'While he was still speaking this, another angel came and said to Job: The horsemen made three heads for us and encircled the camels and captured them, and they killed the children with the sword. But I alone was escaped and have come to announce it to you.' (Job 1:17).

Perhaps there was a military camp in the land, which fell upon the camels divided into three divisions. For as he says it is well known: 'The horsemen made three heads for us.' It is also possible that a continuous attack of horsemen was occurring then, and was moved by the devilish suggestion, and thus the messenger said it because it was happening out of habit: 'The horsemen made three heads for us.' They did not only take the camels, but also killed the children. Understand, then, how the sequence of trials occurs in a more distressing order. First indeed...

First, five hundred yoke of oxen were taken captive, and five hundred female donkeys were nomads. Then, fire was sent from heaven against seven thousand sheep, making things more severe than the previous suffering. Third, three thousand camels were taken away, and the children were slaughtered just as before; a costly matter and an unbefitting judgment regarding property.

After these things, the death of the children was continuous, as will be made clear in the things to be revealed. For indeed, if previously the death of the children was announced, the things that arrived were astonishing. But when something happened by way of a command, their successive sharpness and the agitation of the mind were more sufficient, which the devil also wickedly did by making a request. And he was despondent, when the holy man's reasoning was broken.

While he was still speaking this, another angel comes, saying to Job: 'While your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking with their elder brother, suddenly a great spirit came from the desert and struck the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon your children and they perished. But I alone was saved and I have come to announce it to you.' (Job 1:18-19).

It is not useless that it says: 'your sons and your daughters eating and drinking,' but it is toward a command of malice, and this chief-evil devil is dealing, so that the announcement of what has happened might become a heavy grief, exceeding the sorrow of the holy man. For if the children had fallen asleep, the one reasoning without being moved by the terrible thing would not have been so distressed. But when he was turning toward a necessary healing of the body, the temptation was brought, and this has a more severe grief.

For it is not doubtful that many were present at such a time, of whom the announcer did not remember, being satisfied with the exceeding loss of the children and following what happened to those present. For such a thing is customary in the Scripture; for when the Savior broke the five loaves, from which he satisfied five thousand men, the evangelist remembers, saying: 'apart from women and children' (Matthew 14:21), mentioning only the preceding numbers. And what also is the 'spirit' that 'came from the'...

Job's Wisdom and the Soul's Departure§9

9Having touched the four corners of the house and having struck it down, one should investigate whether it was an excessive storm that thus battered the house and brought it down, or a spirit serving the devil, or the devil himself. For this is a great, evil spirit, having touched the four corners of the house and having brought it down. For either of these is possible if one seeks it, if the reporter was able to know whether this was a spirit serving the devil or the devil himself.

If the spirit thought it to be a storm, this should be said as being like the descent of fire from heaven against the sheep (Job 1:16), and what is said regarding it and fitting to it. For the devil is not able to move the wind. It also applies as an immediate, emphatic indication that one cannot escape the fall when such a thing happens, perhaps found outside the reporter.

“Thus Job arose, tore his clothes, and shaved the hair of his head, and falling to the ground, he worshiped and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart there. The Lord gave, and the Lord took away; blessed be the name of the Lord’” (Job 1:20-21). The divine spirit and that of the devil forestall the maliciousness of evil men. For perhaps one of such people would say that Job was not fond of children, since he did nothing worthy of sympathy. But his feeling and his manliness are shown together, that he received the terrible horror and grief of the death of the children neither unfeelingly nor ungenerously; for through “tearing the clothes and shaving the head”—for the ancients were accustomed to do this at deaths—he shows sympathy and familial love. And the following things bring forth a sign of manliness and surpassing wisdom in advance.

For if he says, 'and having fallen to the ground' (Job 1:20), he did not despair, nor did he leave an unseemly word to a wise man, but he worships the Originator of all, being persuaded that these things happen not outside of divine judgment, and that they happen from the beginning followingly and according to some correct reason.

For he also brings forth after the worship: 'Naked I came out from my mother's womb, naked and I will depart there. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. As it pleased the Lord, so it happened. Blessed be the name of the Lord' (Job 1:21).' For understand, how after courage and prudence is found in the blessed Job, through which divine teaching introduces doctrines through the words that are profitable to all the race of humans.

'Naked,' he says, 'I came out from my mother's womb, naked and I will depart there.' Concerning which those deliberating on nothing divine regarding the immortality of the soul ought to be questioned. For where will Job depart naked? Perhaps in the womb of the mother? For from there he went out naked according to what is said. But away with this false thought. It is evident that this was said for the instruction of not letting the soul be scattered, as it seemed to some.

For the blessed Paul also writes something similar, saying: 'For we have brought nothing into the world, and we are able to bring nothing out' (1 Timothy 6:7). For just as the bringing out implies the dead person existing, so the one not having brought in is existing and enters from some place bringing nothing of that kind.

And that doctrine, being unknown to many, he introduces saying: 'The Lord gave, the Lord took away' (Job 1:21), presenting after this, that his possession did not happen to be unjust and having taken its beginning from some unbefitting assistance. 'The Lord makes poor and makes rich' (1 Samuel 2:7), not by any irrational whim, as those introducing fate deliberate, but so that it may be known that the one stretched out in these things, whether he carries them appropriately, along with...

Divine Providence and the Integrity of Job§10

10There are other causes, some known to men and some known to God alone as secret, which the blessed one says: 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord' (Job 1:21). The word 'it seemed good' must be heard not simply, but as if the God Himself were judging it so firmly.

Something similar is brought forward in the Acts of the Apostles, as the apostles were writing a letter regarding not circumcising those coming to the godliness, saying: 'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us' (Acts 15:28), not simply, but as a settled decision. It might also be that the word reveals this thing to the opponent, that Job was not handed over because he gave in to the provocation of the devil, but so that glory might be produced for the Lord. And this was what God Himself said to Job: 'I have used you in a different way, so that you might be revealed as righteous' (Job 40:8), and that virtue stands not by means of money nor by means of children.

It is also wonderful that he says such a thing of thanksgiving: 'May the name of the Lord be blessed' (Job 1:21), which is a rebuke against those who complain about such accidents and bring such things forward, which is not even good to say. But the holy one is not such an unwise person, being unbending in his reasoning even when such things happen, becoming a herald of true dogmas and divine things.

The phrase 'So Job tore his garments' (Job 1:20) is to be taken typologically. It might be possible to say that for this reason he stripped himself, first showing to the one testing him that, if you desire even the remaining things, you have these also; then showing symbolically that just as a combatant departs from an opponent. And the removal of the hairs might be a symbol of considering all excess to be nothing great, but being well-disposed toward the just and wise man, neither being debased in 'reliefs' nor being distressed in 'tribulations,' which the blessed David also sang in presenting: 'I will bless the Lord at all times' (Psalm 34:1).

'In all these things that happened to him, Job did not sin against the Lord, nor did he give unreasonableness to God' (Job 1:22). A great testimony is given by the Holy Spirit to the blessed Job in saying: 'In all these things Job did not sin against the Lord' (Job 1:22). For it is often the case that one does not sin openly, but happens in...

What kind of thoughts cause disturbance, as it is said: 'I was disturbed and I did not speak' (Psalm 77:4). But the presence of 'before' indicates that no stumble occurred, for he was being watched by God. For 'no one sinned thus' is not the same as 'no one sinned against the Lord,' which shows a purity surpassing even in word, deed, or thought of the holy man who stumbled.

To this end, God used to call those repenting: 'Remove the wickedness from your souls before my eyes' (Isaiah 1:16), which implies that we must not only refrain from deed, but also from the thought of evil, as seeing God. The Savior also says in the Gospel: 'But when you give alms, do not blow a trumpet as the hypocrites do' (Matt 6:2). And also: 'He who sees in secret will repay you' (Matt 6:4). Just as he who gives alms in this way does not hear the praise of the many, so he who does not sin against the Lord is free from all evil.

It is also good to say: 'And he did not give foolishness to God.' For he who is convinced that what happens is managed by divine providence does not attribute foolishness to the God who governs, unlike the unbelieving who often blame God and say: 'This ought not to have happened, or that; this one ought not to have suffered poverty or to be rich or to be sick or to be healthy,' or: 'Why did the young man depart from the life of the elders while they were still in it?'. In short, those saying such things assume the governance is foolish.

But the holy man, even in such circumstances, blesses the Lord, being convinced that the judgment of God is just. 'And it happened as this day, and the angels of the Lord came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came among them. And the Lord said to the devil: From where do you come? Then the devil said before the Lord: Having gone through the earth and walking throughout it' (Job 1:6-7). Having received from God the authority for an initial approach, the devil destroyed all that Job possessed, both his belongings and his children, but he was not able to overturn the resolve and the courage of the holy Job. For he remained through greatness of soul, the same man, according to godliness. And rightly so, for it was being divided: that God sends pleasant things and they are taken away. He attempts a second petition to move against his body.

The Meaning of Akakia and the Devil's Vain Attempt§11

11He strives to subject him to unendurable labors. Regarding these same verses, for those who have reached them, what was said to them should be applied to these, so that the same things are not said many times, only adding this: that the diabolical nature is shown to exceed all. It should be said regarding the question, 'Where do you come from?' that the most convicting thing was said by the Lord to the devil, as he had nothing to say of his own with boldness as an achievement, and something shaming: that he had been defeated, which he himself shamefully did not admit.

It should be noted how the devil does not answer in this way now. For then he said, 'Having gone around the earth and walking through under the heaven, I have returned' (Job 1:7), but now, 'Having gone through the heaven and walking through the whole world.' And he visited, lest as a liar he would not wish to remember that 'he went around the earth,' so that, not even attacking the beginning of Job, he might be seen as acting out of shamelessness. For he knows that nothing is hidden from God. For he also did not say, 'Of those things which you gave me authority over, I have done; I have taken away the existing things of Job and the children they took away.' For it would have been consistent to say this, and, 'The same remained.' But he moves toward a second petition, from which he thinks he will overturn the purpose of the holy man.

And even if the devil hides his own will in having said 'the whole world' instead of 'the earth,' let us show from the Scriptures how the earth is often called the whole world. For it has been said, 'The whole world was filled with the knowledge of the Lord' (Isa 11:9). And Job himself in the following says concerning God, 'He who makes the whole world in the highest' (Job 37:7), indicating that God draws a man from the earth through virtue toward heaven. 'And the Lord said to the devil: Pay attention to my servant Job, for there is no man on the earth like him, righteous, God-fearing, blameless, avoiding all evil; and he still holds to innocence' (Job 1:8). And now, 'Pay attention with your mind' (Job 2:3), as was said before, has permission to be used, because after the struggle he was strengthened. For the devil, thinking that Job rejoices in external things as if they were good, was saying, 'Did you not surround the inside and the outside of his house?' But when his attack became in vain, the 'pay attention' is said instead of: 'You have known through the trial' the courage of the 'God-fearing, blameless, innocent, [and...]'

While being kept from all evil. And to these things the Lord brings an accusation: 'yet akakia remains.' Pay attention, then, that He will not 'bless me personally,' as you thought. It should be noted how it is said in the Septuagint: 'abstaining from every evil thing' (Job 1:8), but now: 'from all evil' (Job 2:3). From this it is known that 'evil' is used for 'poneros.' Also what is written: 'those who love the Lord, hate evil' (Psalm 97:10), instead of 'hate wickedness.'

Akakia signifies different things; for it denotes both the absence of wickedness and goodness of character. When the saint says, 'God judge me, for in my akakia I have walked,' he means akakia as virtue; for one possessing virtue is devoid of wickedness. And in others: 'the guileless and good-natured clung to me,' he speaks of the diverse akakoi—for these are good-natured—and being good-natured is a recognition of virtue. But when it says: 'they deceive the hearts of the akakoi,' and: 'the akakos believes every word,' and again: 'that I might give guile to the akakoi,' it means the pure and unblemished. To whom he also prays that guile might be given, not the guile equal in power to wickedness, but prudence.

Job therefore 'still had akakia' with all words being made upright. 'But you have said that you will destroy his possessions for nothing.' The Lord exposes the vain work of the devil against the saints. For he who acts without cause labors in vain. So even if the devil, hoping to seize the saint, attempted through the destruction of possessions and children—and having recognized the attempt was futile against the saint's courage regarding his possessions—he fought him in vain; for nothing of what he hoped for happened.

'But the devil, having taken up the challenge, said to the Lord: skin for skin. Whatever a man has, he will lay out for his soul. Not indeed, but stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh; he will not indeed bless you personally' (Job 2:4-5; 2:4-5). Considering the three kinds of so-called goods—those external, which are divided into wealth, property, health, and other bodily things, and others which are virtues—he thinks only the undifferentiated goods are such, and he thinks Job has this same mindset, and he shamelessly says to the Lord—that is to say, speaking according to what we understand has been said before—that a man would lay out everything so that he might not suffer something himself.

The Devil's Assault and Job's Desolation§12

12the external possession

Regarding the angels, the pattern follows. Of the history, it is this: 'The devil went out from the Lord' (Job 2:7). Having gone out, he does not wait, but immediately performs the work of the temptation, surrounding him with a total-body wound, intending by the blow to dissolve the tone of his virtue. By mentioning the extremes, he shows that he also touched the middle parts.

'And he took a potsherd, that he might scrape the sores' (Job 2:8). The verse signifies the wilderness and his helplessness, because no one was present with him while he was nursing, but also because the wife was absent due to her haste toward work, from which both she and he were perhaps being nourished; for in the following, the woman saying to him, 'And I, a wanderer and a vagabond, receiving place from place and house from house, when will the sun set?' signifies the wilderness. To such an extent was his body dissolved, so as to be reduced to sores. Therefore, with the potsherd, he scraped himself while being sick in soul and unbending.

'And he sat on the ashes outside the city' (Job 2:8). It is probable that in those cities they did not permit one having such a body to live. Therefore, outside the city on the ashes he sat, and he perceives the continuous change, from what prosperity and enjoyment he has changed into what kind of wickedness under the tempter, so as to be a stranger and to sit on the ashes, without a household being with him, nor even a friend or even the wife herself, as was previously stated; for she does not seem to be acting toward him without distinction, as we have placed it.

'And after a long time having passed, his wife said to him: How long will you endure saying this?' (Job 2:9). 'Behold, I wait for a little more time, expecting the hope of my salvation. For behold, your memorial is being blotted out from the earth, sons and daughters, whom I labored for in vain with pains in childbirth. But you yourself sit in the rot of worms, staying awake through the night. And I, a wanderer and a vagabond, receiving place from place and house from house, when will the sun set, so that I may rest from the labors and the pains that now seize me? But say one word to the Lord and end.' The devil, having become weary from so many blows and being unable to cast him down from the loss of his property and of the...

The Blasphemer's Fate and Job's Endurance§13

13Children of corruption, besides the immoderate affliction of the body, a third thing he devises for him: the conversation of the wife; perhaps through her he might have deceived Job, just as through Eve he might have deceived Adam. For having passed a long time, such that even he is not able to shake the athlete, the woman brings forward the matter of brevity, perhaps remembering the suffering, to rid him of it, if he should speak a word to the Lord irrationally.

And to see in each word how he is called toward brevity: 'How long will you endure?' (Job 2:9),—submitting to brevity a provision for a great time of his sickness, and then after that: 'Saying: Behold, I wait a little more time, awaiting the hope of my salvation' (Job 2:9)—in a certain way he turns his expectation toward the impossible. For perhaps many times, he having preferred the things of the good hope while she was departing from him, stopped the brevity, which not seeing, having a weak thought, she considered him falsely hoping for brevity. For an irrational soul loves to always consider expectations as uncertain.

But as the repayment she thought was near, the total hopelessness, he says: 'Behold, your memorial has vanished from the earth' (Job 2:9). No son or daughter is left to you to guard the memory of the succession, she says only that: even if they should be healthy, the enjoyment of health is without children, they being or being destroyed. And these things indeed if only were present, patience would have had a reason, he says, but toward these things also you yourself 'sit in the rot of worms' (Job 2:9), and I from poverty remain 'from place to place' (Job 2:9).

Through all these words, having sent the arrow of brevity from herself, she brings the end of the most trivial conversation, saying: 'Speak a word to the Lord and end.' To which someone might say: how could the woman have this thought, that if he should speak a word to the Lord, he would end? To which someone will speak differently, either having submitted this to her as an opponent, so that the haste...

May he be satisfied with the word: 'Surely I will bless you to your face' (Job 1:11), or perhaps in those cities the one blaspheming against the Lord died by a ruler or the citizens. For perhaps he knew no one, both the blasphemer and the living. For perhaps this happened then, lest the wickedness be poured out. Perhaps he reckoned that even God would not allow him to live after speaking blasphemous words.

And it also appears through: 'Behold, I will make your remembrance depart from the earth', as if: you shall have no hope of ever coming to it for the enjoyment of good things, which he alone considered to be good, being irrational concerning the good according to truth. And being ignorant, he spoke a word otherwise true; for the remembrance of those who despised the heavenly human life is not earthly. For the Scripture confirms this, the Psalmist says: 'The face of the Lord upon those doing evil, to destroy from the earth the remembrance of them' (Psalm 34:16). For when some have sinned and are saying 'God is not in the heart' (Psalm 14:1), God brings hardship upon them, so that after they have been benefited, their remembrance may be destroyed from the earth and 'they may be written in heaven' (Luke 10:20), having been transformed into virtue.

And the things concerning the children, as the woman said, reckoning their salvation alone to be the hope, she claims to have borne them in vain. And she also brings before him her own suffering. 'But he looked and said to her: You have spoken like one of the foolish women. If we accepted the good from the hand of the Lord, shall we not then accept the evil?' His patience of soul is shown in this, in not remaining under such pains and the word brought forward unsuitably by the woman, but also saying: 'You have spoken like one of the foolish women.' And looking intently, he has said this, understanding from her reproaches, the holy man that she had brought these things forward by a diabolical suggestion, and being wise, he knew that the first woman having been struck by the devil's suggestion had become the cause of Adam's transgression.

The Friends' Sympathy and Arrival§14

14Because of this, He says: 'Just as one of the foolish women you spoke.' Then, having placed a reasoning before her that is appropriate, He brings it: 'If we received the good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the bad?' For the same understanding is toward the pleasant things of the indifferent, not to be overcome, and toward the burdensome, not to be cast down.

For he who is expert regarding things knows that the things called good are not such by their own nature, but follow the opinion of the user; just as also the bad—the harmful, I say—are not bad in themselves, but the use occurring in them is what they are. For many, after wealth, both the foolish and the excellent appeared, like Abraham and those like him, and Pharaoh and those near him. When much affliction came again, some yielded, but some remained steadfast in their reasoning, of whom are the blessed Job and Lazarus, as having received these things from a physician, through incisions and cauterizations, for the sake of salvation.

"In all these things that happened to him, Job did not sin with his lips against the Lord" (Job 2:10). This is said a second time; first, when the first affliction came, and second, now. And then it was said: "In all these things that happened to him, Job did not sin against the Lord" (Job 2:10), but now: "In all these things that happened to him, Job did not sin with his lips against the Lord" (Job 2:10).

Some indeed think there is no difference between saying "not to have sinned with the lips" and "not to have sinned before the Lord," but others perceive them thus: that regarding the removal of what was present and the death of the children, it was said once, "Job did not sin against the Lord," neither in word nor in thought; but here, the "with the lips" lies as an addition, saying, as perhaps some slight variation occurred—for this is lesser—but rather the movement of human weakness, being compelled by the great pain of the whole body.

The written spirit therefore says, in order to show the endurance of the pain and his courage, that even though his courage was being compelled even to an inaudible thought, he was not shaken so as to do anything from faint-heartedness or smallness of mind, or to speak. Something like this also the author...

Job says, 'I was greatly disturbed and did not speak,' indicating that something had happened to him that caused such a disturbance that, even having stilled the movement of his mind, he did not speak. This is in accord with what Paul writes to the Corinthians: 'I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the affliction that has happened to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, beyond strength, so that we despaired even of life. But we have received in ourselves the sentence of death, so that we might not be trusting in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead' (2 Cor 1:8).

When his three friends heard of all the evils that had come upon him, each one came to him from his own country: Eliphaz the Temanite king, Bildad the Shuhite tyrant, and Zophar the Naamathite king (Job 2:11-13). It is most surprising if these things happen to men of great reputation. Therefore, since Job was among the most glorious because of wealth and virtue, the friends, having heard of the severity of the things that had happened, came not from one place, but each from his own country, moved by sympathy, and since these were kings, they did not overstep the man undergoing such a change.

As for 'tyrant,' he says either as a parallel to king—since the name was not well known in that time—or to denote a difference in rank from a king. This is also in Proverbs: 'Through me kings reign, and tyrants decree justice' (Prov 8:15). And these who came to him were led by no other cause. The statement is useful for sympathy, so that we might not, because of the changes that fall upon us, abandon the things of love and brotherly affection.

'And they came to him unanimously to comfort and visit him' (Job 42:11). They had come to do both, since it happened that they suffered both; for he was deprived of property and children, and his whole body was held by the wound. They came to him 'unanimously,' either with much readiness or because, having their houses plundered, they had agreed together to come to him for the purpose of comforting; for the evils had not ceased but were already active. 'And seeing him from afar, they did not recognize him, and having cried out with a loud voice, they wept, each one casting down his...'

Job's Fortitude and the Sympathy of His Friends§15

15Their own clothing and having covered themselves with dust. They sat with him seven days and seven nights (Job 2:13). In this, two things are taught by what has been set forth: the courage of the blessed one—while others were discouraged due to the immeasurable nature of what had happened to him—and the sympathy of the friends, who not only arrived, but having seen, did not recognize him because of his sickness, which had also altered his facial features; and having cried out with a great voice, they wept, each tearing his own clothing and scattering dust, which altogether, as it is said, demonstrates both the courage of the holy one and the sympathy of these.

For he remained unbending, which anyone would have marveled at, and through these, Job, not being provoked to anger for a short time because of the suffering overwhelming the others, which is what usually happens to men. And it is sympathetic that they should participate with him seven days and seven nights. Therefore, one should not be stingy with patience toward the weak and helpless ones who are being led by such things.

"And none of them spoke. For they saw that the wound was terrible and exceedingly great" (Job 2:13). Those who had come for consolation were silenced by the magnitude of what had happened. And it is fitting that they previously used sympathy; for he especially loves to endure in those being comforted. For there was nothing useful to them even for healing, the suffering exceeding the help of medical treatment. And it is likely that, having a certain opinion of him as a wise man, they chose a respectful silence, not daring to bring forward a word before him.

"After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day, saying:" (Job 3:1). The wise man is not a babbler, nor does he bring forth by his tongue what is not possible to become. He curses not the day, which is a chronological interval, but the things happening in it. For by custom, in the Scripture, the things happening are called the day. This the Psalmist teaches, saying: "In a evil day the Lord will deliver him" (Psalm 41:1), not calling the evil day a chronological interval, but the evil things happening in them; and what is said by Paul: "for the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16), refers to the mind. Thus, one might say the day is good for some because of what happens, and bad for others. For to the peoples of Israel, unexpectedly...

those who love literalism

The Darkness of Evil's Path§16

16Having come to pass—and what is established is that which is about to be made, and not everything is manifest under the sun—he who speaks and says, 'Behold, this is new, yet it has already happened in the ages before us.'

But the testimony of both through personal evil and through the benefit of others for life, to be joined to the bodies, is heard by Jeremiah: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the mother I appointed you a prophet to the nations' (Jeremiah 1:5); and Jacob and Esau, concerning whom God says: 'I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau' (Romans 9:13), even while they were in the womb; and John in his mother's womb 'leaping and rejoicing' (Luke 1:44).

For these things do not show the souls to be contemporary with the bodies; for he who rejoices in the mother's womb, partaking of the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and one being hated before being born and another being loved, these things do not happen without cause.

Furthermore, it is not only through one's own faults, but also to be joined to the body through the benefit of others, and it is more laborious; for just as it is not fitting to praise the cause of the war because of those conquering in war, which is a pretext causing grief to many, so it is not fitting to praise those succeeding, but rather to be convinced that even among themselves some, having been tested, have reached ultimate evil, and they have become causes of labors because of the benefit of others.

Therefore, the evils happening for this cause, Job says they are a painful and worthy-of-curse day: 'Let the day perish in which I was born' (Job 3:3). And he says this on behalf of all the race.

For the saint knew that much trouble was happening to those seeing what happened to him, knowing that he suffers unworthily, raising the word to every cause, saying only: 'If not because of the fall of many, a character of manliness was not needed.' Just as the affectionate physician will appropriately curse the disorder after having fallen from many's lawlessness, so the blessed one, healing, because these things do not happen arbitrarily, but according to a certain rhythm and a following intended so that the fallen might be benefited, curses the day of the fall of men, sharing the word.

He expresses himself more narratively with words, so that the form of the discourse might be evident. He says, therefore, that the cause might cease and no longer exist, she who worked the entrance to life.

Furthermore, since childbirth also happens in the night, he also takes the name of the night: 'may that night be darkness,' so that it might be said: that those walking might no longer find the way of the generation of evil, being hindered, just as one says concerning those falling into disorder: that the way of the lawless might no longer be prosperous. 'And let the Lord not seek her from above.' For it was proper for the holy man to pray that virtue might drive the rational things forward and that they might no longer suffer a turning toward a worse state—not the same one—according to those being brought in by reincarnation. 'Nor should light come into it.' The impulse toward the worse might be prevented for the speechless ones who remain, so that according to what has been said, 'the light of the ungodly shall be extinguished' (Job 18:5). 'And let darkness and the shadow of death take her,' so that this concept might darken those drifting into evil errors, hindering their impulse toward the evil by making them think that the attempt is deadly. Similar to this is what is said by the prophet: 'I will build up its paths with stumbling blocks, and its path shall not be found' (Hosea 2:6). For evil is greatly hindered both by fear and by ignorance. For someone will come to hold a hateful attitude toward it. 'Let a gloom fall upon it, let that day and night be cursed, and let darkness carry it away.' These things are not to be considered curses, but prayers for the cessation of the occurrence of evils. For according to what has been previously explained, it is right to pray that the cause of the fall and the way of this be unknown, 'so that there may not be prosperity in an evil man.' For the desire for virtue works to make the path toward evil more unknown, while it, being rebuked, brings about a complete forgetfulness of its activity; for this would be 'to carry it away into darkness.' It itself—I say evil itself—is also worthy of a curse, preparing those who act for the things worthy of a curse. 'Let it not be in the days of the year, nor be numbered in the days of the months, but let that night be pain.' In number and in memory, the holy man does not want the day of the fall to become painful because of...

The Economy of God and the Defeat of the Devil§17

17Because of that dark cause and the night, which is called excessive and dim, so that some correction might arise from repentance... he prays that the one who has come into repentance be made as if enclosed in that year, about which the Psalmist says: 'He will bless the crown of the year with your goodness' (Ps 65:11), and to sing, progressing: 'You will teach me in your counsel in your power' (Psalm 73:24). 'And let neither joy nor gladness come upon it.'

Being a fellow-laborer, the saint prays that no one should fall and be delighted or find pleasure in this. For often, seeing someone hastening toward evil deeds, we pray, saying: 'May he not happen to be the one striving.' With this same mind, the saint, while praying, sings, not cursing: 'Let the deceitful lips that speak lawlessness against the righteous with pride be made silent, and let them be brought to nothing' (Psalm 31:18). And for the deceitful lips to become silent, what would it be other than to cease speaking unjustly, once the speaker recognizes how improper such a thing is?

And he, therefore, prays that no one might be so perverted as to think that it is a matter of indifference or a source of joy to fall into the state that leads to human weakness. The Savior himself says: 'It would have been good for him if that man had not been born' (Matt 26:24), and in Ecclesiastes it is shown: 'Better is the one than these two, who has not yet become' (Eccl 4:3). But for the one not yet born, since the birth is clearly shown to be a good thing if it happens, it does not happen without foundation. 'But he will curse it, the one who curses that day, he who is about to grasp the great worm' (Job 3:8).

This is the prayer for the loosening of the cause of what happens, being evils for those who have come upon the path of birth through themselves, and pains for those through others. He prays, therefore, that the fall might be a curse worthy of the actual cause of the human accident, so that those being born in it, recognizing that it is full of curses, might flee from it as...

It is not a different energy of the conquering God, but according to the economy, to join with the one who conquers. For he did not say, 'but the conqueror will destroy that day' and add 'the creator' or 'the teacher'—nor does he follow with these, but 'he who is about to seize the great sea monster'.

Since the devil has been called the cause of the fall of men, he brings a prayer for this, in order that it might be loosed, following the prophecy, as 'the devil, who has the power of death, shall be destroyed' (Hebrews 2:14); for this was foretold to the purity of the soul moved by the Holy Spirit, as also authority will be given to the saints 'to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy' (Luke 10:19), so that others, rising up from these, might be delivered from the clinging sin as they hear of progressing in virtue: 'he shall tread upon the shield and the basilisk and shall trample the lion and the dragon' (Psalm 91:13), who is the devil. For it is said concerning him: 'our adversary the devil, as a lion, walks seeking someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8), and again: 'having crushed the heads of the dragon' (Psalm 74:13).

And well is 'he who is about to' said, signifying that according to the incarnation. For it was not fitting to destroy the devil by naked divinity, but through this temple of the Word having come to be, who was born from the seed of the one deceived and harmed by the devil. For it was a boast for him to have existed having seized him by naked divinity.

But the various names of the devil signify his various energies, not his essence. For devil, and adversary, and evil, and lion, and dragon, and serpent, and sea monster, are called because of the manner of his evil working in different ways, which is a subversion of the Manichaean dogma. 'Let the stars of that night be darkened and not remain, and not come into light, and not see the Morning Star rising' (Job 3:9). The things having happened on the fourth day...

The Divine Economy and the Suffering of the Just§18

18contrary to his courage

What is, is the absolute good to exist. For it is blessed to be outside of this life. To those who know, Jesus says: 'You are no longer of this world, but I have chosen you' (John 15:19). Therefore, it is better not to have even begun the path of such a way, even if it happens through divine economy. For it is good if no one in health needs a physician. Thus, not being in the same state follows, which also follows as something laborious and unpleasant, as it brings about: 'For he would have removed toil from my eyes' (Job 3:10). This indicates not only the one suffering and the toil surrounding him, but also that he saw many being led astray; for the eye of the righteous is weighed down by works being performed by the wicked. And the toil that encroaches upon life is not small. In injustice, all these things exist... [The text is damaged here.]... which would not happen if evil were not being done.

But even Habakkuk allows such a voice, saying: 'Why have you shown me troubles and pains, to make me see violence and unrighteousness?' (Habakkuk 1:2-3). 'Why did I not end in the womb, come out from the stomach and not immediately perish? Why did my knees meet, why did I suck breasts?' He avoids the economy intended for the benefit of others, as it seems, according to Jonah, to demand the teaching of God's judgments, which is a private matter of the righteous, not being completely ignorant, but so that others may learn this kind of speech being personified. For Jeremiah approaches thus: 'You are righteous, Lord, but I will speak judgments to you' (Jeremiah 12:1), which is indicative of knowing, concerning which he asks: 'Why does the way of the ungodly prosper?' (Jeremiah 12:1).

The judgment of God in reality receives much variety: the unrighteous being prospered, and the righteous being distressed and partaking of filth, as Jeremiah himself, being holy and having been sanctified from the womb, suffered so many things as to be cast into a pit of mire. But also Lazarus and the rich man—the one suffering evil, the other living with much ease—bring forth the precision of God's secret judgments (Luke 16:19-31). And this 'prospering' is called so as toward the glory of the many. Therefore, the saint is not vain-speaking, but asks so that it brings about the others learning such things. This also exists in what is said in one of the Psalms: 'How good to the...'

The Spiritual Warfare and the Choice of Company§19

19God is with the upright in heart. As for me, my feet were shaken a little, and my steps were poured out a little, because I sought peace among the lawless, seeing sinners (Psalm 73:2). For it does not waver, it is clear; for he says, 'How good God is to Israel' (Psalm 73:1). He thinks these things as being understood by those having a straight heart.

He posits himself as being shaken while being firm, and receiving the countenance of those being displeased, so that after the words of doubt, the words of teaching might be brought forward. And Job, indeed, inquiring of God, wants to learn—for this he brings forward the countenance—the cause of such a struggle. For indeed, regarding the cause of the way in the body, he says as if receiving it: for indeed... having fallen into so much evil, as if they had sought the fellowship of the body and the helpers of the providential economy, so as to say the things set forth.

'Why then did I not finish in the womb?' (Job 3:11). For the saints, in reverence, entreat that they not grasp the benefit of the weaker ones. Because of this, he also says the following: 'And from the stomach I came out and was not immediately lost' (Job 3:11); likewise also: 'Why did my knees meet me? Why did I suck breasts?' (Job 3:12). For the holy one willed that disease should not happen to the rational ones, so that the pure might not come through them in a medicinal way.

And also good is: 'Why did my knees meet me?', which indicates a journey. For with others, because of their own faults, life followed here, but with the saints, they met not as those responsible, but as those executing an economy. 'Now, having slept, I have rested, but having awoken, I have not ceased with kings and counselors of the earth' (Job 3:13, 29:25).

For if, he says, such a sequence and order had not occurred as that which led me to this state through those needing treatment—that is, if I had happened to finish in the womb, not coming out from the stomach and being immediately cut off, and not having met knees nor sucked breasts—it would be, if not through the providential economy administered through us, 'now having slept, I have rested', which is: having ceased my course in that life of the divine and heavenly rational ones. The kings and counselors tyrannize the earth of the gentle, concerning whom it has been said: 'Blessed are the gentle, for...'

"They shall inherit the earth" (Psalm 37:11), taking for ourselves kings in high positions and counselors of a lower rank, over whom the kings rule. Such an analogy is contained in the parable in the Gospels: "become more than ten cities or five." "who were proud upon swords." The saint, not being a lover of war, did not want to have his social intercourse with such kings readily available, who, being ready to fight, consider such social intercourses to be good; but knowing "that our struggle is not against blood and flesh" (Ephesians 6:12) according to the apostle, "but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness," against whom those living well fight, having armed themselves with the salvation "panoply," he wanted to have his social intercourse without being provoked by human generation. But one of those peaceful ones was the one seen by Jesus, son of Nun, as a commander of the Lord, to whom he said: "Are you of ours or of the adversaries?".

Being discerning, the saint knows and does not readily recognize that even the adversary often "is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). These, however, are also men, not preferring arrogance, but rejoicing in the victory over the adversaries and "rejoicing in God" (2 Corinthians 6:10). "Or with rulers, of whom there is much gold, who filled their houses with silver" (Job 3:15). Having the same mind and what has now been set forth, let us receive it familiarly with the person of the saint. For not being a lover of silver or a flatterer, it did not seem right for him to spend time with the rich, he who bravely brought about the loss of all possessions and wealth and did not accept riches, being without following friends and having a free intention and an unshakable word; how would he want to have his social intercourse with such rulers and kings, who happened to be adorned with wealth? To some, appearing as a good wealth, the wonderful Paul writes: "You have already become rich; you have reigned without us; and would that you had reigned, so that we might also reign with you" (1 Corinthians 4:8). For they have possessed much gold, which indicates a pure mind, pure ones, approaching clearly with the light of knowledge. These themselves also, by the analogy of nature, not by the spoken word...

The Meaning of Eternity and the Eternal Servant§20

20By the word, they filled their own houses, having their own minds adorned by participation in the word of surpassing purity, not possessing any such state which has become Job's for the sake of the divine economy; for because of conversation and interaction with men, such a mind does not have its likeness unblemished, which would have been wiped away if not for sin, but something else happened for the benefit of others. 'Either as a fetus proceeding from a mother's womb, or as infants, who did not see light.'

To the words 'and I suckled breasts,' this is given through the middle of the verses spoken from 'now having slept I am at rest' until 'who filled their houses with silver.' Apply the same reasoning to what was said before; for just as it happened to come into existence involuntarily, so it happened for him to be in the state of a fetus, so that he might not participate in more of this kind of distraction and friction according to generation, or even if he had become an infant, to turn back again, so that he might not be born in the state of age after the infantile state.

For in truth, such a thing would not be outside of perplexity and seeking, regarding those not reaching unto life, and those dying immediately after birth, which the philosopher will investigate not as if these things happen by chance, but as being the just and good of God, the God of all things, governing all things by word and order and measure and weight. The saint himself knows the judgment and does not say this without anxiety, but praises the better state and being persuaded that this is to be preferred. 'There the impious burned a fire of wrath, there the wicked rested from the body, but the eternal ones were of one mind.'

The whole verse of divine thought tested by Job is a teaching on the difference of human generation. For having understood regarding it being better for him not to approach the human way or to be born, or having been born to be immediately freed from this, he proceeds and teaches a certain cause, as if this thing was being studied not a little by the opposing powers. Since the word showed how the souls encountered various errors of generation, and the devil and those with him are lovers of sin...

Just as it stirs those given to it into wickedness, this very thing interprets by saying, 'There the ungodly burned up a fury of wrath' (Job 3:17). By saying 'there,' he refers to the other world from this one, as in: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I will depart there' (Job 1:21).

However, even if such a thing is a mere paper against evil powers, God forewarns through His economy and has given laws to each to prevent sinning, so that while passing through this life, one might think heavenly things and desire a similar life there, so that having worn out the body, one might have a rest as one who has become a combatant against the habit of wickedness. For this is what is meant by: 'There the combatants rested from the body' (Job 3:17).

For the saints, having been pleased, through many tribulations on earth—of which they become combatants in body and not in mind—have a rest with the angels, having attained it eternally. And if those are eternal, and their rest is communal, it is evident that the souls too are eternal; for they are immortal and, having despised the temporal, possess the eternal.

It should be noted that 'eternal' is spoken of in several ways; it also signifies the without-beginning and the without-end, as in: 'God is eternal.' For God is called eternal because His existence has neither beginning nor end. And something else is eternal, as it is said: 'The things not seen are eternal' (2 Corinthians 4:18). For these are not eternal as God is, but because they remain always without falling away. And differently is the eternal, when it is measured against the present, as it is said: 'The sons of this age are wiser in their own generation' (Luke 16:8). And the time extending the life of a man is also called an age.

Regarding the Hebrew who was unwilling to be set free in the seventh year, it is said: 'He shall be a servant for an age' (Ex 21:6). For no human being remains a servant at all through death. According to this, Paul also writes: 'If meat makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat for an age' (1 Corinthians 8:13), instead of 'through life.' 'They did not hear the voice of a tax-collector.' For this age is filled with tribute, in which one has come here for the sake of the economy. For there are many who, having come under the yoke of sin, pay taxes and dues to the adversary...

The Heat of Sin and the Shade of Virtue§21

21They provide. Regarding Jerusalem having become liable to such tributes, the prophet Jeremiah lamented, saying concerning her: 'Having begun in cities, she has come into tribute' (Lamentations 1:1). This is a gathering of debtors of souls, or she subjected her own liberty to the most brutal tyrant.

These are holy, even showing that what is in the Gospel regarding kings is not to be subordinate. These, therefore, the ones released from the present affairs, either because they have not been tested or even after testing being superior to them, one side is outside the tribute of strangers, not those who have been tested... 'the small and the great is there, and the servant having become familiar with the lord and having attained a shadow.' The impersonal nature of the one ruling in these matters is shown. For not in another way does one lord and another slave or poor man enter into life.

For in the phrase 'a certain king or tyrant,' Wisdom does not exclude another 'beginning of generation'; for 'one' is the 'entrance into life for all, and an equal exit,' even if there was a difference according to movement. These were not born differently. But also the servant serving the lord, even if he is not lord but a slave of the lord throughout the whole way, attains a shadow, so that from this shadow, having a symbolic meaning, he may be raised up from the laws that were given and here unto the heavenly citizenship.

It is to be expected also differently; in this present life, a difference has been established between the small and the great and the slave, bringing greed into variety. But in the coming age, Paul says, 'there is neither male' 'nor female, there is neither slave nor free' (Galatians 3:28). Similarly he would say, as neither rich nor poor, but the demonstration of works, by which the one in this living will be considered great and free there, though small or a slave. For he says, 'I saw' 'slaves on horses and' (Ecclesiastes 10:7)...

Even what is supposed to be great is found there in punishment. Perhaps it is also possible that since the great one is great from each person according to virtue, the small one will likewise be found there in the same way.

According to this thought and what is carried in Ecclesiastes, it is understood thusly: 'wherever the wood falls, there it remains' (Ecclesiastes 11:3), saying wood for the man, who if he has fallen in punishment—that is, if he has reached the end of this life being in sins—thus 'he shall be there.' But if also in virtue, similarly: 'for all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be brought according to what he did through the body' (2 Cor 5:10).

And the servant who serves God intellectually is there, obtaining shade and rest, having escaped the heat of life: 'a wise son was saved from the heat' (Proverbs 10:5), not being consumed by the heat, according to those in the parable who did not receive the seed into depth and fell by the flame of sin. This promise is said to David in the Psalms: 'the sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night' (Ps 121:6), which according to the literal sense we do not find. For he himself, being righteous, was labored upon by the heat of the sensible, but was unlabored upon by the heat of sin.

For it is common for those falling from without to perceive the righteous and the unrighteous, but it is the property of the diligent to flee from the heat of evil. 'Why then is light given to those in bitterness, and life to souls in pain? Who are partakers of death and do not find treasures by digging, but become content if they happen upon them' (Job 3:20).

The hidden and not manifest to all, the judgment of providence, the holy teacher examines for the sake of those hearing, so that first they may not be displeased with the things happening, and later, knowing that it comes from God, they may not consider the things happening to be either accidental or caused by fate. For there are various things following men...

Rest for the Saints§22

22Regarding various sufferings, such as being in poverty, or passing from wealth into poverty in different ways, or being in various crises and others in some evil, and not only experiencing such bad things but also important ones, examining the judgment, he asks saying: 'For why is light given to those in bitterness?' (Job 36:30). For if he knows, but indeed wishes us to be enduring, he instructs, as it is fitting to receive the teaching of these things from God. And regarding those being embittered because of the injustices of men, he says: 'For why is light given to those in bitterness?' (Job 36:30). Such a thing even Jeremiah, alluding to it, said: 'I sat alone, because I was filled with bitterness' (Jeremiah 15:17). And he fell into bitterness because he saw the irregularities and injustices concerning men. And these same ones also grieve.

Or did not the blessed Paul have pain, saying: 'Great sorrow is mine, and unceasing pain to my heart. For I wish that I myself might be an anathema for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh' (Romans 9:3), who happened to be outside of it because of 'turning away from the truth' (Romans 2:8)? And he also shares in death, saying: 'It is better to depart and be with Christ' (Philippians 1:23), just as 'digging up a treasure' (Job 3:21 allusion) is the desire for this, as one of the saints says: 'Woe, that my sojourning has been made long' (Psalm 120:5), and writing about Paul concerning similar things: 'For they do not have here a staying city, but they seek the one that is to come' (Hebrews 13:14). Therefore, not even being lovers of life are they ready to die, as the blessed Paul says: 'Daily I die' (1 Corinthians 15:31). For because of this readiness he wrote thus. For a lover of life would not say this. For the saints know that if they come out of this life, they will receive the divine rewards.

Therefore, just as they are 'digging up a treasure' (Job 3:21 allusion), it happens even if the digging is done with toil. Just as also the saints themselves through much toil look forward to entering the kingdom—but hope deafens the toil—so also those contending in the struggle suffer much, looking toward the crown. It is also fitting for these same saints the following half-verse, if he says: 'But they became circumspect, if they should encounter it.' No one of the bad ones, even if he is in crisis and because of this desires to depart from life, per...

One becomes rich after departing. For if the afflictions of those here have ceased, but instead they receive the blows that have become established, and even as they withdraw they possess the impulses, or passions, or wildness, or other sufferings of the soul, which have been sent to them here having been strengthened. Because of the following blows, they are not without joy.

Therefore, let this also be understood concerning the saints: either they are not without joy, being sent by angels and encountering the bosom of Abraham and exchanging this life for the kingdom, despite the circumstances for which they suffered externally and for the sake of virtue they endured pains; and even the blessed David, looking toward those things and though being king, considering life to be like a prison, sang to God: 'Bring my soul out of the prison' (Ps 142:7). For he was not being guarded in a sensible prison. There is also the thought from what is approaching, as he desired the deliverance from here; for he says: 'The righteous shall wait for me, until I am repaid' (Psalm 142:7). And this is equivalent to: 'so that we may not be perfected apart from ourselves.' Of these are the true masculine sacrifices, and those of the promises.

If this is so, how are the saints not without joy, encountering the end of this life, after which the kingdom of heaven shall receive it? 'Death is a rest to a man; for God has shut up the door against him' (Wis 1:15; Ps 108:7). If anyone wished to take this according to what is at hand, he might say, that for those in circumstance and in pains death is a rest, since 'God has shut up the door against him' (Ps 108:7), dismissing the circumstances. But he who follows with the first thought will have nothing to complain about, saying, as if not all those who end in rest become so by receiving the bad blows.

And this should also be noted, that he did not say: 'death to a man,' but 'to a man of valor'; for he who has courage and is in virtue is unshakeable toward death, having himself most ready for it and singing: 'My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready' (Ps 57:7). And this same shall have rest, receiving the promises directed toward him. And moreover, he shall have rest while suffering, because that which 'God has shut up against him' (Job 3:23) through the common decree of that which is said concerning Adam, 'Dust you are and to dust you shall return' (Gen 3:19), is released by 'departing' from him 'pain and sorrow and sighing' (Isaiah 35:10) because of having heard: 'Enter...'

Watchfulness and the Providential Care of the Saints§23

23"...to the joy of your lord." "For before my food a sigh comes to me, and I weep, being seized by fear. For the fear which I cared for has come to me, and which I was afraid would meet me." Fear does not always signify the passionate, nor the refined and perfect, but also a middle kind, concerning which neither the passionate nor the refined occurs, but as one might say, one of these things occurs either for the benefit of others or due to a fall

For if the blessed Paul says: 'I fear, lest as the serpent deceived Eve' (2 Cor 11:3), he does not have the fear passionately, nor is the perfect and pure signified in this, even if the wise Paul had it, but rather a care for the salvation of others. It has been said concerning the perfect: 'The fear of the Lord surpassed all things' (Sirach 25:11), but concerning the passionate, in order that it may not be carried along, the saying says: 'Do not fear their fear' (Matt 10:28), and: 'Do not fear those who kill the body' (Matt 10:28), and: 'There they feared a fear, which was not fear' (Psalm 53:5). And all these things are seen because of the saying: 'And I weep, being seized by fear.'

Let us see from the beginning the things set forth: 'For before my food a sigh comes to me' (Job 3:24), which is instructive, that others, having lived a life of luxury, and finding only pleasure and enjoyment and caring for nothing else through their works, cry out to themselves: 'Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die' (Isaiah 22:13); but the holy man, also according to the blessed Paul saying: 'Who is weak and does not faint? Who is scandalized and am I not burned?' (2 Corinthians 11:29), approaches sensory food not without a sigh because of human weakness and not for the sake of pleasure, but understanding the pure and incorporeal life and that table which the Savior promised to his own disciples, saying: 'That you may eat and drink at my table in the kingdom' (Luke 22:30) of the heavens, sighs; even while receiving this, he sings in his mind: 'My soul longs and even faints for the courts of the Lord' (Psalm 84:2).

And since the holy man, even if he be perfect, knows that it is possible for a man to fall into a lapse as long as he is in life, he leads into: 'And I weep, being seized by fear.' And because the mind is strengthened, the weeping in the pains is according to the saying: 'I shall wash my bed every night, with my tears my couch' (Ps 6:6).

"...to find for me." The saints do this, not by neglecting themselves, but being awakened by prudence, so that through these things they may call upon God for help, just as the blessed David says when calling a congregation like himself: 'Come, let us worship and bow down, and weep before the Lord who made us' (Ps 95:6). For great is the good of the care that comes through vigilance, which the Lord says he desires the disciples to have: 'Watch, for you do not know at what hour the thief comes' (Matt 24:42).

Nor are the saints any less anxious because of approaching temptations, not giving themselves over to negligence, but preparing themselves for these, fearing lest they, having preached to others, themselves become unproven. And they do not avoid the stumbles. They are not without reason ready for preparation. For this reason, the blessed one himself always remains, holding back the uprisings from the devil. He wished not to be in circumstances, since human weakness, as far as it reaches its measure, cannot bear the immeasurability of labors, unless a brave calculation overcomes the weakness. For this reason he says: 'For the fear I thought was not there came upon me, and which I thought would meet me' (Job 3:25).

And he did not say these things by being overwhelmed, but according to the understanding assigned to him. For he had fear, lest he be delayed in his life and be tested by tribulations and circumstances, from which it happens to trip many. Even if they were invincible, they do not want to be drawn into temptations, so that neither the adversary may have more torment through them, nor may he cause them to trip the human weakness as we said; just as a pilot steering the ship straight does not want to be tested by a storm, lest he also fall by a stumble. Because they do not avoid circumstances through cowardice, one of them is heard saying regarding their common faith: 'Our God is a refuge and strength, a help in the tribulations found by us exceedingly. Therefore we shall not be afraid when the earth is shaken and mountains are moved in the hearts of seas' (Ps 46:1-2). In agreement with these, the apostle says: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Jesus? Tribulation or distress or persecution or famine' (Rom 8:35) and the...

The Principles of Teaching and the Nature of Trials§24

24Sixth. Regarding the fact that these things do not occur without sweat, he brings forward: 'but in all these we prevail through him who loved us' (Rom 8:37), which is an example through the agonistic struggle, with which victory occurs.

And well also is 'he met me'; for as to an athlete, the trials met him. For the devil does not fight those who happen by chance, as also the Savior shows, saying to the disciples: 'Behold, Satan has asked you to sift you like wheat' (Luke 22:31). He met also with this one having himself most ready for the fight, as the matter showed and the following shows: 'I have neither found peace nor rest nor ceased, and anger came upon me.' His preparation toward the opponent is shown from these.

For being watchful and having hope and the gift of the Spirit, he stood toward the adversary, knowing this; and Paul says that 'the struggle of the saints is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness' (Eph 6:12), and against the devil himself, the arch-evil, who 'prowls like a lion, seeking someone to swallow up' (1 Pet 5:8).

However, even so, despite his being watchful, the devil did not neglect him, in order to make an excuse, so that he might bring upon him what he brought upon him, which he calls anger because of the hardships, knowing that they were not brought upon him because of malice. For he says: 'I know that I shall appear righteous.' And in another way he knows to call the hardships anger. For he says: 'You sent out your anger and consumed them like a reed' (Exodus 15:7).

But if we hear of the anger of God, we do not consider this to be His passion according to human reasoning. For such a passion is not in the nature of things to be sent out, nesting in the soul. But the said anger of God is sent out; for he says: 'You sent out your anger', which is the hardships. For these things also are sent. And this one, therefore, calls these things anger, which happened to him.

Thus, having composed such a narrative, in which there is instruction concerning the judgments of God and divine mysteries, which we have laid out as much as possible, this saint is manifest not as one having become passion-driven because of what happened, but also having within those things a longing and love for divine contemplation and a heavenly one. 'Eliphaz the Temanite, having taken up the speech, says: Has not much been spoken to you in toil? And who will esteem the strength of your words? For if you have spoken much...'

You, whom He once encouraged with words when hands were weak and caused the weak to rise up, and to whom He provided courage when knees were failing, now fear has come upon you and seized you, but you have hurried to abandon Him. All teaching and distinction have principles, of which, possessing them well, everything proceeds according to the word. But when the principles are not well, many errors follow.

Let the example of heresies be given; for if someone posits the father of the Son to be ungodly beforehand, many falsehoods follow this false beginning; for he will suppose the Son to be a created thing, not eternal, since it is not possible for him to be eternal if the Father pre-exists as ungodly. And if the Father pre-exists according to their false hypothesis, the Son would not be eternal. And it follows that he is a creature and a work, with which follows that he is changeable and altered. With this being so, there will not be God in essence. Therefore, if ever you encounter false dogmas, seek their beginning; for this being overturned, everything collapses.

Let a second example of the same kind be set forth. There are some who introduce an opinion, thinking that they have made the Savior appear to be such. It must be sought for whose sake he arrived, and it is clear, that it is for the sake of the salvation of men. And if he will appear to be such, and if teaching will appear to have become such, then the cross and the ascension will also appear to be such, following which it will appear that salvation, and not truth, has come to be. This follows the absurd beginning.

And regarding the words set forth by Eliphaz, there is something like this. There are two irreconcilable principles concerning the things coming upon men: one is for the correction of sins, the other is for the showing of courage and testing of those being afflicted, which is what the saying having this character means: 'Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having been tested, he shall receive the crown of life, which He promised to those who love Him' (James 1:12). And again: 'Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, because the testing of affliction works patience, and patience, testing, and testing, hope' (James 1:2-4). And there are also testimonies to receive of the other kind from the Holy Scriptures. For it has been said: 'I will confess my sin to the Lord, that I have sinned against Him' (Psalm 32:5). For he says that the induction occurs through sin. Therefore, the things that are heavy are common and...

The Strength of Words and the Error of the Friends§25

25scourges

Because he brings tribulations toward the things accomplished. Because of this, they spoke their own assumptions contrary to Job (Job 4:4). Therefore also God granted them forgiveness and, on account of ignorance, caused them to bring a sacrifice. For he did not do this with an evil intention, but as justifying providence; this is what they were saying, even if they lacked precision.

From this very confusion, the first friend brings forward the words, beginning by asserting: 'Not many times has it been spoken to you in toil' (Job 4:2), which indicates that: you yourself also many times used words toward those fallen into tribulations, so that we might hear actively what has happened to you. It can also be said passively, so that the saying might be: 'Having now first been in toils, did you have the one speaking to you the things of consolation?' instead of not receiving. For Job was not only then in distress. For it is likely that he was among the afflicted for a greater period of time.

Furthermore, regarding the things said to Job, he brings forward the thought differently, as if having heard his words from one who is brief, saying: 'But who will estimate the strength of words?' (Job 4:2). He himself brought consolation to many, but no one is able to bear your words, which are filled with brevity. And he was saying these things, not knowing the magnitude of the things spoken by him.

And he accepts a comparison from him, saying: 'For if you have encouraged many' (Job 4:3), and the following, indicating that: what you provided to others for exhortation, you are not reminding those placed by sorrow in a way of a warrior—'you were diligent'—instead of being troubled; and doing many things for help and consolation to those being afflicted, as if stretching out a right hand to them, according to that said in Isaiah to the leaders: 'Call upon the hand' (Isaiah 35:3), the words signify sympathy and compassion. 'And to those whose knees are failing, you have provided courage,' providing strength to men persuaded by weakness through the diligence toward them.

The Misunderstanding of Job's Friends§26

26Regarding the lifting up, those with paralyzed knees are 'those bowing to Baal' (1 Kings 19:18), proclaiming another god, the one serving through sin. 'Now trouble has come upon you and has struck you' (Job 4:5), signifying a severe onset of the situation.

Following what was said there, one should understand that a more severe tribulation than the situation existed: an onslaught brought on by friends through their words. For since the comforter was not present, the matter was even more terrible, and the words being heavy, they provided no small amount of discouragement.

'Is not your fear in folly, and your hope and the wickedness of your way?' (Job 4:6). The inspired Spirit testified to Job that he did not give folly to God, but this accuser having a different impression concerning what had happened to him and calculating that he suffers because of sins, thinking that he had spoken in a moment what he uttered, says: 'Is not your fear in folly'—thinking himself righteous—'and your hope and the wickedness of your way' (Job 4:6). For folly, he says, is also the hoping that one will appear righteous. For such things are not brought upon the righteous. And this very way is called a way of wickedness, because Eliphaz thought throughout that the blessed one suffers because of sin. Thus he also attributed folly to him.

'Remember then, who being pure perished, or where have the true whole-rooted ones perished? In the manner in which I saw those plowing the uneven ground, but those sowing them shall reap thorns for themselves. They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be destroyed by the spirit of His wrath' (Job 4:7-9; 27:18). Still holding the same mindset, that Job has received experience of the circumstances through sin, he says these things to him, thinking that no human being, being pure in life, fell into tribulations and 'perished whole-rooted' (Job 4:7), alluding to the loss of children and goods and possessions. For this 'perished' means this to him.

He compares the wicked ones, these, and assuming that they fall into injuries—saying something true like 'those sowing injustice reap thorns' (Job 4:8)—he is seen to propose retribution, which he says is sent from God, and regarding this, being rightly disposed, he says: 'They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be destroyed by the spirit of His wrath' (Job 4:9). Something similar is said by the blessed Paul: 'Who will render to each...'

Regarding his works: 'the strength of a lion, the voice of a lioness, and the roaring of dragons was extinguished. The ant-lion perished because it had no food, and the cubs of lions left one another' (Job 4:10). 'If any true word has happened in your words, none of these evils would have encountered you' (Job 22:28).

Even if Job's friends, of whom he was one, were pierced by error because they were divided regarding him as one having fallen into afflictions through sins, they nevertheless possess human understanding, which is not impenetrable. Therefore, we do not yield to them in their words, even those spoken from understanding, because they remained divided, as if they were unable to grasp the whole truth concerning the mind and the end revealed from now on; 'for if,' he says, 'any true word has happened in your words, none of these evils would have encountered you' (Job 22:28), which, as we said, was not spoken naturally or coherently by him.

For he thought this alone to be the cause of afflictions, saying it is through sin. But he does not coherently explain the changes concerning men: 'the strength of a lion, the voice of a lioness, and the roaring of dragons was extinguished.' For he says he sees these as a figure of speech, having suffered a change of many who are arrogant and think greatly of human things, such as Nebuchadnezzar, who came from kingship to the lowest private person.

But also what was said to the rich man: 'I will pull down my barns and build greater ones'—'Fool, this very night they take your soul from you' (Luke 12:20)—this is a demonstration of that mindset. 'Lion,' indeed, is how he has been seized by boldness, and 'pride' as if 'having trusted in himself.' Which the blessed Paul also understands concerning Nero, saying: 'In my first defense no one stood by me, but the Lord stood by me and rescued me from the mouth of a lion' (2 Timothy 4:17).

But also Jeremiah, saying: 'A wandering sheep Israel, lions have driven him away' (Jeremiah 50:17), explains further who the lions are, saying: 'The first devoured him, the king of Assyria' (Jeremiah 50:17), and the following. But also: 'God crushed the millstones of the lions' signifies the defeat of arrogant and bold men. And the 'lioness' is accepted instead of a profligate manner, which has such a nature. For when she needs food, she does not cry out, lest the beasts who owe food to her should flee.

The Terror of Divine Judgment§27

27Whether it becomes. But even if the male is of this nature, but from the dominant one and towards his royal and arrogant one he remembered. And he has made a memory of the 'dragons', alluding to serpent-like men, as they themselves are subject to change and concerning them change is happening. But these are deceitful and working deception, according to that which is said: 'But I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve through his craftiness, he corrupt your minds' (2 Cor 11:3). And he seems like a 'myrmecoleon' to a boasting and forward man, who because of the unstable and unweighed thing falls down. It is said that this is born from a lion with an ant having come together, not by the life-giving nature, but by another, which indeed has the size of a lion, and so it is called. And the historians say that because the father is flesh-eating and because the mother is poison-producing, he perishes, being unable because of the birth from both to use a single food. As to how it is, let the one encountering it judge.

And those receiving this devil are likely saying, that to the saints the ant is present through weakness, but to those sinning the lion, because he 'has given him a place'. 'And the packs of lions left one another', which he said alluding to the lawless and wild men. For indeed the packs, until they are under the mother, are together, but when they become men, they tear one another apart. So also the crafty and wild man, until he has some benefit—I say human—from the one accompanying him, he hides his malice, but having been filled with the one striving, he cares little for the benefactor.

And it is necessary to understand the 'true' 'word' that proceeds from intention as being without falsehood; for there is also a word in the soul. And this must be said, that it is not fitting to regard the weighty or worthy of understanding words of every person in the Scripture. For in the Gospels, indeed the foolishness of the Jews, but even Nicodemus used words not wisely; for when the Savior said, 'It is necessary for you to be born from above' (John 3:7), he said, 'Can not a man, being an old man, be born or enter a second time into the womb of a mother?' (John 3:4). Thus it is not necessary to always require understanding from every person in the Scripture. 'Whether he will not receive my ear's outcry from him...

But with fear and a nocturnal sound, a fear fell upon men; and a shudder met me, and trembling, and it greatly shook my bones, and a spirit came upon my face, and my hairs and flesh shuddered. I stood up and did not recognize it; I saw, and there was no form before my eyes, but rather a wind, and I heard a voice (Job 4:13-16).

Since he used words more abundantly, the first things are to be thought of as exhortatory, then as cleansing, as Job having hurried because of the things that happened to him and because he suffered through sin—for this Eliphaz posited from the beginning—and in addition, that human matters, even if they are prosperous, receive much change. Considering that it is possible the listener might not pay attention to what is said by him, for the sake of a confirmation, he brings forward the things set forth, saying: 'Whether my ear will be opened by him?' saying only this: let no one of those listening think that I am found to be unwise. For my ear of understanding receives wonders from him, him speaking of God. For this is significant of authority, as in: 'He himself speaking, I am present,' and in: 'He himself was wise against them, and his law shall by no means be set aside,' making it clear that it is of God. For indeed, if human understanding is imposed upon that which is from God, it is filled with fear according to the saying: 'I understood your works and was terrified' (Habakkuk 3:2). And to the same thing, 'sound' is followed by 'nocturnal,' which is much ambiguity, from which it happens to shudder and be afraid for one who has begun to perceive something of God's judgments. Not only that, but also 'the bones' of such a thing are disturbed, which is the power of the soul. For every human reasoning fails before the precise understanding of divine things. This is the same thing Habakkuk, having perceived, says: 'From the voice of prayer, trembling entered into my bones' (Habakkuk 3:16). Therefore, when one, desiring to ascend according to the intellectual faculty, encounters the fearsome divine works as previously stated, there comes a certain type of non-precise understanding, which is indicated by: 'and a spirit came upon my face.' Next also is: 'and my hairs and flesh shuddered.' For a man does not endure a great disturbance if he should dare to impose himself upon the judgment and wonders of God. 'I stood up, and there was no form before my eyes,' so that it may be as the saying goes.

The Imperfection of Human Righteousness§28

28For if a man wishes to rouse himself toward comprehension, the precision of the spoken word flees from him. This is similar to the saying: 'A deep depth, who will find it?' 'But I heard a wind and a voice.' For one using understanding receives certain wonderful things and echoes of the administration from God.

And he cannot grasp it entirely, and most certainly not; for if Paul, speaking in Christ, says: 'O the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable his ways' (Rom 11:33), how much more will the one imposing human reasonings be at a loss toward comprehension? 'For what? Will a mortal be clean before the Lord or blameless because of his works?' (Job 4:7). We assume they have human understanding, and in those who preceded Job's friends. For it is not a small sign of understanding to leave lands behind, being kings, and to come because of sympathy for Job, even while they say as if they have not departed from sins.

However, though they use human reasonings, they are indeed certain. For as has been said before, setting one cause for the inductions, they think that Job also suffered because of sin, proceeding to this from a plausible word, understanding the weak nature of human intellect. Therefore also Eliphaz says regarding the things before him: 'For what? Will a mortal be clean before the Lord or blameless because of his works?' (Job 4:7). This, indeed, would be plausible if he were examining according to his own concept, and it holds the rebuke. For if the one falling into bitter afflictions is so because of sin, no one has been clean, no one has existed apart from bitter things.

But these things this man says, while divine discipline teaches, how even wicked men, being in all things in sins, led their lives without restraint. Of whom the rich man who with Lazarus was rejoicing every day, clothing himself brilliantly in fine linen and purple, remained in most pleasant living until his last breath, while the righteous Lazarus was testified to not having had rest there. But also the one who heard: 'Fool, this night they take the soul from you. But what you have prepared, to whom will it be?' (Luke 12:20) is written to have not been left without sharing. And this the divine word teaches, even if he also said this humanly, that

A pure person is not entirely contrary to the Lord. This is shown by the saying, 'his stars are not pure before Him' (Job 25:5), and by the Psalms: 'No living thing shall be justified before You' (Psalm 143:2). For he did not say, 'no one is justified,' but rather, 'before You.' For you will find that all are lacking when they are toward God, and they do not possess righteousness in excess.

For Moses, even though he says he is 'instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,' says: 'I am not able to speak before the yesterday and before the third and from when You began to speak to your servant' (Ex 4:10). For in the presence of the divine weight, he seems to be lesser. Or he says something else: 'But I am another kind of man.' But even Abraham, the 'friend of God,' having been humbled, says: 'Since I have begun to speak to my Lord, I am dust and ashes' (Gen 18:27). He does not utterly dishonor himself, but speaks thus from when he began to speak to God.

And 'mortal' and 'man,' if said by Eliphaz from a parallel passage, we, applying a more precise word to the discourse, say that 'mortal' is such as is subject to a woman. For 'man' is not said of every human. 'If he does not believe according to his children, but regarding his angels he thought somewhat crookedly, he struck those dwelling in clay houses, from which we ourselves are from the same clay, in the manner of chaff. And from morning until evening they are no longer.'

He wants to lead the proof from the greater thing and make it certain that every man is under sin, saying that even the children of God are not believed by Him, which is to say: they are not as if they were unshakeable. 'But regarding his angels he thought somewhat crookedly' of those having sinned. And if this is so, much more according to those dwelling in clay houses. Since they have happened to be from the same clay, He will not spare those sinning, sending the punishments to them in the manner of chaff, who also will not endure His judgment many times from morning until evening.

But indeed this is the most complete understanding of the things said; for if anyone were to seek whence this man has this impression concerning the departed angels, through whom he says God thought somewhat crookedly, it would be said to this: that while being a sensible man, he knew that the angels are not naturally good, but are liable to change. And it is not incongruous for him even from the demonized...

The Nature of Divine Providential Correction§29

29To understand this concerning men, about whom the divine teaching says: 'And he has kept those angels who did not observe their own rank in darkness.' And he says that men dwell in houses of clay instead of the material things, saying more simply that men were composed of the same clay. For not even the soul is of clay; for the body has been said to be clay.

'He struck them in the manner of a threshing floor.' This indicates the punishments sent against them as being insignificant. This is shown in Wisdom 11. But also the prophet says: 'The ruler asks, and the judge spoke peaceful words; it is the incense of his soul. And I will bring out their good things like a grain being threshed and walking according to a rule in a day of scrutiny' (Micah 7:3-4), which is indicated by the continuous and sudden nature of the punishments and that which is sifted. For this indicates a rule. For if not 'he brings wrath day by day,' but 'he gives to each according to his works,' he makes this a rule instead of mixing it with goodness.

'Because they were not able to help themselves, they perished. For he breathed into them and they were dried up; they perished because they did not have wisdom.' Holding to the same principle, according to which she thinks that events happen through sin, and she says these things also. Since they were not able to help themselves through virtue after recognizing the evils, the afflictions followed them. And this she places under understanding: being unable to repel the severity of what came upon them through weakness, they perished, demonstrating the insignificance of human power.

This indeed and what follows seems to signify: 'For he breathed into them and they were dried up.' For it indicates that an overwhelming onslaught was not necessary against them, but only the breathing, which sufficed for their destruction, which he called loss. And from the same failing intellect follows: 'They perished because they did not have wisdom,' unaware that many wise men are afflicted...

They cast about. 'And call out, if anyone will obey you, or if you see any of the holy angels.' It seems as if he is providing an exhortation leading the holy one toward repentance, so that having come for the purpose of entreaty, he might happen to find one who assists and listens. And he also presents the phrase, 'or if you see any of the holy angels,' as being aware that they are not holy angels. For if he did not know this, the addition would be superfluous; it is as if he is distinguishing a holy one from a non-such. But those who say he is mocking claim that he says this ironically.

Regarding the beginning, he speaks again of the error, saying that through sin [10-15] so that he may know [15-20], 'for anger refutes the fool, and jealousy strikes the fallen one to death' (Job 5:2). Thus it is to be read. [The text is damaged here.] such as those who are displeasing to the providence of God. Why then do I myself fall into such calamities [8-12] and lose honor [6-10] according to what is said: 'Do not rejoice when your enemies rejoice, nor let your heart be glad when they stumble' (Proverbs 24:17), or 'jealousy of those who do lawlessness' (Proverbs 27:4). Jealousy is like it. And a second retribution [2-6] is added to the first [5-10], even if in irony. The phrase 'And call out, if anyone will obey you' will seem to have been spoken naturally, as if no one obeyed. [The text is damaged here.] as has been said.

'But I have seen fools casting seed, but immediately their harvest was ruined.' [The text is damaged here.] the mind under the roots... [The text is damaged here.]... a many-rooted thing holds... and he speaks of human things happening, for immediately their harvest was ruined. To a great extent... [The text is damaged here.]... and the rich to be changed into poverty many times. But it is not to be praised for what is surrounding it, but rather for the... [The text is damaged here.]... of this living... the nature of such arrogance, for the divine letter is...

The Transfer of Wealth and the Inevitability of Suffering§30

30He presents the thought in the Psalms, as it is said: 'I saw the impious one being exalted and puffed up like the cedars of Lebanon; and they passed by and behold, he was not, and I sought him and the place of him was not found' (Psalm 37:35). For evil, not subsisting... I say, is unless in the choice of the one acting. If indeed that choice, being made, ceases, evil no longer has its composition; therefore his existence is in his choosing.

'Crush the arm of the sinner and the wicked, his sin shall be sought; and it shall not be found through itself' (Psalm 10:15). For because it is unsubstantial, it is not found; for evil is not an essence, but has being having been produced in choice. Again, when the wandering and the evil cease.

But concerning evil in general it has been said: 'And injustice lied about itself.' Just as we often say that the earth and its inhabitants and the good are being deceived by poverty, so also evil is said to lie about itself, no longer being present, when 'all pain, distress, and sighing flees away' (Isaiah 35:10). And the diet of the punishment being carried out is made thin.

'Would their children be far from salvation. But they were punished at the doors of Hyssop and there shall be no one being taken out' (Job 5:4). He prays that some discipline may come to the boastful, so that pleasant and human good things may turn away from them, which he called 'salvation'; for such a labor will happen to them. He says, 'they were punished,' meaning they were treated with contempt, being humbled by lesser ones, with no one being a helper.

For humiliation is profitable to the proud, first, so that through such a thing an immoderate evil may be generated, and second, so that they may be disciplined again. And 'they were punished' is derived from 'kolos', which is 'kolobos'; for a small pig is called 'kolobron'. 'For what those gathered, the righteous shall be given' (Job 5:5). Even if saying this humanly, he would provide a good account, claiming that just as the impious gather, the righteous eat, unless something paradoxical seems to be happening; for not at all is it found to be so. And in the Divine Proverbs it is said: 'Wealth of the impious is stored up for the righteous' (Prov 13:22), which...

Yet we do not necessarily accept this for the sake of history. Since it has been said proverbially, it follows that the Jews are said to be rich, having both law and prophet, though they did not use them properly. This wealth was transferred to the nations. For the vine 'shall be removed' and 'shall be given to a nation that produces its fruits' (Matt 21:43). 'And they themselves shall not be set apart from evils; their strength shall be siphoned off.' He says that not only do the ungodly grasp at wealth, but they shall never be set apart from evils. And their power itself shall be completely emptied, from the transfer of that which is being siphoned until nothing even liquid remains; consider these things, if he speaks them in a proverbial way.

Know, however, that these things will not necessarily happen to the wicked; for many have received the end of this life in clarity of mind. If, moreover, he speaks these things having an apprehension of the coming age and of punishment, consider this also. But what the holy man says regarding those who prosper unjustly, advising the one who pays attention: 'Do not fear when a man prospers, for he will not take all things with him in dying, nor will the glory of his wealth grasp him.' Throughout his whole word, he speaks of these heavy evils: poverty, sickness, infamy, and dishonor.

'For toil shall not come forth from the earth, nor shall labor spring up from the mountains, but man is born of toil, and young vultures fly the heights' (Job 5:7; 38:7). The curses which he brought upon the ungodly, or which he wished to show must fall upon them, he says he did reasonably; for it is the lot of men to fall into tribulations and not to be without suffering (Job 5:7). And the word may also be exhortatory, as it is the custom to say to the many: 'You have not suffered anything outside of human nature; for indeed we have life in toil.' And the very being born of us happens in toil and ill-suffering, among the myriads of those existing and those being born in hardship.

If you are able to interject the word concerning the one born blind into this, consider it. For concerning him, 'the disciples of Jesus asked him: Did this man sin or his parents, that he was born blind?' (John 9:2). 'But young vultures fly the heights' is similar to saying that a person without soul does not fly in evil. And young vultures, he says, in the heights...

Divine Providence and the Reversal of Fortune§31

31They fly, instead of saying: they are unceasing—for he does not live in wickedness—so that what he says is this: the soulless and the irrational, as if signifying the irrational through the young of the vultures—he does not accept a trial of retribution, a man wandering away because of such sins, which he says, following his own principle. 'Not indeed, but I will pray to the Lord, and I will call upon the Lord, the Master of all' (Job 5:8). Having accused the foolish and having said the following about them, he says, 'I do not rejoice as they do, but as one perceiving providence and knowing the Master of all, the God, I call upon Him, considering this to be proper.' Understand, then, that he does not have these whims as if he were sending them against a righteous man himself.

'The one doing great and unsearchable things, glorious and wonderful, of which there is no number. The one giving rain upon the earth, sending water upon the heaven below' (Job 5:9-10). He confesses God to be a provider of all things and a creator. And he does not have these whims as a wise man regarding human things. He also has a whim concerning the invisible and the visible, saying concerning the unsearchable and the great and the glorious, of rain and of water, which if he distinguishes water from the rain, would be the things from springs and snowdrifts and rivers. And these concepts are clearly present in many of the Scriptures, and not least even in Paul writing: 'In Christ were created the visible and the invisible, the earthly and the heavenly' (Colossians 1:16).

And this also must be considered, that from what happened to the holy Job, as a man having been led into fear, he marvels at the works of providence. And the 'there is no number' must be understood as referring to a man; for God knows all things. And it is not even wonderful where Solomon also says: 'God has given me the knowledge of things that exist, to know the true constitution of the world and the energy of the elements, the beginning and the middle and the end of time, the changes of the seasons' (Wisdom 7:17) and the following. For even things that are not countable by nature are uncountable to God, concerning which it is said: 'the multitude of the number of stars' (Psalm 147:4), and: 'but even the hairs of your head are all numbered' (Matthew 10:30), which is also given to the worthy to know for the sake of what is profitable, as it was said concerning Solomon: 'the one making the lowly into height and raising up the lost ones' (Job 5:11).

He ascends also to the providence according to men, and this, while remaining in discussion concerning God of all things, is that He Himself from on high makes the poor rich from the needy, from the submissive makes rulers, from the sick makes rulers healthy, and also the reverse. It is evident that these things, both being actually so and being seen and understood, exist for benefit, according to that which was said by the Holy Spirit: 'The Lord establishes kings and removes them' (Daniel 2:21), and 'Through me kings reign' (Proverbs 8:15), and 'He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap' (Psalm 113:7).

And the precursor of the exaltation from God is our lowliness: 'For whoever humbles himself will be exalted, and whoever exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke 14:11), and again: 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6). And regarding 'those having perished' to be 'raised up,' he speaks of those standing in crises and having been tested by change, the afflictions ceasing and the things of rest opposing them, which also happened to the blessed Job, remaining steadfast in the visible works of the soul. But if you take 'the one having perished' instead of 'the one having sinned,' then God 'raises these up' as a 'place of repentance' by providing teaching. But the blessed Job did not suffer such a loss, so that he might need such a resurrection. 'They devise many schemes, and their hands shall not do what is true' (Job 5:12).

Through all things concerning God, according to the way possible for himself, he explains with human understandings, moving not unfeasibly in many matters. Having explained concerning the providence of God and that through it dishonors and honors come about, and that certain humble things do not happen without Him, he moves to show that even if men use a great variety of wisdom, it is God's to provide the end. For indeed, 'the devising of many schemes' signifies to him that even if they should counsel and think themselves clever men, God erases these things, doing toward the benefit of each one. Often many men, having hoped, did not a little fail, and they received what was not expected, God governing, not man managing. Nor do such people have anything true in their own actions, those who, casting themselves upon themselves, thought to be self-sufficient in all things through their own counsels. And it is necessary...

Spiritual Blindness and Symbolic Afflictions§32

32To know that in the divine scripture the name of cunning is placed not only in a reproachful sense but also in a praiseworthy one. For when it is said regarding wisdom, 'that I might give cunning to the guileless' (Proverbs 1:4), it is clear, as it speaks of prudence and a praiseworthy deed; for such a thing is given by wisdom. And again: 'the cunning one was averted from coming evils' (Jon 3:4), which indicates a sensible action, which is accomplished toward him in the manner of repentance when the onset of evils is proven, as the Ninevites did, fleeing the threat; for the wrath is dispersed by this repentance. That cunning is also placed reproachfully is shown in: 'I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve in his cunning, your thoughts might be made frivolous' (2 Cor 11:3). And we have the 'hands' signifying actions in the scripture, as this one also seems to have understood. For when it says: 'thorns grow in the hand of the drinker' (Proverbs 26:9), we do not take the part of the body to mean—for thorns do not grow upon that—but rather the actions, according to which one sins. Therefore, 'their hands shall not do' is true, since God is not willing to fulfill the outcomes of their counsels. 'He who seizes the wise in their prudence, and turns aside the counsel of the many-scheming' (Job 5:13). That is, he seizes the devices of the wise by his own prudence, or by the prudence of those who shared from him, as Elisha seized the sophistry of Gehazi, whom he caught scheming, saying: 'Your servant has not gone right or left' (2 Kings 5:25). To whom, having understood his movement, he said: 'Was not my heart with you?' (2 Kings 5:26). He also turns aside the counsel of the many-scheming ones, like that of Ahithophel, having prayed the blessed David and saying: 'Turn away the counsel of Ahithophel' (2 Sam 15:31). Not only this, but he also turned aside the counsel of the 'lawless elders' and of Egypt, who had deliberated against prudence, thus as regarding Susanna, because of their many-scheming, saying: 'Squeeze me from every side,' and Joseph, in his youth, with prudence and movement, escaping the devices of the lawless woman of Egypt. 'Darkness shall meet them by day, and the noonday, having felt it, shall be like night; and they shall perish in war' (Job 5:14). He says that as many as attempt beyond their own power as they think...

What they grasp without the inspiration of God, they find nothing, being overtaken by darkness and groping as if they were handling things in the night, being unable at all to perceive anything with precision. For just as a film lying over the eyes prevents the power of sight, so a passion of this kind acts upon the mind, causing it to fail to see even in bright and manifest things. Furthermore, their being stretched out signifies that ignorance is occurring, for they fail to see even at midday.

You might say that even one who believes in the evangelical message might still be called out in sins, being unable to see despite the presence of a great light; for in what he believes, light appears to him, but in what he does not use toward what is necessary with that light, he is blinded. This happened symbolically to the Egyptians; for they spent three whole days and three nights in darkness. And that they suffered this because of their own cause, it was not simply that the day was obscure to all, but to them alone, while the Israelites suffered nothing of the sort.

But also the men according to Sodom, being struck with invisibility, were shown through the senses symbolically to be being blinded according to their intellect. And those in the Kingdoms who were struck with invisibility [The text is damaged here.]. You do not say this without necessity, and you say that those who fall according to the truth through sophistical and plausible words fall into days of darkness and midday as if in night; but if the one standing for the truth exposes the thinness of their plausibility through proofs, they seem like the blind and the senseless, whom they are unable to withstand. They are also destroyed in the war, the struggle for the truth.

The symbols of these are the Egyptians, being led by Pharaoh and defeated by the Israelites by the help of God, and Goliath by David, and all those who were defeated by the servants of God according to the sensible. For these bring forth a sign that even the enemies of the wise according to the intellect are unable to stand against the truth advocated by them. But even more clearly is the example according to Moses, when he waged war against the Amalekites. For whenever the hands were lowered, a change occurred in the coming victory when they happened to be stretched upward toward God. From which it is shown, as the one with the high wisdom of the truth...

Divine deliverance of the weak§33

The Purpose of Suffering and Divine Providence§34

34The sins become visible through the wordrdrd, concerning heavenly matters and not through the senses. But hope, existing for those who are unable, is a reproof against the Novatians, who exclude repentance and cut off hopes. They ought to have been instructed even by Eliphaz, the one being rebuked, for there is hope of salvation with them.

'Let the mouth of the unrighteous be stopped' (Job 5:16)—as it is said, 'all unrighteousness shall stop her mouth' (Job 5:16), which is said instead of the unrighteous man. For often... If, indeed, Paul writes concerning love, the words are applied not to love itself but to the one possessing it. For he says, 'love does not wander, it is not puffed up' (1 Corinthians 13:4), and these things are spoken precisely concerning the one possessing it: 'love never fails' (1 Cor 13:8). Virtue does not fail, but the one possessing it.

Therefore, 'let the mouth of the unrighteous be stopped by unrighteousness,' that is, the unrighteous man, who is the devil, no longer having anything to say, just as Paul writes, saying, 'so that the one against you may be put to shame, having nothing to say concerning you' (Titus 2:8) instead of 'against us.' 'Blessed is the man whom the Lord reproves, and the instruction of the Almighty shall not offend' (Job 5:17). For He causes pain and again restores; He chastened, and His hands healed (Job 5:18). This is the most difficult thing in its delivery.

For it is said, 'and I will not visit their daughters when they whore, nor their virgins when they commit adultery' (Hosea 4:14). And observe that regarding the daughters, to whore is said, but regarding the virgins, to commit adultery. But also that which is said in Proverbs, 'Whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives' (Proverbs 3:12), subjects the mind to the same. And one of the saints, having this readiness and speaking boldly, offering words of repentance to God, said, 'I am ready for the lashes'; for I know that it happens profitably from You, just as one says to a wise physician, 'I am even ready for the incision, being confident in your skill.'

Therefore, still following the same principle, Job speaks in a certain way, as if toward a rebuke of a man (Job 16), as a type. For 'he causes pain and again restores' (Job 5:18). And regarding the words, they are authoritative concerning God. Moses himself says from the beginning: 'I kill and I will make live, I strike and I myself will heal' (Deut 32:39).

For it is not according to the Manichaeans that one causes pain and another heals; for there is one who is being afflicted, who has permitted the induction of evils for the purpose of leading through providence, the demons driving them; for they... are able... they lead the things of affliction toward health: 'six times out of necessity you shall be delivered, but in the seventh no evil shall touch you' (Job 5:19). If one were to stand upon what is said and consider, as Eliphaz is not of the holy ones, how such words are spoken by him, which might even be spoken to holy ones.

It must be said toward this, that the wise according to God, and before the law and the inscribed teaching, said many things unwritten with wisdom, which someone later handed down in written form by divine supply. It is therefore probable that even the friends of Job, having a well-ordered understanding, remembered the words arranged by the holy ones. This is that which leads them to bring forward sensible words, even if in some respects they erred.

What the laid out verses then suggest is this: to whatever extent someone possesses a world having come about in six days, the injustices and tribulations enduring in it. For even if someone is holy, he has the necessity of the need from the body, from which he is delivered, having surpassed the world and having come to a seventh rest. This is made clear from: 'pain and sorrow and sighing fled away' (Isaiah 35:10).

And according to this thought, he did not refuse to take the literal sense. For affliction does not touch the one who has surpassed the world, since even one having a way of being not lover of silver and being unrighteous, loss does not touch him, as it is sensibly understood to touch, as we previously noted, more than the word signifies; for in 'touching all' it signifies the approach and the touch itself, but in 'he who touches you as one touches his eye' the striking and the impulse.

The Nourishment of the Word and Lending§35

35It also shows an intention, even if the wrongdoer does not act it out through himself. It might also be understood thus: one who is still advancing, as if moving quickly toward the end through actions and deeds, would become a kind of violent one in six necessities; for 'violent ones seize the kingdom' (Matt 11:12). But when he reaches perfection, he will no longer request a lack of progress through pain and sweat, being forced by violence toward perfection.

This, therefore, is shown symbolically in the Patriarch: Jacob first being called so because of 'fluttering' through the passions, and later Israel because of his leisurely delay with the passions again. Jesus also said this to his own disciples: 'You are no longer of this world' (John 15:19), having leaped over him.

And if anyone objects, as if not submitting to a theory raised against what was said by Eliphaz, he would be just to give his opinion and say, if he thinks he does not have sense in this way: that until the sixth tribulation God allows a man to be afflicted, but does not allow him to be afflicted the seventh, having the experience that as many men have entered into many trials; for this is not unlike. 'In famine he will save you from death, and in war he will release you from the hand of iron' (Job 5:20).

If anyone were to say, as if it were not contrary to think that he who considers the sufferer to suffer through sin is not unjust, that even one being admonished by the Lord, after the admonition, immediately becomes worthy of such things as being saved from death in famine and released from iron by God, that there is no contradiction to this; for many diligent men died in famine, and not all those destroyed in war are wicked, the word remains unquestionable as it unfolds. For that which is said in the Psalms: 'I became younger; for I grew old and had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. All day long he shows mercy and lends' (Ps 37:25-26), is true and necessary to be taken according to understanding; for even a righteous man does not need those who feed, being a soul filled with the 'life-giving spirit'.' But also his seed, being brought forth according to the divine generation, will not be subject to this deficiency of food; for the one becoming a diligent imitator of Christ, according to Paul saying, 'become imitators of me, just as I...' (1 Cor 11:1).

One who walks in the commandments and judgments of God has the food of Christ. He also shows mercy and lends, not by lending what is forbidden—for how could he?—since his silver he did not give with interest, but rather provides instruction to children, from which progress and profit come to those hearing and to the teacher.

Regarding those who are knowledgeable, Jesus hastens to not have 'a bronze belt' (Matthew 10:9) nor to have anything at all, as he says boldly: 'Silver and gold I do not have' (Acts 3:6). He says, 'Do not turn away from him who asks to borrow from you' (Matthew 5:42), as previously stated. The foolish one, therefore, being lent to, does not cut off the connection. For hearing many words leading to instruction, he brings nothing to work.

But also this: 'You will lend to many nations,' said in precedence: 'but you shall not lend' (Deuteronomy 15:6), not having history—for how could it be possible to cross hostile nations to charge interest?—but it has also been said concerning the Israelites lending: 'You shall not charge interest to your brother' (Deuteronomy 15:6), and if you deposit it, 'before the setting of the sun you shall restore it' (Deuteronomy 15:6), which shows them being in need. It has the thought that one having the divine wealth must instruct all who approach him, not coming into the state of him who needs.

For the righteous were famished and in war endured many tribulations, it is evident to the reader in the royal histories, of the sons of the prophets famishing and of Lazarus, and David having been in many circumstances, showing that they had spiritual food according to what is said: 'Open your eyes and be filled with bread,' and being found outside of temptation according to thought, they did not consent to undergo death of the soul or the bond of sin, becoming outside the threat, by which it is said, 'not a famine of bread nor thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord' (Amos 8:11), drinking from the water which Jesus provides of the righteous, which also 'becomes in them a spring of water leaping into eternal life' (John 4:14). 'He will hide you from the scourge of the tongue, and you will not fear the evils coming' (Job 5:21). Concerning the one being admonished by the Lord and as if having repented, he says these things again, following his own principle, not being of this nor this being necessary, as he says. For the righteous were often reproached, of whom Joseph is the prudent one in Egypt...

The endurance of the righteous against slander§36

The House of the Virtuous§37

37"It shall be to you like the all-herb of the field." For he was not dividing life as one who is thus devastated and ageless produces offspring; for this one was devouring worms and slugs. And what did he mean by 'the lifestyle of a tent'—is he not complaining about not having a tent at all, but having thrown it away?

Therefore, since the history is being drawn toward sensible things, the mind must be guided wisely, especially since we thought those who went before were not unsuitable for the kind of teaching; for they do not seem trivial. For on account of ignorance, Job is urged to bring a sacrifice to God for their sins (Job 42:8), and indeed even friends (Job 42:8-12) of such greatness (Job 42:8-12) and virtue (Job 42:8-12) follow (Job 42:8-12); to know that one cause of the inductions exists, they were struck.

It is therefore said that: of the 'wild beasts,' as it was given that they 'would be at peace with you,' and the 'house' of your mind 'will be at peace,' and 'the lifestyle of your tent,' which is the improvement in your progress, 'will not complain.' And in addition to these, 'you will know' that in your good thoughts a 'seed' multiplies, resulting in the generation of children and becoming real. Like 'the all-herb of the field,' growing through the spark of virtue and increasing even more.

And indeed, we find 'house' used by the saints in the divine writings to mean a disposition, a way of life, a virtue, just as it is written concerning the midwives of the Hebrews: "because the midwives feared God, they made houses for themselves" (Exodus 1:21), which shows the virtue constructed by them from the fear of God. For they were not without dwellings before this. And what is said in Proverbs: 'The houses of transgressors will require cleansing, but the houses of the righteous are acceptable' (Proverbs 14:9). For this is said not of sensible things but of the dispositions in the mind — the base ones needing cleansing, the virtuous ones proving acceptable; 'acceptable' meaning not 'choiceworthy to someone' but 'worthy of praise.' For the good is choiceworthy even if no one chooses it, and acceptable even if no one accepts it.

It is not something chosen by a person, but something worthy of praise; for the good is something chosen even if no one chooses it. Chooses it, and it is acceptable even if no one accepts it.

And regarding the saying about 'the one fearing the Lord and desiring his commandments exceedingly' (Ps 112:3): 'wealth and glory in his house' is not spoken concerning a sensible house or glory; for many fearing God do not have either human glory or a wealthy house, like Elijah, like Elisha and those similar. Of the 'one being rich in good works' and 'in every word and in all knowledge' (1 Tim 6:18), as Paul writes, he is having wealth and glory in the house of the intellect and being adorned through all virtues in his way of life.

Furthermore, the Gospel clarifies such a house; for it says: 'whoever hears my words and does them is like a prudent man, who built his house upon the rock, and the rain descended, the winds blew, the rivers came, and the house was not shaken' (Matt 7:24-25), which is the state of the virtuous person of having turned the words of the Lord into works, who remains without want, not being harmed by any of the opposing energies. For upon 'the rock' he has 'Christ,' the one of such a kind has established his state and his choice. For to the one confessing him, it was said by him: 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church' (Matt 16:18); but to the one hearing the words as they happen and not connecting deeds to the words, he is 'a foolish man resembling one who built his house upon the sand' (Matt 7:26), which is the state upon the fluid things of life, things not receiving firm foundations.

Therefore, this one being unstable, he has a quick fall after a short trial being sent, whether through teaching from another or through some circumstance being led by an evil spirit. He who has a stable standing of the praiseworthy house will, according to Moses, be heard toward God. 'But you...'

Seed and Offspring§38

38"Let him stand with me." And concerning him the Savior says: 'There are some standing here who shall never taste death' (Matt 16:28).28).). Thus also Job had a house, which the wise man, "having built," established firmly "upon the rock" (Matt 7:24). Having this, even the disciples of Christ held an immovable stance, observing the life-saving words.

And "the house" of the intellect brings peace, being unmixed and unyielding, working the peace of virtue because it follows them; for nothing is discordant in the important matter. Concerning the virtues, the proverb is aptly spoken: 'Wise women built a house, but the foolish one dug it down with her hands' (Prov 14:1).wickedness works a distortion of the buildings quickly.

One virtue toward the building of a house is not sufficient. For this reason it is said in the plural: "Women built a house." But one wickedness is sufficient for distortion. For it is said: if anyone performs all the righteous acts, but performs one lawlessness, all his righteous deeds are set aside. For they no longer stand, nor do they remain, upon one wrong entering.

And his own virtue happens to be "not even to complain about the conduct of his tent" (Job 5:24). For it is necessary for one progressing, which is shown through the tent, not to stumble nor to sin; for it is possible, even while one is still progressing, that the one dwelling in the house is already bringing peace through perfection, from the progressing of the one having borne fruit and singing: "I will pass through a place of tent-dwelling until the house of God" (Psalm 42:4), in which the one having fallen short of having arrived at the perfection of virtue is slow-moving and most certain.

This is shown from: "Everyone born of God does not commit sin" (1 John 3:9). And assigning the cause, he asserts: "because his seed remains in him," saying that it made him. For concerning such a thing it is also said in the Gospel: "No one is able to snatch them out of the hand of my Father" (John 10:29). And we did not say that the virtuous one is unshakeable, but that he is difficult to shake.

But by himself he would become outside the hand of God by falling away; for "they themselves" say "they pushed him out from your hand" (Matt 26:56), clearly having become unworthy of being guarded by the hand of God, which Judas himself experienced, going out from the covering hand of God. For he has not said...

No one will come out, but 'no one is able to snatch them from the hand of my Father' (John 10:29). He himself will reject those who previously tore themselves away. For it is said: 'God will strike them down, because they did not listen to him' (Hosea 9:17), the one who guards, knowing that his seed is very much. For the earth of the diligent mind is good, receiving the seeds from the Word of the Brideway the Bridegroom familiarly and eagerly, or he himself sows the disciples through the Word given to him.

And the seed is often called a child: 'the seed of Abraham'—his children—not necessarily being both seed and child already. Regarding the Jews who cry out that they are the seed of Abraham, the Savior did not say: 'You lie,' but led forward: 'If you are children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham (John 8:39); for not all these are from Israel, the descendants of Israel. Nor is it that they are the seed of Abraham always a child.' He therefore says to them as not being children of Abraham: 'Do the desires of your father.' But those doing the desires of the devil, accepting him as father, are not children of Abraham. Blessed is the one becoming the seed of Abraham according to having the virtues of godliness and becoming a child, through being formed and not becoming dull, but bringing forth.

And there is when both the seed and the child are said in parallel, as is also set forth in the present. The intellect of the holy, which must be understood, brings forth offspring corresponding to the 'increase of the field' and a multitude exceeding in vital power, so that this 'man of the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 13:24) might thus 'become like' according to the Gospel, sowing in the field of his own heart, so that he might bear fruit 'a hundred, sixty, thirty' (Matt 13:8) at first, middle, and last, 'sowing in tears' (Ps 126:5), so that 'he may reap in joy' (Ps 126:6) and 'seeking the Lord, so that he may bring to him fruits of righteousness.' 'He will be released in a tomb like grain ripe being harvested in season, or like wheat of a threshing floor being gathered according to the hour.' Nothing of the existing things is without a proper end, even if it is taken by art. Nature and art both have an end and a purpose; for a vine is grown for the reasonable enjoyment of man, and a house is built by a craftsman having a purpose to complete a house for habitation. And so that not...

Virtue and Purpose§39

39The creation of humanity is rooted in the idea that people were created to live a life of virtue, as it is said, 'The word became flesh, man was created, to live according to virtue.' This concept is echoed in Psalm 39:4, where the psalmist prays, 'Make me know my end and the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what I lack,' demonstrating a desire to understand one's mortality and the limited time available to live a virtuous life (Psalm 39:4). The psalmist's prayer implies that he was created to live according to virtue and to participate in God's wisdom, speaking and acting in accordance with it. However, he acknowledges that he falls short in many areas, which he attributes to his own limitations, and so he asks God to reveal to him the end of his life, that he may know how much time he has left to make up for his deficiencies. The book of Ecclesiastes also touches on this idea, warning that one should not be hard, lest they die not in their time, as stated in Ecclesiastes 7:17, which serves as a warning to not neglect the pursuit of virtue, lest one's life be cut short before reaching its full potential. Similarly, David prays in Psalm 102:24, 'Do not take me away in the midst of my days,' expressing his desire to live a full and complete life (Psalm 102:24). Abraham, on the other hand, is described as 'old and full of days,' which is not merely a reference to his advanced age, but rather an indication of his spiritual maturity and fulfillment, having lived a life that was full and complete. The concept of being 'full of days' is not just about living a long life, but about receiving the illuminations of 'the sun of righteousness' without interruption, and being honored with the presbeia, or spiritual eldership, that comes from living a life of wisdom and virtue, as stated in Wisdom of Solomon 4:8-9, 'For old age is not measured by the number of years, but by the grayness of wisdom, and old age is a life without turmoil' (Wisdom of Solomon 4:8-9). Since Abraham believed in God and his faith was reckoned as righteousness, and he was 'full of days' and 'old,' it is fitting that he died in good old age, having lived a life that was full and complete. The fullness of days is understood in this way and is confirmed from other sources, such as the commandment to 'Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you' (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16). However, this is not an absolute guarantee, as many who have shown great honor to their parents have died prematurely, while others who have dishonored their mothers and fathers have lived long lives. Additionally, in Psalm 91:16, it is written concerning the one who dwells in the help of the Most High, 'With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation,' which indicates completion and fulfillment, rather than merely a long life (Psalm 91:16). For it is said that one is snatched away, so that evil may not change his understanding, as stated in Wisdom 4:11. All these things are said to us to show that events occur for a certain purpose and from many, but much more from God. Elihu, knowing this, says that the one who receives admonition gently and toward a return will have a good and honorable end, which is indicated to him by the fact that 'he will come into the grave like ripe wheat harvested in season' (Job 5:26). The word of God follows him in sequence, saying, 'Blessed is the man whom the Lord reproves' (Job 5:17), when he is also exhorted not to despise the admonition of the Almighty, as He strikes and wounds, yet saves him from six distresses, from the sword, and from the famine and war, and from the scourge of the tongue, and from the hiding of iron. On all these things, Elihu says, a good end will be received in due time and season, just as grain is gathered in a threshing floor. And it is blessed to be such grain, about which the Savior says, 'The good seed are the children of the kingdom' (Matthew 13:38). The Savior also teaches that 'unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds' (John 12:24), which means that the fruit of this grain is not merely physical offspring, but rather people who are the children of the kingdom. It is a great thing not to hear the words, 'I will pull you up and transplant you from your dwelling and your root from the land of the living' (Psalm 52:5), but rather to be filled with virtues like the grain that is filled and harvested in due time and season. The time and the hour are laid down in parallel, as in the command to 'Keep this law at the appointed times' (Exodus 12:2, Exodus 13:10). The spiritual perfection of the soul is not unripe, for it is written that 'those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy' (Psalm 126:5), which shows the beginning of virtue through their labors and exercises; but 'those who go out weeping, carrying their seeds, will return with songs of joy, carrying their sheaves' (Psalm 126:6), which signifies perfection and fulfillment. For the perfect one is indeed on a firm foundation, and we learn this well from the Savior, who teaches us about the importance of living a virtuous life and receiving the illuminations of the sun of righteousness…

The text begins mid-sentence with … and ends mid-sentence with …

Job's Magnanimity and the Nature of His Suffering§40

40He cleanses his threshing floor and gathers the grain into a granary, and burns the chaff with a lime-fire. It is clear that these things are not spoken concerning sensible things; for chaff is not burned with a lime-fire, nor does he seem to take up threshing concerning a sensible woman—for man is not a threshing-woman—but rather the perfection and fullness, as we have said.

We have, most wisely, in the Song of Songs, something said concerning the bride, who is the church or the perfected soul: 'Your navel is like a rounded vessel; the swelling of your womb is like a fenced threshing-floor of lilies' (Song of Solomon 7:2). And that the soul does not have this commonly called 'belly,' concerning which it is said: 'food for the belly and the belly for food' (1 Corinthians 6:13), but rather that one concerning which it is written: 'your law in the midst of my belly' (Psalm 40:8), and: 'from the fear of you in the belly we have endured pain and have given birth' (Isaiah 26:18).

And this same soul also has a 'navel' which is the middle of the intellect, which has become, according to the 'wine having been strained by wisdom,' the divine thoughts and having ascended super-eminently. And since these things were not able to be thought by men, they were strained with human words, so that in this way they might reach the 'swelling,' to receive the hearing of the naked, those unable to hear the things of wisdom.

And it is possible to show the non-human through the vessel, but also to say to the human: that you have an old and new scripture, which is the vessel, in the middle of your ruling principle. And you also have a 'belly' resembling a threshing-floor, 'fenced in lilies.' For since the lily has white on the outside, but a dark color inside, it would perhaps show that the perfected soul becomes white according to the word, concerning which it was said: 'my sister is white', being killed from the deathfulness of asceticism.

'Behold, these things we have searched out, these are the things we have heard. But you, know yourself if you have done anything' (Job 5:27). The aforementioned is confirmed, that being wise and perhaps having heard from old saints who taught divinely without writing, he was led to say someone having a reason, of which we also find similar things in the divine letters and set them aside. For through 'we have searched out' his wisdom is demonstrated, and through 'we have heard'...

Unless someone says that he speaks of instruction as if it were experience and knowledge of things, he follows the same beginning and remains with the idea that he has suffered through sin, and he brought forward: 'But know yourself if you have done anything,' so that he might also through this be making it manifest that: gap what I said concerning those committing sin; for I do not think it just to be punished. But I do not know the details of each of the sins.

'But know yourself,' which is to say: having known, repent, which is again remaining as if he were concerning a sin. For he thought one cause for the inductions. 'And having understood, Job says: If indeed anyone were to set my anger in a yoke, and to lift my pains in a yoke together, and indeed it would be heavier than a sandbank.' Just as from all the other things, so also from the things set forth, the magnanimity of Job is shown, bearing the circumstances bravely and very manfully. For many, when they come into circumstantial and distressing situations, they consider those who exhort and gap blame them as superfluous. But this one has prepared himself even for an answer gap of the circumstances gap.

Therefore, he would say the things set forth against the things spoken by Eliphaz: 'But now toil has come upon you and has touched you, and you have hurried' (Job 4:5), to demonstrate at the same time that these things are not happening because of sins, and to show moderation, supposing himself to be wavering even though the inspired spirit of the writer testifies to him that he might be 'blameless.' Therefore he says: if anyone would desire to set our trespasses and the provoked anger in a yoke, he would find it heavier than our trespasses. For the saint knew that these things were not happening because of sins but because of a struggle, where in the following he declared: 'I know that I shall appear righteous' (Job 13:18). Therefore he strove to lead his friends into such knowledge.

And if even the 'setting' signifies the cessation, he perceived it. And let it be understood thus: a yoke is said to be lying upon the neck of suffering animals. He might be saying: if anyone would be willing to pull with me the yoke of sufferings, so as to silence me from them through fellowship. But look, lest this be unworthy of the saint to lead us up to the first response. And he took sandbank aside because of the...

The Necessity of Feeling Toil§41

The Courageous Soul and Divine Discipline§42

42The nourishment of this thing exists not without toil and tribulation. Similar to this is the saying: 'through many tribulations it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of the heavens' (Acts 14:22), so that the bread might signify benefit, and the salt the toil, without which it is impossible for virtue to be perfected. From the same reasoning is also: 'and if there is indeed tasting in empty words?'. Every word lacking practical action is vain and empty.

A demonstration of this is: 'for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power' (1 Corinthians 4:20). It exists not in empty promises, but in the word, the things of salvation are active. Therefore, do not think that I carry forward empty words, nor you, O friends, strive for that. For because of this, since I have done nothing empty and vain to myself, 'my soul cannot cease' from the toil against the adversary; for my aim is not empty, but having the hope of salvation.

For if my grains are filled because of the difficult eating of the wound, my soul will not cease. For nothing 'will separate us from the love of Christ: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine' (Romans 8:35) and the following. Let all things shine in Paul. And if he wishes to signify that the standing up of the devil against him impedes his virtue, it is customary for his grains to exist through the wound, consider this.

'For if he might grant, and my request might come, and the Lord might grant my hope, let the Lord begin to wound me, but let him not lift me up to the end' (Job 6:3, 7:17-18). He who asks to be wounded by himself, not returning his request to come, but aiming to be fully satisfied in his own right, prays; and this was the end of the perfection: to lift up or even to appear to friends, for their benefit, the cause of the toils, that they were struck for the sake of the struggle.

For in this way they would not only not sin against the just, but also receive divine zeal, hastening to imitate the patience and courage being perfected in the holy one, through which also he was saying: 'if he might grant'—instead of: 'would that the Lord might grant'—'and my request might come, and the Lord might grant my hope'. For he prays for both, so that he himself might receive the crown of the contest and those who follow might not think their patience to be in vain. And it is possible to see and to marvel at him, even in the most extreme toils.

He is manly, because first he does not lack the initial response to a friend, treating the troubles as a leisure; and again, just as a brave athlete says, he stands militantly against the one set against him, knowing that his being brought low has happened not without the cooperation of God, saying: 'Let the Lord begin to wound me, but let him not raise me to the end,' instead of saying: 'May he grant the escape from tribulations.' Similar to this is: 'And let us not be brought into temptation' (Matt 6:13), which is often interpreted instead of: 'May it happen that one does not fall to the deceivers.'

See also the divine assurance: that the thing hoped for in prayer comes, not to everyone knowing if they pray profitably, or only to the saints. Living according to the will of God, they receive 'the assurance of hope' (Hebrews 6:11). And that he is not speaking concerning the life here, in saying: 'but let him not raise me to the end,' it is clear from his having said: 'Death to a man is rest.'

Being a perceiver, therefore, the saint accepts the wound from God, receiving Him as the best teacher, not as a tormentor, but as one seeking a testing, just as the Psalmist says: 'Test me, O Lord, and try me' (Ps 26:2), and the proverbial saying: 'He disciplines every son whom he receives.' This happens so that he may not become a tormentor by not being sympathetic to the discipline. For the saint, having surrendered himself entirely to God, does not waive reproof, 'knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience, testing, and testing, hope; and hope does not disappoint' (Rom 5:3-5).

'Let my city be a tomb, upon which I was leaping atop the walls, I will not show mercy upon it.' He who has despised all human glories and polities and the like, considers all things 'refuse' because of the saving hope, 'reckoning' political glories as a 'tomb' when dying, like Paul who says: 'It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me' (Gal 2:20). For those who boast greatly upon these human glories, like those leaping upon walls, the weary ones spring upon them, even if not the saint. For it is evident that he has said these things addressing the human person. For it is moderate-minded, even if someone else were the blessed one, to be testified to be 'blameless' and 'righteous.' And even saying these things: that even as a well-fortified city...

Divine Support and Patient Endurance§43

43I happened to be suffering from wealth and glory, but for me these things have died, and I do not consider their loss to be heavy. Therefore, I do not spare these things. Having died to them, I do not possess any desire for them at all, from which I live a blessed life.

For it is good 'to die to sin' (Rom 6:2), so that we may live for God and not, like the 'squandering widow' (1 Timothy 5:6), live only to be delivered unto the death of sin. 'For I have not spoken the holy words of my God.' Because of this, I consider all human things to have died to them, since I have not spoken false words concerning God, namely, because I have not stumbled in anything but am 'righteous'—this he says according to the one saying, 'I have no conscience against myself' (1 Corinthians 4:4)—or because the things spoken in testimony toward God he showed to be not false, as it is said concerning him: 'and he did not give foolishness to God' (Job 1:22).

For by the words of God, which testify to Him, his way is found to be in agreement with that which is in virtue. Therefore, he also speaks of God's virtuous deeds of himself according to the one saying, 'Not I, but the grace of God with me' (1 Corinthians 15:10). And it is also an indication of being disciplined by God that he says, 'For I have not spoken the holy words of my God.' Nothing appears less unformed from God than actively showing that: 'do not boast in your wisdom' (Jeremiah 9:23). For he confesses all things to God.

For it is useful not to cast oneself upon oneself, which the divine word again exhorts: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong in his strength, nor the rich in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows the Lord' (Jer 9:23). We have examples in the Scriptures of the ungodly boasting and trusting in themselves: Goliath and Pharaoh, who did not long for what they hoped for, 'their pride being quenched.' And 'those claiming to be wise become fools' (Romans 1:22) according to the saying. But also concerning those boasting in wealth it is said: 'Do not fear when a man becomes rich and when the glory of his house increases, for he shall not take all by dying' (Psalm 49:16-17). For either he will leave the same things himself, or the same things will leave him when change has occurred.

But the holy man, casting nothing upon himself, entrusts all to God. 'For what is my strength, that I endure? Or what is my time, that my soul is sustained? Is the strength of stones my strength?'

“Or are my fleshly parts made of bronze? Or did he not rely upon them? But help from me has ceased. Mercy failed me, but the Lord's oversight looked down upon me.” (Job 6:12). Being loving, he wants to instruct his friends, so that they do not wonder why he endures such a heavy burden of painful things, and to show them that, if not by a divine calculation, he would not have borne these things given human weakness—for by what strength, he asks, do I endure these things, or for what length of time will I be able to live enduring these? My strength is either of stone or my flesh is bronze, so that I do not feel the pain through them? —so that they do not despise patience by remaining unfeeling. For some even reason about the martyrs that they do not feel the pains, which would deny them virtue.

But he also wants them to grasp this with their mind, that he does not suffer because of sin, saying: “Did he not rely upon it?” (Job 6:13). And to this he adds, hinting at the forgiveness from God: “But help has ceased. Mercy failed me, but the Lord's oversight looked down upon me,” so that from these they may understand that the saint, being conscious of these things happening to himself, bears them bravely standing against the one questioning, having believed that even if the Lord pardoned him by forgiving the one who asked, he was encouraging him to endure. Such also the blessed David sings, saying: “Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he attended to me.” (Psalm 40:1). And it is possible that he says these things in his rebuking outburst: “You think so, that both the help and the oversight of the Lord looked down upon me.” He himself knows that for the sake of testing, God delivered him, as “blessed is the man who endures temptation, for having been proven he will receive the crown of life, which he rejoiced in for those who love him.” (James 1:12). “My closest ones did not attend to me, like a mountain stream leaving or like a wave passing me by.” (Job 6:15). And this happened to him for testing; for the absence of friends in afflictions is no small pain. Enduring this tribulation, the holy David also sang: “They looked to the right and looked, and there was none recognizing me.” (Psalm 142:4). And if even the invisible powers of the saint through his virtue...

Distinctions of Friendship§44

44The brief passing of the trial shows that he was visited, for The mind is drawn to the statement: 'the Lord's oversight found me too high' (Job 5:9). Just as the Lord of all, not hating, did not merely visit him, but did so to show the adversary that his evil cannot prevail against human virtue, so too might the divine powers—being worthy to know the will of God—allow the struggle to coincide with Job, so that his achievement might appear more brilliantly.

'Those who deceived me have now fallen upon me' (Job 6:15). Perhaps he reproaches them, saying: 'Unaware of the cause of these inductions, you dare to say such things which you did not say before.' It is also likely that many others despised him because of his suffering, and this was also the doing of the one who made the request. See that we have not surrendered the divine powers by allowing the trial to pass briefly just so his virtue might be known, but rather that other opposing powers were permitted to leap upon him and fight against him.

'Like snow or congealed crystal, as it was arranged that heat should come and it was not recognized what it was, so I too was left by all. I was lost and became a stranger' (Job 6:17). The phrase 'Like snow or congealed crystal, as it was arranged' is spoken hyperbolically, being rendered as: 'As snow or crystal was arranged.' The example is appropriate to the hyperbole of his change, making him utterly unknown, like snow or crystal being dissolved by heat and thus making the place where it was, unknown. And it is good to use such an example; just as snow and crystal make the place indistinguishable when dissolved by heat, so also a friend, appearing to be one, is revealed when trials arise, and what he hid before, he makes manifest.

When a distressing time is present and the forming of friends is tested, the saints have certainty, while those who love possess this condition of friendship, keeping it incorruptible both in ease and in adversity. And it is no wonder if they even extend love toward enemies, being peaceful with those who hate peace, according to what is said by the Lord through the prophet:

“Say, our brothers, to those who hate you, so that the name of the Lord might be glorified, but they themselves will be ashamed” (Isaiah 66:5). And once, since the discourse began concerning friendship, it followed to recognize the differences of friendship.

One is that which is beautiful in itself, which even the saints establish; another is because of utility, such as when someone has a friend of a physician because of this very thing. This friendship, even if it is not perfect, does not possess any human artificiality. Another is friendship except because of the pleasant, without which the friend is no longer a friend, and because of ambition, so that they might seem to the many to be friends, contributing nothing to the honor of those. But the one choosing only for utility, a friend is most uncertain; according to the fact that when the need is no longer present, he replaces the friend, eliminating friendship according to this; he chooses the useful things before the pleasant things, which is also subject to reproach.

The discourse exhorts toward true friendship, saying: “Do not abandon your friend and a patrimonial friend.” “For the recent one is not like him.” I call the recent one “uncertain,” whereas the “ancient” or patrimonial one has stability, even if you receive him according to time;... the one who has come through experience does not neglect the recent one; for he, truly knowing the hearts from experience,... as he performs the judgment.

And the “I was lost and became a stranger” he says toward the lamentation of the many considering the loss of all, the taking away of the possessions and moneys of all, and that he encountered poverty. Therefore also he became a stranger, having been abandoned by all his own. “Behold the ways of the impious, the paths of the ungodly, who look upon them. And those trusting in cities and money shall owe shame” (Ps 73:18). I myself, he says, suffered these things, having fallen away from wealth and many children and glory and the other human things. And yet, I am not amazed or surprised by any of these. For even the saints, imposing themselves upon the nature of the indifferent, do not consider the taking away of these things to be a heavy burden, and they exhort others just as the blessed David, singing, “If wealth flows, do not add to your heart” (Ps 62:10). And again: “Do not trust in princes and in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation” (Ps 146:3). Therefore, the saint, correcting them, spoke thus in his leisure.

The Reward of Patience and Gentle Correction§45

45He makes the Word say: 'Behold the paths of the Bold, the ways of the Sabeans who see' (Job 6:19), which is: seeing with intellect, so that his whole mind might be such; but I became a stranger and was stripped of all.

Understand the paths of the Bold, judge the ways of the Sabeans, even if they are well-off; we think with minds that, trusting in wealth and glory, they do not have right paths or ways. And he was saying these things submissively and to those who seemed like friends, that he who falls into such evils is carried away, saying: even if you are kings and will not fall into misfortune, but understand the paths of the Bold and the Sabeans—their paths [The text is damaged here.]—that trusting in human things, you are incurring shame.

If you would also take the interpretations of the names, this thought would occur, that the 'Bold' are those falling away, while the 'Sabeans' are those returning. Therefore, he exhorts those falling away from virtue, who have trusted even in wealth, to observe them, but he also exhorts to understand those returning to the nature of things, because it does not always remain in prosperity, but also frequently turns back.

Therefore, there is shame in trusting in money or in cities, saying 'cities' meaning the human glories and as if they were in safety. If those falling away were to be praised, he exhorts: understand, how there are also others leaving evils and not always prospering in human things.

If you would wish to learn that things receive much change, those enjoying things frequently lose many of which they were deprived; you would not have placed them as if they were permanent. For 'he who has trusted in wealth will fall, but he who grasps what is just will rise' (cf. Proverbs 11:28), just as Lazarus was carried into the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:22), but the rich man is delivered to the torment having fallen upon it (Luke 16:23), who through arrogance overlooked Lazarus. For indeed the word observed that...

Regarding 'he was set at the gate' and that he was very rich, so that he might not have an excuse saying that they did not know him or did not possess sufficiency. And 'rising' is also well used. For just as the sown things, having undergone decay, later bloom, so he who is pressed by circumstances and endures will have the rising as a reward for his patience, 'shining like the sun in the kingdom of the Father' (Matthew 13:43).

For he was persuaded in the Lord according to the things said: 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord' (Psalm 84:12); 'those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion' (Psalm 125:1)', and saying: 'I have trusted in the Lord', not 'in money or in human cities', but in the Divine Wealth and 'the city of the great King' (Psalm 48:2), whose 'foundations are in the holy mountains', calculating the words of the Lord as 'desirable things far above gold and precious stone'.

'Even you also have come to me compassionately.' And he who admonishes those who have fallen into false accusations with a gloomy countenance is not correcting them according to reason by being moved. For this is not the purpose, but rather to urge them toward manliness and to engage bravely. For to say: 'Why then did we sin?' is more heavy than to be light in toil.

For in truth, they approached him compassionately to rescue him from being tossed about concerning the cause of the indictment, and because they were trying to correct him by accusing one who was not submissive. 'So having seen my wound, you were afraid.' The saint is most pastoral and toward those who are not rightly disposed toward him, he approaches by correcting them from their own error and receiving from their own state the beginning of the exhortation; for every one who sins falls into gloom, and he who fell from sins suffered this, and you also be afraid, receiving fear from our wound. For it was clear to them that 'no one is clean from the filth of men'. And these things indeed the blessed one says as correcting regarding their error, but also useful toward...

The Logic of Intercession§46

46Sympathy and the prevention of the words being made hollow. 'For what did I ask? Do I depend on the strength from you, so that you might rescue me from the hand of enemies or from the hand of the powerful?' The irrationality of the rebuke, even while he himself corrects it, he says: if, when I am asking for myself, you say you are unable to carry the prayer for me because it is in sin, there was a reason. But since this has not happened, the charge against me is in vain.

And we have this same thing in the divine writings. For sometimes a prayer happens for those having an inclination toward repentance, but for those opposing, what happens has no reason. Immediately also, God says to the prophet: 'And you, do not pray for this people.' And he says he can proceed with the reasoning of not needing to bring a prayer to him, saying: 'Do you not see what these are doing? Their sons are gathering wood and their fathers are burning fire and the women are making hollows for the army of heaven,' they have introduced a common zeal through a common sin; therefore, do not pray for them.

It is necessary, therefore, if ever an embassy is sent to God by a holy person concerning someone, to run together for that one for whom the embassy is made. For if one acts contrary to the one interceding, he does something similar to what is said: 'One building and one tearing down. What more did they profit than labors?' Furthermore, it is as if the intercessor is shamed.

The Mosaic things testify to this; for when he had ascended to God, it was said to him concerning the people passing below: 'Hasten down; your people have sinned' (Exodus 32:7). And observe what has been said; for when he was being sent to begin for them and to lead and to legislate, God himself says from his own face: 'Go and bring out my people' (Exodus 3:10). For it was worthy of him to be a people. When he turned away from the sincere healing toward him, they are no longer God's but man's. For he says: 'Your people have sinned' (Exodus 32:7), and he is not being philanthropic by this. For having seen the people unworthy of himself, he did not reject them completely, but again through Moses he lets them go, bringing them back to the care concerning them by saying: 'your people,' so that he might thus intercede for them and again turn them back from error, which also happened. For he said, praying: 'If indeed...'

blot me out from your book

Suffering for Discipline, Not Sin§47

47To turn back toward virtue. 'For I will not endure even a single word from you.' This is courage; for many men, hearing words while in the midst of heavy burdens, often falter, so that they even weaken through them. But the holy man accepted neither the rebuke from friends nor the words regarding brevity, not at all receiving them as things capable of shaking him.

'Instead, you fall upon an orphan, but you strike at a friend.' Because of this, I do not accept the rebukes from you as being righteous, because just as you fall upon an orphan and a helpless person, not seeing that everyone is a helper, you also strike at a friend, not recognizing the duties of friendship. The saying is useful for not interfering in the misfortunes of others.

'But now, looking into your faces, I will not lie.' The saying is instructive for not bringing forward words of gossip concerning those who are absent, but for speaking what is necessary to one's face. For it has been said: 'Do not speak, nor listen easily to one gossiping.' And it is a matter of outspokenness to say: 'I will not lie,' just as Paul says: 'That I do not lie'.

'Sit down then, and let it not be unjust. And again, come together to the righteous.' These things are permissive and not harsh, teaching with leisure and attention, which is shown by the 'sit down,' and examining what is to be spoken. This is also said elsewhere: 'Before you examine, do not condemn.' And great is the command: 'Let it not be unjust.' For it is great not to act unjustly in speech, as it has been said: 'If anyone does not stumble in speech, he is able to bridle his whole body' (Jas 3:2).

'Again, come together to the righteous.' The 'again' is like their previous state, when he was teaching them to come together when he was not in a crisis, that they must not make their judgment out of the necessity of the afflicted, but looking toward the righteous. And he fulfills the promise reverently, saying: 'Looking into your faces, I will not lie,' advising them to occupy themselves with the pursuit of the righteous.

Since the friends thought that those in distress were as those who must encounter God concerning sin, as if this were the cause of their sufferings, he prays that he may make known to them why he set himself as a rod for himself, that it is through struggle and not through sin; for not everyone who encounters God suffers this because of sin. 'Am I a burden to you?' I think I am a burden.

It is upon me; for they weigh me down saying, 'You suffer because of sin.' And because of this, they impose a kind of burden upon me through me, as if punishing the innocent. But I say that you do not punish me, but you train me, even if they thoughtlessly consider that anyone receiving the trial unhappily suffers because of sin.

And why should I not make my iniquity a forgetfulness and a cleansing of sin? To seek those things according to Him is to teach friends and to reason, 'that,' even if I have sinned something, the good God, like the friends, overlooks the faults, provided they themselves did not suffer, so that from this they may understand that he suffers not because of sin, but through struggles. And these things lead them into understanding and are not a little of the righteous, as we have said, so that they may not observe him through his own goodness, but rather that cleansing for sin happens not through continuous punishment.

Now I shall depart to the earth, but I am no longer rising at dawn. He explains the disposition of those who do not correctly take this to mean: if these have taken me to be a sinner and suffering because of sin, they think that having me thus established with nothing after this, 'I have hoped most in this life alone,' and according to them, if I depart to the earth, I shall no longer be; and after days pass, I shall no longer be; for another age will not receive me at all according to them.

But it is a holy voice, upon which also the blessed one hoped, saying: 'I shall rise at dawn' (Psalm 57:8), and again: 'Out of the night my spirit rises toward you, O God' (Ps 42:5), and: 'O God, my God, toward you I rise' (Ps 42:5); which also indicates the daily staying awake and the awakening from this age into the coming age. If anyone should say plausibly that: until I am in the shadows, I happen to be in night, but having risen and having become in the day, I am no longer in transitory things.

As we also previously noted, these things are not spoken of for a short time; for he would not have testified as righteous. But Baldad the Sachite, having supposed this, says: 'Until when will you speak these things? A spirit of many sorrows from your mouth (Job 8:2). Will the Lord not judge unjustly, or he who made all things trouble the righteous (Job 8:3)?' Being of the same grief as the one perishing, and he too—that because of sin the evil things certainly...

The Restoration of Righteousness and the Nature of Purity§48

48Regarding the words directed toward Job, it is being sent—and by sharing in the same cause as the former friend, he makes the subordinates act—it was necessary to consider that whatever is harmful falls not only through trivial things but also through significant ones; for they are indifferent. Furthermore, it was more necessary to realize that the righteous man is more wonderful when enduring afflictions and pains.

Thus, this one also rebukes the blessed one, saying: 'Until when?'—saying only: 'Until when?'—'Do you not perceive the cause of the pains?' And he charges him with much talk, he who ought to have marveled more at him, because, as if forgetting the pains, he was making these words regarding doctrines, which the friends did not know, even while they were not imposing themselves upon investigation, although they were being driven by distress. Then, further confirming his opinion and presenting a reasoning to him as well, he says: 'Will not the Lord judge unjustly, or he who made all things trouble the righteous?' For there was a disturbance of justice according to their assumption, if being righteous he suffered. But they are ignorant of these things; for the concession made against him has happened for the sake of highlighting and for the purpose of courage.

'If your children have sinned against him, he sent it at the hand of their lawlessness' (Job 8:4). This one also holds the word together and carries himself along with the doctrines, saying: 'Even if you did not sin, but your children did, you would not have considered that one would punish another for another.' But this also he was merely striking at, because through his own sin lawlessness was sent at the hand of them, hinting at the fall through which his children were lost. And he makes a mention of a son, making the word from the best part; for Job also had daughters. It is therefore evident that the sinning of sons and having much benefit from Job, as also the daughters sinned, is clear.

And against him again, his opinion and these things are being criticized. 'But you rose up early to the Lord Almighty, praying: If you are pure and true, he will listen to your prayer and restore to you a way of righteousness' (Job 8:5-6). He says this while contending. For having said that 'he sent it at the hand of the lawlessness of your sons,' he says to him: 'You rose up early to the Lord; if you are pure, he will listen to your prayer.' For how can he be pure, concerning whom he was implying that through sin [he was...]

Does it follow? Most especially, that it brings it: 'and he shall restore to you a manner of righteousness' (Job 8:6), instead of: he will give to you as to one pure, restoring the pleasant things again. But we have 'the pure' signifying instead 'the upright', just as it has been said: 'blessed are the pure in heart' (Matt 5:8); for this reason it is said, because they do not have the impurity which is from evil; 'as it has been said' concerning the wicked: 'it is crushed through the impurity of the soul'; and again concerning something: 'its impurity toward its feet.' Such also are those whose 'feet run toward wickedness' (Prov 1:16).

But if righteousness is being restored to him, he does not have it now; and if he does not have it now, how is he pure? Or how does he waver, that he is pure, remaining in doubt, because he is a sinner by falling in circumstances? And this opposition of theirs followed from having placed a beginning that errs, which follows every heresy. For saying to the one in wrongdoing: 'if you are pure and true, he will listen to your prayer and restore to you a manner of righteousness' (Job 8:6), he shows that it is possible for the good and true to fall into these things; which follows by necessity, that not everyone who is in circumstances is wicked and in sins; therefore your first things shall be few, and your last things unutterable (Job 8:7).

Again, both then and now he fights for his beginning; for as he follows, he receives the understanding, that God restores the pleasant things to the pure after much suffering in many ways. For it seems through these things that he introduces the manner of the bringing in of painful things, which he did not previously set forth, through which he says 'his last things shall be unutterable' (Job 8:7), making it clear as if, having endured bravely—unless someone says that he says these things will happen to him after he has repented from the prayer toward God—but this 'not' does not allow the saying: 'if you are pure', even though the thing said: 'but you, rise up early toward the Lord, the Pantokrator' (Job 8:5) is for the purpose of contrast.

For 'inquire of the first generation, search out according to the lineage of the fathers' (Job 8:8). He wishes to establish his own word from the former men or writings, which contained their lives. For nothing is to be considered as being both an image and letters, especially because of the saying: 'who would give that my words might be written down?' and the following: also laws existed, according to which these also were walking, the friends say. For tomorrow...

The Nature of Life and Teaching§49

49We are, and we do not know it, for our life upon the earth is a shadow. For we must understand clearly the words 'for we are dust' For it is important to understand what is said about man, such as the many things said about David in the Scriptures, that he 'was a red-haired one with beauty of eyes' (1 Samuel 16:12). But this we hear not concerning the soul, but concerning the body. But when he himself says 'the indefinite things', 'and the hidden things of my heart you have made known to me', concerning the soul we understand this. And therefore the 'dust' we hear to be not according to the soul, but according to the human nature. Thus also it is joined: 'for our life upon the earth is a shadow.' Therefore he speaks concerning the life upon the earth, that it turns out to be a shadow.

And once since the memory of this word has occurred, it is necessary for us to discuss it. Therefore it is said, the shadow, in relation to a prototype, just as it has been said: 'for having a shadow, the law of the things about to come' (Hebrews 10:1). And a shadow is also the accompaniment, and the approach is often called a shadow, just as it has been said similarly: 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you' (Luke 1:35). And 'shadow-sketching' is also said to be an indistinct image of impression before the manifest writing; it is therefore possible to take the human life to be a shadow according to what is suitable and productive for discourse. And it is also possible to be contrasted against a prototype; for just as the present age exists as a shadow toward the life that is to come, existing as vanity. And this life can also be called a shadow-sketch, since here indeed knowledge is 'in part' (1 Cor 13:12), and perfection will be in the coming age. And it can also be viewed as shadows, since we say that even the shadow of the bodies is an accompaniment; and behold, is this not made manifest in: 'Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity' (Eccl 1:2)? For not simply are the creatures of God vanity, but...

Just as vanity exists in things that are temporary and quickly changing compared to the eternal heavenly things. Life signifies many things, namely this living or the way of life; it also signifies possession, as it is said: 'whoever has the life of the world and sees his brother in need' (1 John 3:17). And money is said to be life, as it is said: 'if a man gives his life in love, they will render him nothing.' Do not these teach you and also announce and bring words out from the heart?

Wishing to believe these things from the older traditions as being more successful in matters, whereas those in his time did not succeed. Once, since the discourse is about teachers, let us say that it is a great praise to the teacher, if—whether he learned from those before him, or read it himself, or learned from another—he sometimes himself establishes things not contrary, but in agreement. For just as no one would accept a land that gave back the sown seeds, so no one would accept, in his own land, only providing children and monks with what he heard, providing wonders, but rather, by producing other wonderful things through this, being able to bring forth what he learned through the power of tongue; for there are those unable to this, able to benefit only themselves and not others.

If you say that teaching and announcing can be different, consider how the one teaching brings proofs, while the one announcing contains a narrative of the clear things, from which the unclear things are known. That thoughts send out words from the heart, the Savior says from the opposite: 'for from the heart come out evil thoughts' (Matthew 15:19). And if you were to say that to bring words out means to transition into the works themselves, you would not be erring, as others hear from a parallel passage about bringing out and announcing. Does papyrus not flourish without water, or will a lotus be raised without drink? While still on the root, it will certainly not be harvested. Having said, that

The Unstable House of the Wicked§50

50The teaching of the ancients and the fathers is passed down to those who come later; he prepares it by way of a parable, saying: just as a papyrus without water does not flourish nor rise up as a reed unless it is watered, while it is still upon the earth—so it will not be harvested—so it is impossible, without receiving benefit in the mind from superior things, to bring forth useful fruit.

And he can also speak concerning human affairs, saying that just as these things are watered by water through providence, without which they would be thin and dried up, so also, if anyone falls into calamities and then experiences a change, it is due to providence. And if the things happening through men have even the appearance of a human root, they will not have substance without providence directing them.

Similar to this is what is well said by the Psalmist: 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it' (Psalm 127:1). Before drinking, every herb will be dried up (Job 8:12). This is said regarding the former parable concerning every herb. He says, therefore, that whether it be small or great, that which is in life is under providence, being dried up unless this providence watches over it. Thus, in all things, the end of those who forget the Lord will be so.

He says something glorious regarding a concept of unceasing steadfastness: that just as plants not watered by water are dried up, so human affairs happening outside of providence have no substance. If even this author is speaking at the end with a concept concerning the coming age, consider this: for it is not contrary that those who forget the Lord will encounter such an end according to the sensible, as those living prudently have said: 'And they slept in the rest of Hades.' But the hope of the ungodly will perish.

In reality, the hope of the ungodly is not concerning a subsisting thing. For hope is nothing other than, by nature, an expectation of good things. And he who fears expects, but not good things; for fear is an expectation of evils, while hope is of good things. Since, therefore, the ungodly do not expect subsisting things, their hope is destroyed; for as they remain, they use things for pleasures, and in this they have a vain hope. You have this in Proverbs, differing much in wording, but agreeing with what is now said: 'Ab...

When a righteous man dies, he does not regret (Proverbs 11:7); for if the righteous man dies, he finds the things he expected and did not regret having labored for them. Here it is said: 'The hope of the ungodly perishes' (Proverbs 10:28), and in Isaiah: 'Hope to the godly' (Isaiah 57:19). But those 'hoping only in this life' and 'saying: Let us eat and drink,' have a vain and empty hope, stretching themselves toward this visible thing; but Paul says naturally: 'But the hope that is seen is not hope; for what one sees, what does he hope for?' (Romans 8:24). And his house shall be desolate.

Regarding this sensible thing, it is not entirely true. It is clear, however, that he who transforms the words of Jesus into works builds a dwelling; and this is the virtue, of which the one holding fast will never have this house desolate; for the righteous must remain in his own virtue; for 'his righteousness remains unto the age of ages.' Since evil is without substance, for this reason the wicked man is desolate, being always unstable and possessing nothing firm, because evil itself is a following-after; and if anyone says this also concerning the good, claiming that men acquire virtue by effort, but rather the good itself has happened. 'Therefore the house of the ungodly shall be desolate'; for clearly the truth dissolves the deception. And his tent shall fall away like a spider's web. The spider's web shows variety, constructed from a natural fabric, which is easily dissolved when someone touches it. Thus the works of the wicked and the construction of their way of life resemble a spider's web, not standing firm.

And in Isaiah it is said concerning the wicked who have conceived iniquity and spoken injustice: 'They weave a spider's web, for they conceive pain and bring forth iniquity' (Isaiah 59:5); and their practice is also described, saying: 'They have made wailing shields, and the one about to eat of their prey has crushed a viper and found a basilisk in it; their web shall not be a garment, but a spider's web they weave' (Isaiah 59:6). And see, that regarding their instability, the harmful thing also signifies through the shields. Even if there were a dove according to what is said: 'Who are these? Like clouds flying and like doves with their young' (Isaiah 60:8), it would have wailing, which, having been divided, provides living offspring because of nobility; but the...

The Unholy Construction vs. The Spiritual House§51

51Through evil, they produce unavenged snakes, which are trampled by the holy, as the psalm says about the perfect: 'Upon shield and basilisk you will step and trample lion and dragon' (Psalm 91:13). But these are not fabrics of garments covering the shame of sin, but of a useless and dissolvable web, which is also shown by the saying: 'They will not surround themselves from the works of their own hands'—the important one surrounding himself from the works of his own hands, as speaking boldly and thankfully saying: 'My soul will rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation' (Isaiah 61:10), which is a garment Paul says to put on: 'Put on the bowels of mercy' (Colossians 3:12) and the following. And again: 'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ' (Romans 13:14). This garment is not a web; for it is incorruptible and therefore remains; but the web of the evils is unsubstantial; for it is wickedness. Therefore it has been said: 'His sin will be sought and will not be found through it;' for it resembles a web, dissolving; therefore also a tent, but it does not have a house like the one guarding the words of Jesus. If he should attempt to overspread his house, he will not stand.

For instance, the impious one—he who represents the deception of houses by craftiness and bad probability—this one, being convicted by the truth, will not stand, just as his deception cannot even have a standing. And when he is seized, he will not remain. For the thought of the evils, called a tent, is a falling, easily-destroyed thing, so that it has not even seemed to have happened at all. For it is moist under the sun, and from its rot his broom will come out. It is supposed that the life of the impious is something chaotic, as being dissolved by brief heat. And it should not be wondered at, if it is said to be 'moist under the sun'; for there are things that are dissolved under the sun like wax, since also under fire. Thus also the impious will be. For it has been said: 'As wax melts from the presence of fire, so the sinners shall perish from the presence of God' (Psalm 68:1). And being sifted by the 'sun'—not of 'righteousness', but that one, concerning whom it is said: 'The sun of the day shall not burn you' (Psalm 121:6)—it brings out a broom from wickedness and rot, becoming 'under it' the 'planting which the Father did not plant' (Matthew 15:13).

which also shall be uprooted. It lies upon a heap of stones, and in the midst of pebbles it shall live. This he says, because the impious one intends to be an anti-god and an anti-Christ.

For God indeed dwells in a temple and Christ dwells, according to what is said: 'Do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?' (1 Cor 3:16), and again it is said: 'If anyone loves me, we will come and make a dwelling with him' (John 14:23). 'For we are the house of Christ, if we hold fast the boldness and the boast until the end' (Hebrews 3:6). A house is a composition of stones according to art, having union with others; such is virtue and purity and the very participation of the One.

But what is the scattering of stones and the mixing of pebbles? It is near to evil, which has no union but disorder. The impious, therefore, has his whole conduct in a house of evil, being scattered like stones being built up among those outside, which do not fit 'the building of the tower' according to the Shepherd. If he presses down, the place will deceive him.

Even if we submit the words, as many as are held firm, to the minds [of which the words spoken by the diligent are near], we should not be surprised. For he said: 'Inquire of the first generation, and search according to the race of the fathers' (Wisdom of Solomon 10:18), as he himself learned from them; and do not let your thoughts be lost through not knowing, lest you fall into any misfortune.

The 'pressing down' is often taken in Scripture as that: 'Israel was trodden down, and became among the nations as a useless vessel' (Hosea 8:8), that is, he is conquered. And again: 'In the rising up of men against us, would they have trodden us down while living?' (Psalm 124:3). And again: 'That the mortal might be trodden down by life.'

It is said also concerning the sophists and those advocating the 'wisdoms of this age' and of its 'rulers': 'Their strong ones trod down those holding stones'; what kind of stone, the stone of Christ? 'For the stone was Christ.' Thus also 'Aaron's rod trod down the rods of the Egyptians who rejoiced' (Ex 7:12), being symbolically shown that the confession of the truth conquers the 'false names of knowledges.' If, therefore, he 'presses down' and begins to conquer, 'the place,' which he holds through 'the gathering of stones,' 'will deceive him,' being unsubstantial.

The True Joy of the Righteous§52

52Being according to what was said: 'and injustice lied against itself' (Psalm 27:12) because it lacks a secure foundation. By the lion starting from itself, having trampled the two legs and the lobe of the ear, the one who came for salvation scattered them, having corrected our wandering powers and our hearing. The place is often called instead of ranks and order: 'from where Judas passed over.' So also regarding the deceiver, who deceives the user without offering anything certain to him. Have you not seen such a destruction of the ungodly? And he brings as a witness all the things previously said concerning the ungodly, which he also named the destruction of the ungodly, because he does not remain upon those things on which he boasts, as these things fall away from him.

This is shown by: 'do not fear when a man becomes rich and when the glory of his house increases, for he will not take all things in dying, nor will the glory of his house descend with him' (Psalm 49:16-17). And whether poverty or prosperity alternate, they do nothing, for they are among the indifferent. But he who remains in wickedness until the end will have a great destruction. And from the earth he will sprout another; for the Lord will certainly not cast away the simple. It appears that even if the ungodly undergoes destruction, not all are lost; for there will be a diligent one sprouting anew. For God will not turn away from the simple, that is, He will not entirely exclude justice.

Here 'simple' means the one not having guile, not the well-disposed; for the name signifies both. For when he speaks concerning the heretics, saying, 'through fair speaking and blessing they deceive the hearts of the simple,' he means the well-disposed, those slow in understanding. And again: 'the simple and well-disposed clung to me,' which signifies the righteous, the 'simple believes every word' (Proverbs 14:15) signifying the one who is uncontrolled and unable to discern the falsehood in the words, believing everything plausible. And he who says, 'but because of my simplicity, I received' signifies virtue. And every gift the ungodly will not receive. It is appropriate to the Lord, who does not cast away the simple, that not even one of the gifts of the ungodly be attached to him. 'For thanks are not good from the wages of a prostitute', and 'the sinner sacrificing a calf to me as...

The one killing the dog. It is noteworthy, however, that 'all is a gift' is said instead of 'nothing is a gift' according to prophetic custom, just as when God says in the prophet: 'if a righteous man does one sin, all his righteousness shall not be remembered' (cf. Ezekiel 18:24), instead of 'not any'. And the mouth of the truthful shall be filled with laughter. Throughout the whole book, he remembers the truthful regarding the righteous. Thus also Job himself was testified at the beginning, that he was 'truthful, abstaining from an evil thing'.

And truly, he is the one who is truthful, who does not pretend or mimic virtue, who does not pretend temperance, but is temperate, the one 'pursuing the righteous thing righteously.' Therefore, God 'will fill the mouth of the truthful with laughter.' And from this it is to be imposed, lest even this one, having learned according to the 'inquiry of the first generation' concerning the coming age according to that which is said in the Gospel: 'blessed are those who weep now, for they shall laugh' (Luke 6:21), be lost.

For laughter is twofold: the one being false, occurring with pleasure, which is followed by weeping; the other being the gift of the Spirit, being joy, which shall be given to those weeping now in the life to come. For 'blessed are those who weep now, for they shall laugh' (Luke 6:21), they have the harvest of this from afar because of virtue; the holy one, having received the experience of this from afar, as I said, said: 'You have turned my mourning into joy for me, you have torn my sackcloth and girded me with gladness' (Psalm 30:11).

The example of Lazarus is here, first weeping because of suffering, but resting in the bosom of Abraham; whereas the rich man, laughing through pleasure, wept while being tormented in Hades bitterly concerning that laughter spoken of. He honored himself by making himself a god in some way, just as others make the belly, concerning whom it is said: 'of whom God is the belly.' It is also said concerning laughter: 'the altars of laughter shall be removed, the sins of Israel' (Amos 7:9). For the preoccupations regarding sufferings and pleasures are altars of laughter, remembering these sufferings of their own.

He who does great and unsearchable things, glorious and wonderful, of which there is no number. The great one does great things by necessity; it is not necessary for one doing great things to be great. For he does not turn back. Indeed, the disciples doing great things...

The Inscrutability of Divine Providence and Anger§53

53They had these things from the great God.

So that I may also use a human example, I say, that the grammarian writes grammatically; but not always every writer has it correctly from grammar, but also from luck and habit. It appears therefore according to greatness, that he who is great alone, by doing, does great things; and analogously also according to our power we contemplate God and receive the concept of God Himself.

And he said this so that the friends, those supposing a single cause of labors, might understand that he who does great and fearsome and deep judgments has them also unsearchable, which are also glorious, as to say filled with glory. Paul also writes something similar, saying: 'O depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are his judgments and unsearchable are his ways; for who has known the mind of the Lord?' (Rom 11:33). And in the Psalms there is something near: 'Great are your judgments' (Psalm 36:6). For who having understood heaven, sun, moon, stars, and the motions of these, will not marvel at the Creator? And if even you were to pass through into each thing even to the smallest of him, as that teaches: 'Go to the ant, you sluggard' (Prov 6:6) and the following, you will marvel at the wisdom of this God. If he surpasses me, I shall not see, and if he passes me by, I have not even known how.

The ungraspable nature of God's judgments is signified here; for for man, and more so by nature born, to grasp these things by private effort is impossible. This is... to him... this the holy one... came to the mind, so that from the inability to grasp the judgments of God they might understand and remember Him, and understand regarding the things happening to Him as not being accidental, and so that they might avoid supposing a single cause regarding the things happening. Whether therefore or whether therefore, he says, whether the Lord surpasses me or passes me by, so that he is even near to me, I am not able to know by...

of my mind regarding what becomes men. For someone wishing something might elude him, and surpassing him and passing by, will not sufficiently grasp it. And it is possible even to say, that if the things concerning the earth were to become near to me, I would be able to know according to our imposition; for how the economy of the heaven and those in it happens is unknown to me; if indeed I should come again to the lands, God passing by me and in some way training me among them, even so I am not self-sufficient in knowing.

If he removes it, who will turn back? Or who will say to him: 'What have you done?'; for he himself has turned away in anger. To remove is possible in every matter upon which God works; for if he wished to dissolve human life, who can turn back his will? If to bring about painful things or to cease these, no one of those things happening from him can promise a hindrance, nor can anyone of strength say to him: 'What have you done?'; according to the apostolic word: 'Shall not the creature say to the creator: Why have you made me thus?' (Romans 9:20).... let those speaking blasphemously to him say: 'What have you done?'; for not... the word, but... of him worthy of... 'What have you done?'; for those calculating the bitter things for a short time, not knowing their purpose, speak blasphemously: 'What have you done?'; according to the fool saying in his own heart: 'There is no God.' And he also brings the reason for not being able to say anything to him: 'What have you done?'; asserting: 'For he himself has turned away in anger'; for by a judgment of anger he has made the turning away. But someone, recognizing this graciously, said: 'I will bear the anger of the Lord, because I have sinned against him' (Micah 7:9). Therefore he turns away the worthy in anger; but the righteous one does not have the worth of anger, so he has not turned away the righteous. Even if the righteous one suffers, it is not by anger, but he undergoes a struggle. For look, if one is being disciplined as a combatant, and another is being struck, is not the same manner of wounds? Thus even painful things to the righteous and...

The Nature of Prayer and Divine Judgment§54

54When a bad thing happens, it did not occur in the same way; for one is under wrath, the bad one, I say, but the other did not, but rather turned away the wrath from the righteous, desiring to prove himself a victor, as the witnesses and Job himself. For he turned away the wrath being sent upon the bad ones by making his virtue manifest. And the cattle under heaven were scorched by him.

And according to the account of history this is true; for if he himself had not subjected them, these things would have been beyond doubt to men. And even in the other predatory beasts you will find this by passing through the reasoning. But also the evil spirits, the cattle named allegorically, he himself bent. For neither was human nature such that it would not be scorched by God without being so. And it is fitting that he also spoke of those under heaven, in order to make all things manifest, those in the air and in the earth and in the lower regions. For all things have been subjected: 'for the cattle was spread by knowledge' (Job 39:25).

And if God had not said so continually, not even to Job: 'the beginning of evil is the devil' (Job 1:6). For the opposing powers do not come by their own wicked intention. For they do not have authority to approach with evil and hardship, unless God permits it. But they hasten to cast evil by their own impulse. For so also, according to a private intention, 'into the heart of Judas' (Luke 22:3) those providing him with sufferings, they gather evils dwelling there.

If he obeys me, does he discern my words? He wishes to teach that not, if we pray for something, this does not always happen 'and' in agreement with our words for the discernment of God. 'For what we ought to pray for according to what is necessary, we do not know.' What therefore he says is such: that even if he obeys, he does not discern human words to approve them in this way, but his own judgment, being wise, will impose it upon us, being a lover of mankind and doing nothing unjustly. For if, O righteous one, he does not listen to me, I will entreat his judgment. He confirms what was said before, teaching that even if someone is perfect among men, the eye of God 'searches the things of the heart' (Romans 8:27) and perceives even the unseen. Such is what the apostle says: 'I know nothing about myself, but I am not acquitted by this; but the one who judges me is the Lord' (1 Cor 4:3); therefore the saint desires his judgment according to: 'refine the...'

"the kidneys and my heart," which no one in a state of sinning says. Still, regarding these things, he teaches them again not to grasp the secondary things for a single cause, by assuming a hypothesis: that if anyone is righteous and prays for pleasant things hypothetically, he will not certainly be heard; for even he requires the judgment of God.

There are some who have read the verse without a substantiation, that it is: "He will not listen to my righteousness" (Job 9:15). Understand then, that the repayment has a reason, because the one who spoke before, the friend, was saying: "But you rise up early to the Lord praying; if you are good and true, he will listen to the prayer of supplication" (Job 8:6), teaching him that God does not always give to us the words we ask, but those that are profitable; he says this hypothetically, that "for if you are righteous, he will not listen to me;" for thus the judgment triumphs.

He spoke hypothetically because even the holy one knows that the judgment must persuade him and not demand a solution from him unseasonably. Even if I call and he obeys, I do not believe that he has listened to me, lest he should turn me away through my ignorance. Since it was easy and convenient for Bildad to say to the blessed Job, as we also said before, the "but you rise up early" and the following, toward his own words spoken without distinction, teaching that the one praying will not certainly succeed, nor is it fitting to ask God for everything with "uncovering hands"; for he who sends up prayer rightly to God deserves to receive those things which are effective for him and suit the one bestowing.

For since the kind of good things is twofold—the first being the truly good, which are the virtues, and the second being the pleasant and customary good things—one must not ask God unseasonably for the customary things, but for the truly good; for God will judge whether we are being removed from hardships or being kept in them. And the diligent one asks for the truly good things, such as gifts, knowing intelligently that "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of the Spirit" (1 Cor 12:7). Often indeed some say: how... to pray... "a gift of healing" or something else, I say "a reason" of "knowledge" and the rest; but they say these things not knowing that these things happen profitably from God. For not all use well those things which exist. Toward these, then, of the friends, I say, he answers with a hypothesis, teaching again hypothetically how one must pray. For if, he says,

…when I have called upon him through prayer, of the things considered pleasant, he would hear; there is…§55

55…when I have called upon him through prayer, of the things considered pleasant, he would hear; there is fear, lest through my not knowing the cause of the things given, covered by obscurity — for this the darkness signifies — he be wearing me away, which is sending me away from the […]. So one must fittingly make the entreaty to God. For if God grants the request, he does not grant altogether according to the manner of the request, but according to a reason which he knows to be beneficial.

That the darkness signifies obscurity can also be shown clearly from other scriptures: “Moses entered,” it says, “into the darkness where God was” (Exod 20:21). And the word concerning God is not easily detected nor clear nor known; but Moses entered into this as one able. But also in the seventeenth psalm it is said concerning the Savior: “And he bowed heaven and came down, and darkness was under his feet” (Psalm 18:9). For the course of the descent is clear only in this, that he visited; but the knowledge is not clear, why at this time.

What the blessed Job says in a hypothesis is this: that even if I boldly call and he hears, there is fear, lest by the obscurity of the circumstances I undergo crushing. “Many are the bruises he has made upon me without cause; for he does not let me breathe, but has filled me with bitterness” (Job 9:17–18). Again he says all these things against their apprehension. For if you say that I have received punishment for sins, but the punishment remains not permitting me to breathe, how can I escape the charge of having lived badly?

For in vain according to you have the things of the affliction come to be, if indeed, conscious of nothing in myself as having sinned, I am punished, and the things of correction are unaccomplished through having no time of yielding. “For that he prevails with might, who then shall oppose his judgment?” (Job 9:19). If “with might” is a noun, “prevails” is a verb: that he is strong in might. But if “strength” is a noun, it would be thus: “he prevails with strength”; for this is a verb. However it may be, the same thing is signified: for God being strong prevails, and prevailing is strong; reigning is strong, and being strong reigns.

For this reason it must not be said that he is strong so as to rule because of our sins; nor do you set forth this, even though not having sinned […] he has authority […] as knowing what is beneficial; for I know him as king. But it is not of a king to rule lawlessly, nor does he, proposing one thing, do another through weakness; for the Lord is “just, strong, and long-suffering” (Psalm 7:11), wherefore no one “shall oppose his judgment,” no one being able to say: “What have you done?” — as we set forth the apostolic saying in what went before: “Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it: Why did you make me thus?” (Rom 9:20).

“For even if I am righteous, my mouth will be ungodly” (Job 9:20). Being righteous, I ought not to say this very thing, that I am righteous; for the righteous man does not speak concerning himself as concerning another. Like this is the “I have become foolish; you compelled me” (2 Cor 12:11). For when the friends set forth that he suffers because of sin, in a way he was compelled to say that it is not because of sin, but “I am righteous.” For this form can be found in scripture, as Paul also writes to the Corinthians: “If the dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised” (1 Cor 15:16). For he does not say this from his own person, but with regard to their suspicion.

“Even if I am blameless, I shall turn out crooked” (Job 9:20). This also is of the same thought, signifying that if, conscious of nothing in myself, I am subjected to circumstances, you say this happens because of sin: being “blameless,” I “shall turn out crooked” according to you. But “blameless” and “righteous” differ in conception. The blameless is twofold: one by doing nothing, the other by doing righteousness; which is praiseworthy, as was also said to Abraham: “Be well-pleasing before me and become blameless” (Gen 17:1); but the blameless of the Hebrews is not from virtue. And this the scriptural spirit also testified to him from the beginning.

“For even if I was ungodly, I do not know it in my soul; yet my life is taken away” (Job 9:21). That is, having been ungodly in soul I do not know, or I do not know myself as having been ungodly, nor is my soul conscious of this; and Paul also says something like this: “I am conscious of nothing in myself” (1 Cor 4:4). “Yet even if I do not know,” he says, “having been ungodly, my life is taken away”; which is: he meets with sufferings unto death. And he said this fixing their attention, that it is possible even for one who has not sinned to fall into toils. And it is a great testimony to be conscious of nothing against oneself. Wherefore I said: wrath destroys the great and the mighty, because the base are in an extraordinary death. He wishes to teach that the toilsome things, which he calls wrath, or even death, are common […].

The Equality of Trials and the Distinction of Ends§56

56These things apply to both kings and commoners. It seems he also stirs them up so that they do not think that they have been separated from their equals because of the duties they are surrounded by; for these things are common to the important and the trivial, to the free and the slave, to the commoner and the ruler, and quite simply to all.

But the things sent upon them because of triviality, he has made a separation for the sinners from all the righteous. For 'the death of the righteous is precious before the Lord' (Ps 116:15). And concerning the trivial, it is said: 'the death of sinners is bitter' (Psalm 34:21). And the dissolution of the soul from the body is the same; but the trivial one receives punishment, because his death is shameful, while the important one receives promise and divine rewards; for 'the Lord takes' 'the gentle' (Psalm 147:6). And to each of the righteous is a similar voice, by which they say: 'He who raises me from the gates of death' (Psalm 9:13). Of what death, indeed, is this, or the one that consumes the soul from blessed life? For this one, having been raised from the gates of death, comes to the gates of blessed life beyond, bringing forth: 'that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion' (Psalm 9:14). These are indeed excellent deeds and entries into good works.

But the righteous are mocked and are delivered into the hands of the ungodly. The trivial ones, he says, truly experience in death what is shameful, but the righteous are mocked by the trivial ones doing this, when they see them being in distress. This is not a reproach of the righteous, but of those who mock, not knowing that they are being delivered into the hands of the ungodly; which he says he is making manifest, thus showing the cause of his own ill-treatment. For it was not fitting then to say, that because of a struggle I am delivered into the hands of the ungodly and such a trial is; for sometimes, as if being self-exalting, he gave space to the adversary to seize him. He will cover the faces of his judges. He shows the harshness of the ungodly by covering his faces to approach deceitfully to deceive. It is therefore said: 'Who shall uncover his face-covering, or who shall enter to fold his garment?' (Job 41:13). For when they change the faces through the same means, they often approach someone deceitfully, baiting him into...

wolves in sheep's clothing

The Integrity of the Saint and Divine Testing§57

57He did not recognize the evil. Understand, then, that even a third level of thought can be expressed by another orator established in Amos, the second of the twelve prophets. Concerning those who squander and are lovers of pleasure, and who rejoice in this very thing in the delights of life, he says: 'Those sleeping on ivory beds, those squandering upon their couches, those shouting at the sounds of instruments and anointing themselves with the first myrrh, those drinking filtered wine, they considered it as standing permanent, not as fleeing.'

For they judged the delights of life to be adjacent, present, and continuous. Therefore he says that those marveling at well-being, such as being healthy, being rich, or reaching heights, do not consider that these things are being distributed in such a way that they do not know them, just as it is impossible to recognize a path when the sea is surging, or an eagle flying swiftly because it seeks prey. In truth, the passage of delights and human things is rapid, as can be learned from what was said concerning wealth by the Psalmist: 'Do not fear when a man prospers and when the glory of his house increases, for he shall not take all things in his dying, nor shall the glory of his house descend with him' (Psalm 49:16-17).

If I say, 'I will take pains in speaking, bowing my face and sighing,' a mark of magnanimity is shown in these things. For he says that even if, having received a concept of those things which are unpleasant, I say something about them, I immediately forget them, not being enslaved by them, but occupying myself with the contemplation of virtue. Similar to this is what is said by David, that 'I forgot to eat my bread' (Psalm 102:4). For the memory of divine and heavenly things brings forgetfulness to those who are being overwhelmed by them. And if, he says, I also sigh, doing this while bowing my face, through which in a certain way he shows his worship toward God; and even if he says this, he performs the painful things toward his own heart...

They are found in a good state according to the blessed Paul: 'troubled in all things, but not in distress; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed' (2 Cor 4:8). I shake with all my limbs. This is evident, according to the sense, that they understand. For no limb of his was found healthy; for 'from feet' even 'to head' he was struck (Job 2:7).

And if you say that all his limbs had a familiarity toward him, who were also shaken in such a way as to either leave him or in some way attempt to distance themselves, as if he suffers these things because of sin, consider this. For I know that you will not declare me innocent. The moderation of the saint is known through this, and a great gratitude. For he says, that becoming my examiner, being precise—for you are God—you will not declare me innocent.

For even if he said, 'I know that I will appear righteous,' yet he knew and is persuaded that, as a tester before God, 'there is no star pure in his sight' (Job 25:5) and he himself makes it clear. Such is what the blessed Paul says, writing: 'I do not know myself' (1 Corinthians 4:4). Then, not giving credit to himself, he proceeds: 'but not in this am I justified, but He who judges me is the Lord' (1 Cor 4:4).

And this saint also clearly knows the weakness of human nature, saying: 'exceedingly we were burdened beyond strength, so that we were driven to despair, even of life. But we ourselves have received in ourselves the sentence of death, so that we might not trust in ourselves, but in God.' And even if the saints suffer in their afflictions, they have within themselves the sentence, so that they may give the trust to God and not to themselves; as this same blessed one says: I know that my being innocent is not from myself, not with you cooperating, just as the wise Paul says, 'not I, but the grace with me' (1 Corinthians 15:10), and the holy David: 'I was troubled and I did not speak' (Psalm 77:4). Since I am impious, why did I not die?

The stain of earthly existence§58

58He moves to the assumption regarding friends. For since it is assumed that those sinning follow the evil-doers to fall into bad circumstances, and that dying is worse for all according to life-lovers, he asks them: 'Since I am impious according to you, why did I not die?' In order that in the question he might provide them with an understanding, that there is some other cause bringing about the secondary things. And he does the same in other matters, asking again: 'Why do the impious live, having been prospered even in wealth, their seed according to the soul, and their cattle not having failed to calve?' In order that he might also instruct through these, he seeks the existing causes from God of the things happening to men, which are secondary and pleasant. For many times the wicked have remained in what are considered prosperities, as Solomon said of them, that—as even the blessed Job says, that 'even in the sleep of Hades they rested' (Job 21:13). For if I should wash myself with snow and cleanse myself with clean hands, you have sufficiently dyed me in filth, and my clothing has become loathsome to me. Again, so that we might not think him a deceiver, he says these things, that even if I am pure in such a way, as through manifest deeds, which he named hands, cleansing myself, I have again filth; concerning which it is to be sought, comparing the similar to the spoken: 'No one is clean from filth, nor even for one hour is his life upon the earth.' And 'the mind of men is carefully set upon evil from youth' (Genesis 8:21), which shows the character that is youthful, just as it was said to someone not to receive a new listener. These things, then, trouble those who have nothing set upon this life; for how is the one now formed not unclean? And it must be understood sensibly that the sin of succession according to Adam is to be taken, which is brought forward by them incoherently. For even the saints, even if they have not come into life for the sake of anything else, have the filth in childhood age, which is not sin. According to this it was said concerning Samuel: 'And Samuel before knowing God' (1 Samuel 3:7). And the child was not knowing God, not because of malice, but because he had not the knowledge of the word. And you will sensibly understand 'all have sinned' (Romans 3:23) if you take those according to ignorance, those according to childhood age. And let it be by example: one being at the hundredth degree reaching the hundredth, if he descends three, one would say he is seeing the one beginning from...

The one who went from the first to the third is not being reproached. He who submitted the hundred, even if he did not depart from the ranks, is indeed in some filth. For Job says that even if he is pure, he has filth, and not a small filth, but something like a dye.

For it is not only through sin that one comes into this life, but also through the benefit of others, as one carries John or Jeremiah; therefore he says that even if he is pure through his deeds, he still has filth. For filth, in relation to pure life, is not the earthly place itself, but as it is said: 'All our righteousness is as a filthy garment before you, Lord' (Isa 64:6). Which the Lord washes according to what is said in Isaiah: 'The Lord will wash the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst' (Isaiah 4:4). Filth, then, might be the unintentional things, but blood is that which is done by intention.

By what is he washed? Either 'by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning,' the spirit of judgment revealing discernment and the spirit of burning revealing punishment? Both work a correction. Because of this, he says, 'she has loathed me, my garment,' alluding to the weight of the stay here; which is also shown by 'hating even the tunic defiled by the flesh,' which is the mixing with those from among humans. He says, therefore, that she hated the human intercourse which he had.

That the garment signifies the state is clear from what was said to the prodigal by the father: 'Bring out his first garment' (Luke 15:22). And that the blood signifies sin is evident from what was said to the devil: 'In what way a garment stained in blood will not be clean, so also you will not be clean.' Through being stained in blood, the magnitude of the evil is shown. The blessed one should not be surprised that he says one thing toward friends and another toward God. For he encountered opposition when, speaking to the same person, he confessed himself both righteous and a sinner. Therefore, toward God, with moderation, he says he is stained with filth in relation to His own purity, but toward men he converses differently, saying: 'I know that I shall appear righteous.' That the saints use such a kind of speech can also be learned from the letters of Paul.

The Nature of the Mediator§59

59Saying 'seven flaxen lines', the saints, having endured much, suffer in soul under the opposing power, indeed as participating in human nature, but they do not fall from the divine purpose. And David, having become in such a war, sings: 'I was troubled and I did not speak' (Psalm 77:4); and again: 'Why are you dejected, my soul, and why are you disturbed within me?' (Psalm 42:5); and just as his own intellect is being shaken, he encourages them, saying: 'Hope in God, for I shall confess to Him' (Psalm 42:5). Thus also the blessed Job says with gratitude, making manifest to God the sincerity of his intellect: 'For he is not a man according to me, against whom I am judged' (Job 9:32).

The word is thus being smoothed out without following: 'I myself know the things concerning myself. And since the friends, not being moved by right reasoning, and from the distressing ones standing around, think that I have suffered through sin, I am satisfied with Your testing.' Then, through them, in a certain way teaching them again, that the things concerning him are not human, he says: 'He is not a man according to me, against whom I am judged,' as knowing all things concerning him and therefore bearing it, so that the friends might imitate him, considering that the word according to him is a secret, and thus they turn away from the single delusion, so that we may come together in judgment.

As has been said, he teaches the friends to perceive that the conscience is well-situated and ready for judgment; for the conscience does not wish to come to judgment with itself. He says these things not losing boldness toward God, testifying with Him concerning righteousness, but in order to teach, as has been said, the friends that he is not afraid of reproof. For he did not have anything worthy of reproof. David, participating in this boldness, sang: 'My heart is prepared, O God, my heart is prepared' (Psalm 57:7). I wish He were our Mediator, who reproves and discerns in the midst of both. Again, these things are said in a general way, in the manner in which the first things were said, being the clearest evidence of the freedom of his soul. He prays, therefore, that there might exist some examination which demonstrates to the friends that he suffers these things not because of sin, but for the sake of a struggle. And the saint intended these things, not boasting, but first indeed, in order to...

Friends should have correct views regarding these matters, so that they do not sin against God by falling away, which happens often when they do not find or realize the sin within themselves or in others. Since the title of the Mediator is now at issue, it is worthy to understand how the Savior is called 'a mediator of God and men'. Man, therefore—and what am I saying, man—is far removed from the creature of the Creator.

You find in the nature of things that when much is separated into the same, it possesses a middle element. Just as for a simple example the shell of a nut is hard and the food is watery, there lies between us something stronger than the shell and drier than the liquid, and thus they are joined; this is also seen in nuts and in streams. Since God has separated man greatly, the Son, being consubstantial with God, possessed the human in himself, so that by the familiarity toward men and the consubstantiality toward God he might join both sides and 'break the middle wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh' (Ephesians 2:14), assuming the rank of a high priest.

And the high priest is a middle between God and the consecrated ones, bringing the things of God to men and the things of men to God; he offers prayers and supplications to God as sacrifices, and provides the knowledge of Him to men. He sends up a prayer, saying: 'just as I and you are one, so that these also may be one in us.' Then this will be, when God becomes 'all in all' (1 Corinthians 15:28), so that the rest may be joined to God without a mediator, becoming one spirit with Him.

For the blessed Job also foresaw this Mediator with divine sight, which is clear from 'he who is about to grasp a great beast' (Job 3:8) and from 'he who walks as if on land upon the sea' (Job 9:8). For when God was being revealed to him, there was no room for doubt that he was fully informed concerning the economy. 'Remove the rod from me, and let his terror not turn me aside' (Job 9:34). The severe discipline is signified by the name of the rod, and especially in rebuke when it is spoken. It is said concerning the sons of David: 'if his sons forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments, I will visit their sins with a rod and...'

The Nature of Life and Divine Testing§60

60"...their lawlessness." For this rebuke and all that is from God does not harm the one being rebuked, but instructs him. And that it is thus, Paul writes to the Corinthians: "What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love?" (1 Cor 4:21), which is to say: Shall I approach as a beloved, or as required for correction? For a certain way of the one being corrected by oppressors seems to suggest that he does not love him. A wise saying has also been said regarding the rod: "For he who brings wisdom from his lips strikes a heartless man with a rod" (Proverbs 10:13), calling the rebuke and the corrective word a rod. Since this is useful, the divine word presents it, saying: "He who spares his rod hates his own son" (Prov 13:24), even though according to men, one might be thought to love by not striking the son.

Therefore, he wants to be freed from this, not out of brevity, but so that they may be instructed, setting another cause for their labors, so that he does not endure these things because of sin. "And I will not be afraid, but I will speak." For I do not thus persist, the soul weary. Groaning, I will lay my words upon him. I will speak, being seized by bitterness of soul. He wants to instruct them, not to have the burden or to impose labors, but to understand that even while existing in tribulations, he answers with a strengthened mind. He says, therefore, that if the mediator had been freed from the oppressors—what you think was laid upon me because of sin—if, having been enslaved to you, I had been freed from them, I would have spoken without fear; and he says, measuring his words, "I cannot think thus, being weary from the labors." But if, as you say, it was because of sin, I would have spoken groaning and, being seized by bitterness, I would have spoken to prove the purity of my conscience, demonstrating it. And I would say to the Lord, "Teach me not to be impious, and why did you judge me thus?" I would have said to the Lord, if the only cause against you was the punishment through sin: "Teach me not to be impious." For if even one not sinning is punished because of sin, then to sin would be more preferable. Otherwise, one who is not such is taught to sin, if there is only one cause for suffering. And I would have also said, "Why did you judge me thus," to "He who knows the hearts," unless it were understood that because of the excuse...

Having received these things, I remain. He says these things by powerfully casting upon them a desire for inquiry, so that the answer concerning his purity might seem to come from their own prompting and not from himself, which seemed to be arrogant. 'Is it good for you, if I speak unjustly, that I spoke of your works of hands?' And he would have said this, if, as you behave, the temptations were through sin: 'Is it good for you, if I speak unjustly, that I spoke of nothing sinning, as being a work of your hands?' For if the diligent man is punished for a fault just as the wicked man is, the occasion is superfluous according to you. But pay attention to the counsel of the ungodly.

Or, as a mortal sees repeatedly, 'either' your life is human 'or' your years are of a man. It is possible to say of him that he pays attention to the one asking, casting down the truth, that he does not suffer according to the preceding word—I say, through sin. And it is possible also to count these toward the counsel of the ungodly; for they do not say pious things, having seized the evils in a single way, that everyone being afflicted through sin is afflicted. I would have also said the 'as a mortal sees repeatedly,' if, as you behave, there were one cause of the afflictions, and 'your life is human or your years are of a man.'

I would have said all these things if I had encountered the same opinion of you; but knowing that there is not one cause of the temptations, but also occurring through struggle, I know that God is not merely observing the phenomena as a man does, but is stepping into the depth of the soul, thus testing each one justly. It should be noted, as also elsewhere, that 'life' (bios) is a very significant name. For it signifies wealth, as it is said in the Song of Songs: 'If a man gives his whole life in love, they will nullify him.' And it also signifies the life that exists, as if John says: 'But whoever has the life of the world and sees his brother in need and closes his bowels against him.' And both the right conduct and the bad are called 'life,' as if we say: he has a practical life, or that the other has a bad life. Here, however, he spoke of the life of a man as a sojourner in this age. He says, therefore, that if you had such a life—instead of a time being described—as a man, I would have distinguished you as being toward one who is ignorant. But God...

Creation and Providence through Hands and Spirit§61

61It is eternal; for it is said, 'For you are the same, and your years will not fail' (Psalm 102:27). And again, 'In generation of generations the years' (Psalm 102:24). The existence of God is uncircumscribable, for He is eternal. Therefore, Job would say, 'You know nothing of what is concerning me,' meaning, 'You have searched out my iniquity and traced my sins.'

He says this while reproaching them again, that the calamity concerning me is the result of many having sinned. Since the friends reckoned him as suffering through sin, he shows them abruptly that it is not so, by saying, 'O God, your years are not like a man's, for you have searched out my iniquity' (Job 10:5). For according to these words, he suggests that you do not punish me as a sinner, and you do not seek out our iniquity or sin through inductions against those disposed in this way.

'For you know that I have not been impious' (Job 10:7). He reveals the knowledge of the matter to them by saying to God, 'You know that I have not been impious.' But these friends think that the things coming upon me have been brought about because of an impious man. But who is the one being taken out from your hands? He again suggests the idea that it is possible for one who has not sinned to fall into afflictions; for God knows that Job did not act impiously.

And the question, 'But who is the one being taken out from your hands?' brings on the instruction of the friends, showing that the one who has not sinned and has not acted impiously comes under the hand of God into afflictions through struggle and the demonstration of endurance. For those who are afflicted, yet do not fall because of the tribulations, say, 'In all things being afflicted, but not in anguish' (2 Cor 4:8). And again it is said, 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and out of all of them He will rescue them' (Ps 34:19).

But to be rescued from tribulations is not to not be afflicted at all, but to not have been previously defeated by them, to not have been trapped by the nets of the tribulations being brought forward. 'Your hands made me and fashioned me' (Job 10:8). And this came across naturally; for so that no one might conceive of God as a brute and a necessity.

To say, through the phrase 'but who is the one being removed from your hands' Job 5:9, the expression 'your hands made me and formed me' Job 10:8 is brought forward, saying that even if he brings tribulations, he spares his own handiwork; for it is written: 'but he spares all, because he is merciful, O Lord, lover of souls' Ps 145:9. And good is the 'your hands made me and formed me', so that the 'made' is applied to the soul, while the 'formed' is applied to the body; for 'formed me' signifies the opposite, which is appropriate for the body.

And in Genesis it is said: 'God made man, according to the image of God he made him' Gen 1:27; for not the body is according to the image, but the soul, for God is not anthropomorphic. And elsewhere it is said: 'God formed man, dust from the earth' Gen 2:7, taking the body, so that, as we say, we may receive the making regarding the soul, and the forming regarding the flesh. And if even the making lies regarding the flesh, it is not to be treated as strange; for to form is to make according to a kind.

But someone, speaking in opposition, says that the being formed lies regarding the soul, and this is signified from: 'He who formed them, according to their hearts alone.' Toward which one should also wisely consider the things concerning the hands of God. And one says simply that the hands, in the plural, are the power of God's active agency; but it is also possible to take 'hand' more precisely as the Son—for it is said: 'My hand made all these things'—and the Spirit, as it is said: 'By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the breath of his mouth all their power' Ps 33:6. And it is also said: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the one being born in you will be called a holy Son of God' Luke 1:35. For so that the temple of the Savior may be established, there has been a descent of the Holy Spirit and of the power of the Most High, which is the Son.

After these things, changing, you mocked me. The creative and also the providential aspects of God through these things.

The Formation of the Body and the Soul§62

62He demonstrates, through 'your hands have made me' the creative aspect, and through 'after these things, having changed me, you have struck me' the providential aspect. For this is the work of God's providence: to surround the brave man with distress through struggle, so that he may set up a character and a goal for men, whom they become imitators of when looking toward him. But 'having changed' should be understood as 'having made a change concerning me' regarding the body; for he has struck and wounded him, being utterly desolate of all those who have been changed around him. 'Remember that you formed me of clay, and to dust you turn me back again' (Job 10:9).

Consequently, knowing Him as the Author and Lord of both creation and providence, the word turns to Him in prayer, saying: even if you have brought things upon me as if exercising authority over painful things, yet remember that I am weak and have a constitution from clay—this, however, should be understood concerning the body—and having formed me, you turn me back to dust again. And it is clear from this that he speaks concerning the body; for the soul is not turned back to dust. The things concerning the weakness of human nature proceed to exhort even friends to endurance and the knowledge of His virtue and His patience.

And now, as it is possible to fashion the body, he joined it; for fashioning is possible in type; for it is not said about the angels: 'He who fashioned angels,' but 'He who makes His messengers spirits.' And concerning the earth, it is said as a thick body: 'and His hands fashioned the dry land.' These things are not said to mean that God kneads with hands according to human ways, but that to each, divine discipline brings a name that is appropriate: the fashioning, as we have said, to the body, and the making to the soul. Similar to 'and to dust you turn me back again' is that which was said to Adam: 'Dust you are and to dust you shall return' (Gen 3:19).

Observe that if something is said concerning a composite, it is not necessary to understand it concerning every part. For if it is said: 'And David was meek' or 'Moses,' we do not understand this concerning his body. But if: 'And David was red with beauty of eyes,' we think this concerning his body, not concerning the soul. And here, where it is said: 'and to dust you turn me back again,' it is not necessary to calculate that this is said concerning the soul. 'Did you not curdle me like milk, and harden me like cheese?' (Job 10:10). The seed, from which he consists...

Regarding the living being, he says, 'as milk unmilked'; and just as milk, being curdled, becomes cheese, so also the seed, being congealed, becomes a nature. And this is the constitution before the embryo. For the seed cast into the channels of the womb, when it is curdled like cheese, becomes a nature; which moreover is spread out or, as the Scripture says, 'is imprinted' (Job 10:9) and receives it like a character. But when the limbs differentiate and each becomes its own and moves, for instance, like an animal's hand or foot, then the birth of the embryo clearly demonstrates the living being.

All these things, therefore, encompass, signifying through 'Remember that you formed me of clay' (Job 10:9) the creation of Adam from the beginning, and through 'You did not milk me as milk' (Job 10:10) the successive generations composed by succession. All these things, therefore, he will carry through, indicating the handiwork of God, so that through this or through prayer, one may be called to mercy.

The 'You milked' therefore, he says, showing to God, that by His energy the genuine deposition of the seeds occurs. 'Having clothed me in skin and flesh, and having placed me in bones and nerves.' This is used by those desiring to show that those whom God clothed in skin tunics, these thick things, are their bodies. For it is also said in Genesis: 'And God made skin tunics for Adam and his wife and clothed them' (Gen 3:21). But 'He made for Adam and his wife,' in order to show that He has made a garment suitable for 'male and female.'

It is clear that 'skin and flesh' here signifies the body; for he connects what follows by saying: 'and placed me in bones and nerves.' Thus he announces the whole way and the harmony of the body's constitution through those things before these and through those contained within. It should be noted that these words appear to belong to the soul; for this is the one having clothed herself, having entered into skin and flesh and bones and nerves; which signifies that she precedes the garments and the being clothed; for the subject is 'clothed.' 'And you have provided life and mercy for me, and your oversight has preserved my spirit' (Job 10:12). Since the skin and the flesh and the bones and nerves themselves do not have life by themselves, but have vital movements by the presence of the soul—for when it withdraws, it has nothing vital—he says that you did not only form and...

The Possibility of God and the Nature of Sin§63

63Having made me consisting of flesh and skin and bone and nerves, you clothed me, but also, 'you have practiced life and mercy toward me.' Through 'life' it signifies that the creation is placed in existence, but through 'mercy' the providential grace. For since it happens that one must also endure attacks against such a life, there is a need for mercy, as it is said: 'you have practiced life and mercy toward me.' For the Creator God does not act according to debt, but according to mercy and goodness; for it has come to be that he grants life to favorable matter rather by mercy than by any other way.

Furthermore, what follows declares more clearly the things concerning providence and its care: 'your oversight has preserved my spirit,' saying 'spirit' for the soul. For although 'spirit' signifies many things, here it signifies the soul; for if James says, 'just as the body without the spirit is dead' (James 2:26), and Stephen, encountering God and saying, 'Lord, receive my spirit' (Acts 7:59), he signifies the soul. Having these thoughts within yourself, I know that you are able to do all things; nothing is unable for you.

God does not possess from without those things which he is said to possess; for everything that is, being simple and existing without mixture, does not take in anything from without; for he is uncomposite. For the Creator, and the Good, and the Light, and the All—if he is rightly theologized—is these things according to his essence. And 'you are able to do all things' should be heard faithfully and prudently, so that we do not fall into the folly of the opinionated.

And what is said is clear when used by a division thus: of the powers, some are active and others are passive. The active ones are such as we perform, and the passive ones are such as we undergo, which are directed toward the activities. Therefore, if it is said that God is able to do all things, one must not attribute to him also the passive powers; for it is not possible to say that he becomes something else—for he does not possess powers according to contingency—nor is it to be said that he is able to lie, or change, or deny himself. Therefore, I say, those things are possible for God which are fitting for God. For some, including Porphyry and his like, reason in a way that if all things are possible for God, including lying, and if all things are possible for the faithful, then he is able to make a bed and to make a man. But this is not what is meant, but just as, if it is said all things are possible for the physician...

Regarding medicine, I say that all things are possible to the pilot, those things which suit his art; so if I say all things are possible to God or to the faithful, I say this: that what suits God is possible for God, and what suits the faithful is possible for the faithful. These are the things made right through faith.

For the Scripture also knows this, it says concerning God: 'If we deny, he remains faithful. For he cannot deny himself' (2 Tim 2:13). And again: 'In whom it is impossible to lie to God' (Heb 6:18). Likewise, with understanding, the 'it is not able for you' must be avoided, which can be understood by analogy with what was said in the Gospel: 'All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made' (John 1:3). Consider, then, whether it is appropriate to think so in this way: evil is a 'non-being'; indeed, those participating in it are called non-existent because of their neglect: 'For you will not deliver the scepter to those who are not.' It is also said: 'Calling things that are not as though they were,' 'that he might bring to nothing the things that are'—so that this is saying: the non-existent and evil 'is not able' for you; for it is possible to turn away from sinning.

For if I sin, 'keep me; from lawlessness you have not made me innocent' (Job 10:14). He says this reasonably; for since I know him to be creator and provider of himself and of all things, he follows by teaching also concerning his patience. For he himself knows, according to the blessed David, that 'he does not bring wrath every day' (Psalm 7:11). But God guards the one sinning, not desiring him to sin—'for he does not desire the death of the sinner as the desire for repentance' (Ezek 33:11)—but so that, giving the law which forbids sinning, he might cause the one practicing it to hate evil. He also rebukes the friends who suppose that he suffers through sin, teaching them that God does not give judgment at the same time as the sinning, so that they too might reckon this according to themselves. And he teaches the turnability of human nature through 'from lawlessness you have not made me innocent,' while also presenting a pattern of moderation and indicating the succession of Adam, showing sin to be common to men. We do not say this, that the saints are subject to transgression by choice, but by succession, as was said. For just as a child born of an idolater does not have...

The Nature of Job's Trials§64

64Sin, which is like a stain, is caused by a corrupt upbringing; likewise, regarding the saints, one must consider a lapse as non-voluntary. Thus it has been said, 'For all have sinned' (Rom 3:23). We say that the sins of the saints are a path toward virtue.

Just as one learning to write, since he cannot write well immediately, stumbles during the learning process—not such that it is considered corrupt as if someone were writing evil by malicious intent—so also the one striving toward virtue, if he first stumbles through ignorance, is not to be punished. For if he were impious, woe to me! If he were righteous, I would not be able to bow my head. He might say, 'If I sin by choice, woe to me; but if, as we have previously stated, I have it only by succession from Adam, again I will not be able to bow my head as one completely cleansed of filth.' For of sins, those from our own choice stand as bad, but those are different as previously stated; for punishment follows those from choice, but purification is owed to those from ignorance. He might say, 'Even if I am righteous, I do not think greatly, knowing the obvious.' For many, having spoken highly of themselves, fell in practice.

And 'Pay attention, then, O Pharisee, speaking about God: did you not then speak truly?' (Luke 18:9); but the one who was self-important did not have the words accepted. It has been said regarding the lowly one, that 'this one descended having been justified by Him.' But I am full of dishonor. The sign of human weakness is thin, for man is full of dishonor by being a body surrounded by such a thing, about which Paul says: 'It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory' (1 Cor 15:43).

And I am hunted like a lion for slaughter. Thinking myself to be full of dishonor according to the previously stated sense, the enemy seeks to cast me down through those standing around, as if surrounding with dogs, and tries to envelop me with nets. But the lion is a great animal. It has been said: 'A lion is stronger than cattle.' 'For the righteous has become like a lion.' However, the one set out for a combatant knows that some beast is trying to hunt him; and this is the adversary, the devil. And he now calls the slip into sin a 'slaughter'; for slaughter is often said even regarding punishment. The magnitude of the assault against himself appears to exceed...

Through the saying, 'I am prowling like a lion' (Job 10:16), it is meant that the enemy is like a lion driving the wild beasts and not leaving him to avoid temptation. This is not arrogance, but it reveals the plot. For again, 'you turn me terribly' (Job 10:16). It shows that even if I prowl like a lion, so many things have surrounded me, but they do not attack by themselves; for the permission is small. If God had not permitted, the prowler would not have had the power.

The 'turning' must be understood actively as the change that happened to Job from wealth to poverty and from health to sickness; much of text missing has come to him. 'Renewing against me my distress' signifies the successive onslaughts of the attackers. For just as an enemy, being repelled from the opposing sides, prepares himself again to fight, the one who has taken authority devises new pains like against a man, increasing the affliction in magnitude.

This is shown by: 'while he was still speaking, another messenger came' (Job 1:16). For the calamities were frequent and successive. 'And with great wrath I used you; you brought trials upon me' (Job 10:17). And here again the magnitude of the afflictions is shown, not ceasing, but making it known to friends that this exceeding wrath is not, as one might think, because of sin, if one were to judge his life.

Anger here should not be understood as a passion, but as the attacking onslaught, just as Moses says to God: 'You sent out your wrath and consumed them like a reed' (Exodus 15:7). Some suffer because of sin; but here it is shown through 'you brought trials upon me' that it is not because of sins; for those being punished in this manner are not said to undergo trials. Thus, the bringing of trials must be understood not as if they had fallen upon them by their own fault.

And this happens, which the disciples were taught in the prayer not to let happen: 'lead us not into temptation' (Matthew 6:13). Why then did you bring me out of the womb, and I did not die? And my eye did not see, and as if I did not exist, I became. Someone might think this to be out of malice, but he is turned from what was said toward God: 'But it is otherwise with you...'

The Vanity of Life and the Struggle of the Saints§65

65Has it become a matter of worldly use so that you might appear righteous? He who spoke briefly is not contradicting this, saying: 'If I were impious, woe is me' (Job 10:15), but he wishes to demonstrate the bitterness of life, which a trivial man would not do; for there is pleasure in this living. Furthermore, he wants the cause to be shown clearly even to friends, through which he did not die at the same time as emerging from the womb; and it is clear that because it is destined to be, the aim is manliness.

The struggle after the flesh is also shown in another way, concerning which Paul writes: 'If we have hope in this life only, we are most to be pitied of all men' (1 Corinthians 15:19). And he perceives both the pleasant things of life and the bitter ones. For no one being released from the flesh finds pleasure in wealth, in debauchery, nor is he carried by the evil things. Having tested this life and the pleasant things in it—for he had been happy in many ways and was indeed rich and healthy—having fallen from these things into their opposites, and having become experienced in these things through works, having known their vanity, he instructs us not to have desire for them by saying: 'Why then did you bring me out from the womb and I did not die, my eye not having seen, so that I might not become as one who is not?' (Job 10:18).

The vanity of the combatants in this life, such as wealth, is shown from: 'Do not fear when a man becomes rich or when the glory of his house increases, for he will not receive all things in his dying' (Psalm 49:16-17)—for all these things do not follow the one being released from them—'for the glory of his house will not descend together with him.' For in this living, such people have trusted only. And if the saints desire, like the blessed Paul, 'having a desire to depart and to be with Christ' (Phil 1:23), to be released from life, they nevertheless accept the judgment from God. Yet the saints, quite naturally, have a desire for the body to be outside. For it is not saints alone, but also those outside the proclamation.

while existing purely in essence

The brevity of human life and the deceptive nature of eloquence§66

66He endured by the power of God, through which he prays thankfully. Paul also says these things: 'Not I, but the grace with me' (1 Corinthians 15:10). He wishes to set forth 'before having gone from whence one does not return' (Job 10:21). So it is not because of himself... but because he wished to instruct his friends with these things, who indeed set forth those standing upon the trivialities as bad, and those being delivered as serious. He wished to be fully assured of the judgment concerning himself.

It is not necessary to consider that Job denies a resurrection of the dead, but rather in this way: 'from whence one does not return' (Job 10:21)... in bitter life; for he knew that he would be raised incorruptible. Into a land of darkness and gloom, into a land of eternal darkness, where there is no light and one cannot see the life of mortals. And while experiencing pains, the most manly man was preaching concerning the coming age; in this way, he was not denying a resurrection when he said, 'before I had gone from whence I do not return' (Job 10:21).

And a land of gloom and darkness of eternal darkness, where there is no light nor the life of mortals, the Saint says he first gives to himself the lesser things; for he was not saying he was in the 'kingdom of the heavens' (Matt 13:43) and in the land of your promises, O God; he happened to be among the lesser ones. Then he wishes for those who hear to be instructed concerning the judgment, that a correction of actions had not yet occurred. It should be noted that he often says the name of the earth and also a bad disposition. By this is shown the 'you have sunk into the seat' and the 'they shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth.' They called upon the... upon the earthly ones. This fits those 'bearing the image of the swine.'

It is often said that the earth is the soul, but when it has virtue, it is good, and when it is stony and thorny, it is bad. Toward those loving the pleasure in this life, he says the heavy thing: 'there is no light nor to see the life of mortals.' Having understood, Sophar the Minean says: he who speaks much and is heard, or even the eloquent man, thinks himself to be righteous. Not having the proper reverence concerning the Saint, they were more impudent or offered it to him as fitting, thinking it was for him to speak much, since they did not know the purpose of the things being announced. And speaking much is judged not from the multitude...

Regarding the words: for there is a time when... of the things... it has; but when things are said differently, which happens... with five words... gapped. By using an attack against him as if he were saying much, it also appears probable that 'or he who is eloquent is thought to be righteous'. For many of those committing sin, by making the words impressive through the words themselves, think they are hiding sins by the probability of the words, wanting to deceive regarding the difficulty of the things done to them; but such is not the righteous Job testifying toward God. It was not appropriate, therefore, as it was said, that they approached him because they considered the sin of the cause of the things coming upon him to be the reason; through which error... he is taunted, that even if he... the words... he is not righteous for this reason.

Blessed, a child of a woman, short-lived. He uses a probable word now, but the appropriate knowledge of the man is left behind. He says, therefore, that even if someone is eloquent and through the probability of the words brought forth by himself is thought to be righteous, he must recognize that he is short-lived. Even if someone is blessed by God and thought to be long-lived—for they thought a man blessed to be long-lasting and for many years—yet even this one is short-lived as regards the coming age; in order to show him, desiring, that he does not have precise knowledge of the things, for being short-lived according to men. And this is evident from the following things being brought forward: and 'a child of a woman' signifies the man circumspectly.

We have this said by the Lord: 'No one is greater among the children of women than John' (Matt 11:11). Graciously, the arguments for this set forth Jesus apart from the children of women through a woman because he is the Virgin; and graciously we shall say that in his words... 'having come from a woman' signifies here the female of the name of the woman. And in reality, the human time is short; and of this is the sign said by Paul: 'If in this life we have only hoped, we are more to be pitied than all men' (1 Cor 15:19). For this is the life of the composite man. But if one approaches the life coming through the intellect, he will not be short-spirited by...

Divine Speech and Wisdom in Suffering§67

67For the soul is immortal. If you compare the life of Sodom, even that would be little compared to the life in the coming age and the immortality of the soul.

Do not be much in words, for the one opposing him is not himself. He is ignoring the concordant purpose of the things announced to him, and says to him: 'Do not be much in words.' And the divine word, training him not to have excess in words, says: 'From much speaking, one will not escape sin.' Here, 'much speaking' refers to the announcement that was not approaching. But the apostle makes it clear that it is not the multitude of announced words that makes it 'much speaking,' saying 'extending the word until midnight' (Acts 20:7) to those listening.

It is to be wondered at his audacity against Job, for even while answering him, he claimed not to be the one responding to him. Because of this, someone more audacious must be endured, to address him who suffers through faultiness, ignoring the other cause. For he does not say, 'I am pure in works and blameless before him.' Thinking he is advising him regarding his own assumption of purity, he approaches him as if the confession of this purity and blamelessness were a rejection of Providence; for friends think that if he had not sinned (1 Cor 11:30), he would not have fallen into dark places. But they do not show that Job said to God: 'I am blameless before you.' For he knew that 'stars are not pure before him' (Job 25:5), and what was said by those having been made righteous: 'All our righteousness is as a filthy rag before you' (Isa 64:6). For as toward you, the one being Judge, even if we have righteousness, we have it dim compared to you. And Paul, saying, 'I am not aware of anything against myself' (1 Corinthians 4:4) and adding, 'but I am not justified by this' (1 Cor 4:4), shows the weakness of natural kind.

But how would the Lord speak to you? And his lips would open with you? Since they appear to be having hesitation in speech, even if they erred regarding one thing—for it is said regarding some of them: 'Inquire of the former generation, and examine the traces of...'

The lineage of the fathers is clear: he says that he is not opening the speech of God and His lips in a human-suffering way. Therefore he says, 'Do not say, I am pure;' (Job 11:4) but rather, make yourself fit for purity, so that in this way God might speak to you and open His lips with you through goodness. His speech and His lips are to be understood as the conversation occurring invisibly in the intellect.

For the lips manifest the word, as the proverbial saying teaches: 'The lips of the wise are perceived by insight;' (Proverbs 15:7) but also, 'Keep unjust lips far from you.' (Proverbs 4:24) Furthermore, he announces to you the power of wisdom, because it shall be double to you. He makes it clear that God, speaking to you, will teach you, because He has brought these things about wisely. It is also understood that God will teach him as if regarding a just retribution; these things he was saying to Job.

It is indeed true, when God brings on pains through sin, that one capable of understanding must see the induction through His wisdom and in the bitter things, that He is not defending the sinner, but is bringing the tribulations medically and toward the health of the soul; which one of the saints, knowing this, said: 'I will bless You, Lord, because You were angry with me for the sake of salvation.' To receive the knowledge of the judgments of God is a gift of God, concerning which it has been said: 'Abyss is the multitude of Your judgments.' (Psalm 36:6) We know this much: that they are being accomplished toward what is beneficial, even if we do not grasp it.

And let it be as an example of an island set apart, to which the ruler sends those falling and stumbling; and it is clear that this one is to lie underneath the rule, as everyone who is indeed sent to that island to dwell there undergoes this, even if we do not know the exact cause of the stumble. He brings a demonstration that God does all things by wisdom, saying: 'It shall be double to you'; double, as I think, meaning differing in superiority for the one who is not judged, the word being weakly advanced by him.

For because the judgments of God have deep knowledge, the blessed David teaches, to whom 'the obscure and the hidden things of wisdom' are revealed, saying: 'Your knowledge has been marveled at beyond me; it has been strengthened, I am not able toward it.' (Ps 139:6) And another says concerning wisdom: 'I said, I will act wisely, and it was removed far from me beyond what it was. And a deep depth: who will find it?' (Ecclesiastes 7:23-24) And then you will know that it is worthy of you.

The Ignorance of the Greeks and the Limits of Job's Knowledge§68

68You have departed from the Lord because of the sins you committed (Job 11:6). He says he is still engaging in the same kind of reasoning as if speaking to one who has sinned, that if the Lord were to speak to you and make you understand according to his own wisdom, from which having known his superiority you would learn, 'that you have departed from the Lord because of the sins you committed.' And he speaks these things with presumption, not knowing the causes of those things which happen under God, toward the one being addressed, that because of manliness he endured these things, awaiting the praise from God, expecting the one who said: 'Do you intend to use me differently than that you might appear righteous?' (Job 40:8). For he himself, 'the one doing all things and transforming them,' knows the judgment of each. You will not find a trace of the Lord, nor will you reach the ends, which the Pantokrator has made.

He reasons with the holy man with a certain plausible boldness; for since he knew that the administrations of providence are great to grasp, he makes a discourse to him, saying: 'You will not find a trace of the Lord, nor will you reach the ends,' saying 'ends' in reference to the outcomes of things happening. And this one and the other friends are also rebuked; for as having grasped that he suffers these things through sin, they were running against him. But it is also possible to understand 'the ends' in another way; as it has been said: 'Bringing up clouds from the ends of the earth' (Psalm 135:7). And the end is also such a thing, for the sake of which all other things exist, but it is not for the sake of anything else. And by way of an example: the end is health; for because of this, I say, all other things, helps, and labors and efforts, are for this.

And the boundaries of the world are also called 'ends'; as it has been said: 'An infinite ocean and the worlds with it are driven by the same reins of the Master'. The psalmist, having a concept of God as encompassing both the beginnings and the ends and altogether all things happening under him, was saying: 'Behold, You, Lord, have made all things, the ends and the ancient' (Psalm 139:5). The heaven is high, and what will you do? And what do you know of things deeper than those in Hades? Or shorter in measure than the earth or wider than the sea? He wishes to show through all these things that the knowledge of men is measured, not reaching the judgments of God. And now indeed: heaven, he says, is deeper and more distant than Hades, and the earth and the breadth of the sea; say something about them, if you are able. And he perhaps alludes to the fact that even if someone attempts concerning the earth...

They do not speak of the sea and heaven, but are ignorant of the things beyond. This can be used to refute those experienced in Greek philosophy who are said to speak of the nature of heaven, earth, or sea, when they are actually empty regarding these things and say much about Hades, claiming it is a place for souls and other things, seizing words whose demonstration they cannot make manifest; for being unparticipating in the Spirit, they do not possess the precise knowledge of these things of the holy ones who walk upon the earth and have their citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20), so as to say: 'God has given to me unerroneous knowledge of existing things, to know the constitution of the world and the energy of the elements, the beginning, the end, and the middle of times' and the following.

But if he searches out all things, who will say to him: 'What have you done?' and this he truly says, even if he does not look toward the proper goal. 'For who resists the will of God?' (Romans 9:19) It is like this: 'Does the creature say to the Creator: Why have you made me thus?' But he speaks boldly to him regarding 'if he searches out all things.' It is possible to speak regarding administration, perhaps alluding to Job, that even if he suffers, he cannot say: 'What have you done?' for it has happened justly, because we have sinned. Regardless, his perception of this is not certain. For he himself knows the works of the lawless; having seen the absurd, he will not pass them by. It is clear, then, that he spoke through the 'if he searches out all things'; for he says he knows the works of men, not being indifferent to their faults—demonstrating the unrequited justice of God—and he sees them among the foolish.

The saying is useful for the negligent. But a man is differently sounded by words, and a mortal born of woman is equal to a donkey in the wilderness. He says that those who compare the secure knowledge of God to the impositions of men are sounded in vain, comparing him to a donkey, thereby presenting the extreme slowness of men toward the apprehension of judgments, using the word excessively. For those who are accustomed to donkeys and are in the city have some experiential knowledge of the hermit from habit, and because of being naturally slow, and having the wildness and the habits of the days removed, which encourages the human race toward the knowledge of judgments. This is also confirmed by...

Purity of Face and the Forgetting of Sins§69

69By personifying the ignorance of men regarding judgments, happy David says: 'Behold, these sinners, though they prosper, possess wealth for eternity (Psalm 73:12). And I said: Therefore I justified my heart in vain, and washed my hands among the innocent (Psalm 73:13), and became whipped all day long.' And after these things he says: 'I became beast-like beside You (Psalm 73:22).' And the 'beside You' is good; for as regarding the knowledge of God, he says, 'I became beast-like.'

Then, in order to show that he was assuming the face of men, he says: 'But I am with You always (Psalm 73:23),' indicating that: by Your participation and communion, I know. Similar to 'I became beast-like beside You' is 'But I am irrational' and 'I am earth and ash.'

For if you have nourished your heart purely, and you bow hands toward Him, if there is something lawless in your hands, make it far from you; and let injustice not entangle itself in your judgment. As if introducing an exhortation to himself as a teacher, he approaches it saying: that if even though you are exceedingly pure in this way, as always lifting up hands in prayer asking for what is from God (1 Tim 2:8), you will be well-disposed and will cast away the triviality remaining in you, but also let injustice not entangle itself in you. That is: even if it happens that you become in the beginning of doing wrong, let the wickedness not remain as entangling itself in your life.

He says these things, that moral virtue should be suitable to the purity of the soul according to understanding. Similar to this is 'lifting up hands without anger and reasoning (1 Tim 2:8).' And one is perhaps secured, thinking it possible to have a pure heart and unjust deeds. But anyone says the opposite of this, claiming it is possible to have 'just deeds and yet not' a pure heart, is one performing almsgiving in order to be seen by men, the practice of the heart appearing equal to the outward act. For thus will He take up your face just like pure water. He says, that...

Having been freed from every stain and injustice, you will have a face clean like water; it is clear he speaks of the soul. For the human, having been separated from every defilement, will truly show the 'according to the image' as pure and sincere. He will strip off filth and will not be afraid.

He moves without irregularity by the Word. For after saying 'he will lift up his face like clean water,' saying again 'he will strip off filth' is a great irregularity. However, he says this to mean that by making oneself supple toward purity, one will be freed from all filth so as to be fearless and no longer dread retribution. Likely he also says this to mean that after stripping off filth, he is fearless; for God, seeing 'the mind' and 'the hidden things,' does not punish such a person. For humans, while they are ignorant of the hidden, once they have come to know it and have received something, they are exposed and punished as having formerly sinned. But God, receiving the present virtue, forgets the former sins, just as the one who repents presents a face saying, 'Remember not our former iniquities' (Psalm 79:8). And he will let the labor pass like a wave passing by and will not be tossed. He says that the labor of wounds, which they thought the holy one would suffer through sin, will be let pass and will easily pass like a wave without being tossed by it.

He says 'forgetfulness' clearly to mean not the total decay of memory, but the passing of pains; for so it has been said concerning the righteous: 'For their first tribulation shall pass upon them, and it shall not come up upon their heart' (Isaiah 65:16). 'For in the day of good things, there is an amnesty of evils' (Sirach 11:25). And your prayer, like the morning star, and from midday, life rises for you. Following this, he says to those who have perished, that if you make yourself as pure that you do not even become filth, your prayer will shine like the morning star. This signifies to him that morning light, by which the brightness of virtue begins; thus the light will be as strong as its peak. Observe then, what he intends by 'life rises for you,' lest perhaps the virtue...

Quietude and the Eyes of the Soul§70

70He says it is either the life to come or the life without toil, by transitioning from the burdensome things. And the luminous life is found being enlightened by the 'sun of righteousness' (Mal 4:2). It has been said: 'In the morning I will stand by you and watch' (Psalm 5:3). And it shall be certain to you that there is hope for you. And again he says that he believes from the preparation concerning the hoped-for good things.

These things indeed [are...] it is clear that the soul follows the divine hope. For to the one who wishes to 'live according to God' (1 Peter 4:6) follows the eternal, just as Paul says: 'now faith, hope, love remain' (1 Corinthians 13:13). And from the absence of anxiety and care, peace is revealed to you. He says this, that having been freed from the burdensome and painful things through the hope having come from the preparation, 'peace is revealed to you,' saying peace as the rest from circumstances.

And we have in the divine writings things said concerning peace of the kind according to the soul, concerning which it is said: 'great peace is in those who love you, and there is no stumbling block in them' (Psalm 119:165). And this, being the tranquility of the soul, is the fruit of the Spirit: 'for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace' (Gal 5:22). From this they are blessed, concerning whom it is said: 'blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God' (Matt 5:9).

For when anyone 'casts his own care upon the Lord' (1 Pet 5:7), he shall have this peace; but the sinner shall not be in this peace, 'for all the life of the ungodly is in anxiety' (Job 15:20) being disturbed. And you shall be at rest, and he who wars against you shall not be, but many, changing their minds, shall entreat you. Understand, if again this one says that he no longer is insulted as a worthless man through any kind of maltreatment; the fact that this is coming implies 'but many, changing, shall entreat you,' signifying that those who formerly rushed against you shall entreat you because of the change in you.

And the peace which is principally the tranquility of the soul is given to the holy one, the Word saying: 'every man shall rest under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall terrify him' (Mic 4:4). And this is not sensually; but he who has the practical life, signified by the fig tree, and the contemplative, which is signified by the vine—being a poetic thing of gladness—is therefore fearless, not having a deceiver to terrify him or demons. But he who is in malice does not rest here, even in that of the thought...

Being tossed about by passions and demons. Furthermore, regarding Cain, it has been said that one ought not to be moved: 'You have sinned, be still' (Gen 4:7). For quietude of tranquility is a dwelling in human nature, whereas disorder is an intruder.

And now a symbol is interpreted as the soul dwelling in the earth: 'The earth was afraid and was still when God arose for judgment' (Psalm 76:8). For when those doing earthly things become through the fear of judgment in repentance, they take up quietude instead of disturbance, hearing: 'And you will be still, without fear of every evil' (Proverbs 1:33), and salvation will remain for them.

It is hinted that those who fight of old are abandoned by salvation, the remnant of the righteous human being having become lost; and it is clear that they considered the salvation they had clothed themselves with to be the evils of those they fight against, both against soul and body. For their hope is destruction. Regarding the evil-doers, he says that expectation is destruction; he might say that their expectation is not exactly that which they themselves are expecting, but as that which follows having that expectation; just as we say to one falling into punishment: 'You brought these things upon yourself,' not that he himself set this forth, but that he followed it.

'But the eyes of the ungodly will be dimmed' (Job 11:20). Perhaps he hints at the envious and their sorrow which comes upon the change of having fallen into misfortune, as he wrote. But he does not speak of these eyes—for many of the ungodly remained sharp-sighted until their later breath—but of the eyes of the soul.

You have in the divine writings concerning the eyes of man: 'The commandment of the Lord is a bright light, enlightening eyes' (Psalm 19:8), meaning that God's commandments save the eyes of the inner man, even if they are blind. Having understood, Job says: 'Are you then men? Or will wisdom end with you?' (Job 12:2). He says: 'You are indeed men, but thinking great things about yourselves and regarding yourselves as the only men, you think that wisdom remains until you; but you suppose that you can grasp the judgments of God and decide something about them; and in reality, it surpasses human things.' For he says, 'Your judgments are a great abyss' (Psalm 36:6). But Paul also writes that these things are 'unsearchable' (Rom 11:33). And it is shown through 'will wisdom end with you?' that the wisdom of God is not limited to the human.

Virtue as a House§71

71It is a matter of parts. The apostle knows, just as he does, that 'by a part' and for the perfect ones here 'knowledge' possesses a 'storehouse of the spirit' and these things; but he who possesses a storehouse does not have the whole of it, but a 'part' of it. But for him who 'has come to perfection,' he has the part along with the whole; for this is the storehouse.

And as for me, my heart is toward you. He wishes to present to them, saying, that they have re-formations in their own intellects, asserting: 'And my heart is toward you' and I do not agree with you in the same intellect. Or do you not think you think excessively? For I also understand; for it does not differ from the logical regarding the logical. But the difference occurs by the imposition.

He speaks, therefore, concerning faults: 'Hear me, you who have lost your heart.' For he does not speak of the essence, but of its energy, its faulty loss. For a righteous and blameless man became a reproach. When he speaks of lesser things, he applies them to himself; for he is deficient in himself through blindness. But when praise is necessary, he says of the righteous and the one possessing virtue, that they fall upon the same, just as the blessed Paul, saying, 'I know a man in Christ' (2 Corinthians 12:2). For God testified to him, saying, 'Do you suppose I have used you differently than that you should appear righteous?' (Job 40:8).

And if Job once said, being compelled because of the desire to glorify his friends against him, 'I know that I shall appear righteous' (Job 13:18), this became a character; he said this from the reports concerning himself of those using and working virtue, saying: 'I know that if I should use courage until the end, "I shall appear righteous."' For he did not say: 'I am righteous,' but he inclined his expectation toward a future time, announcing the proper characteristic of virtues. For he was prepared to fall at a set time, and his house was to be despoiled by the lawless. This shows that he was delivered to those who requested to test him. Some also, not using this word well, thought fate to be, referring the 'set time' to it. But this is a lie; for not every set time signifies fate. What he presents, therefore, is this: that even if he became a reproach, this did not happen unto infinity, but at the time of God's allowance for this to happen, just as...

“given into the hands of those who afflict.” He said “a fixed” “time,” which is the time for a man to use such a virtue, by which also he is called able to fight. And he says “houses” are “being shaken” regarding the virtues; for those who oppose are eager through the instigators to shake and to unsettle them; for it has been said that houses are taken instead of virtues: “because the midwives feared God, they made themselves houses.” Were they therefore homeless before they feared God? But it is clear that the virtues, according to one hearing the words of Jesus and building his own house, which is life, are not upon a sensible rock, but upon the Christ who said to Peter: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matt 16:18), signifying that Peter has a house in such a rock. And the Savior builds the church, being himself both rock and builder; for God cooperates with the diligent. Thus also the psalmist says: “In a rock you lifted me up” (Psalm 27:5). But it is no great gift of God to be lifted up on a sensible rock, but it is clear that it is by the secure word, as again the psalmist says: “You established my feet upon a rock” (Ps 40:2). It should be noted that it is the righteous or another... but the lawless.

And “to be shaken” shows the courage of the righteous having been thrown into confusion; it is also said in the psalms: “Many times they have fought against me from my youth, and indeed they were not able to prevail against me” (Psalm 129:2), as also Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of God?” (Rom 8:35) and the following. And “houses” must be understood in the plural as the abundance of virtue; temperance is a house, courage is a house, meekness and others, as it is said: “A stronghold is the holy fear of the Lord”; thus also justice. There are against these houses, which the Lord destroys: “For the Lord destroys the houses of the insolent; but he has established a boundary for the widow” (Proverbs 15:25). For he destroys the houses of the proud, as it is said: “Capernaum, until you ascend to heaven, shall you be brought down to Hades” (Matt 11:23), and “the one who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 18:14). “He establishes a boundary for the widow,” which is: the house, the life of those serving God, protected from evils. And “the houses of the lawless shall undergo cleansing, but the houses of the righteous are received” also shows the lives of each. Not, however, but let no one, being evil, trust that he will be innocent. As many as

Divine Providence vs. Human Sin§72

72They provoke the Lord, so will there not be an examination of them? He teaches that even if someone mocks the righteous and overpowers him, he will not be innocent, even if he conquers him by appearing to do so. For such a person provokes God. For there will be an examination of the things done, through which judgment is hinted at, just as Paul says: 'For it is necessary for us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive for what he did through the body' (2 Corinthians 5:10). It also suggests to understand that 'even if those who made claims are acting wickedly by taking authority over me, these are not innocent, having become instruments and vessels of wrath, even if they do this while acting against a sinner' (Romans 9:22). For they rejoice in such service.

To whom indeed is it said: 'I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy' (Isaiah 47:6) and 'I was angry with them a little, but they persisted in evils' (Isaiah 47:6)? For God does not hand them over so that they may use mercy without restraint; but they, doing this with much eagerness, act without mercy; and Pharaoh toward the sons of Israel is such. Such is the saying: 'Giants come to fill my wrath, rejoicing and insulting at the same time.' For they rejoice in the things they serve.

But 'ask the four-footed, if they tell you; and the birds of heaven, if they announce to you; command the earth, and it will explain to you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you' (Job 12:7-9). He wishes to show the depth of judgments and the value of man here, saying that the judgments are incomprehensible, of which man receives knowledge only 'in part' (1 Corinthians 13:12). But it is not appropriate to take it quite this way, that one must ask the four-footed as if to receive an answer from them, but 'inquire of the four-footed, and in the birds, and of the creation in the earth, and judgments, and examine, if it is possible to grasp the deepest things in these words.'

He says these things desiring to have them know that the providence of God is concealed, and it is not proper for them to be permitted to it while being ignorant, just as they were overcome by him as if he were suffering through sin, not knowing the judgment. For in reality, the existence of animals at hand does not present the reasonable; indeed, the things that wander about seem to many not to have a reasonable origin. But the Holy One says: 'All things were created for their need' (Sirach 39:21).

But he presents the hidden part of them: '...of his works it is in secret' (Job 28:24). For it is like a medical case to observe the doctor approaching with skill and science, while the patient is often displeased by many medicines imposed by the doctor.

Who then has not known in all these things that the hand of the Lord made these? Having said that the reason for each of the things that happened is hidden, through which he taught his friends to understand, and claiming that for the sake of sin it happens to him as something hidden and not readily available, he presents something else as instruction: that the general reason is manifest, even if the other part happens to be hidden. I say, indeed, that 'the hand of the Lord has done these,' so that they might show the other cause, that even if it is not because of sin, it happens by the hand of the Lord when they are coming together.

For if he had not been the one who requested and received the commission from God, he would have been able to do nothing. From these things, those who introduce the automatic must be rebuked, for everything is governed by order and providence. For the shared breath of the whole is sufficient instruction to stand firm toward all things that are under the providence of God.

Is not the soul of all living things and the spirit of every man in his hand? He who teaches them the things of instruction confirms this, that everything is under the hand of God, both the life of men and death—this is similar to that in the Gospel: 'Are not two sparrows sold for an ass's coin? And will not one of them fall into a snare without the Father of him who is in heaven?' (Matt 10:29)—constructing nothing else through this except to make them understand their own intellect regarding the judgments of God, and not to say unrighteously that he has suffered through sin.

For the mind distinguishes words, but the larynx tastes grain. Understand, if these things are given toward those: 'But ask the four-footed, if they tell you' (Job 12:7). It is clear from the sequence that knowing the judgments of providence is not irrational or soulless, but of the mind. And he takes a paradigm: just as the larynx is a critic of foods, so the mind is of the things spoken and of the things contained in the nature of the whole. 'Discern therefore also you,' he would say to his friends, 'these things, and you will find my way.'

Wisdom and Divine Providence§73

73"...having been established." Wisdom comes in much time, and science in much life. These things are most educational, for they say, so that they might not think the knowledge of things is easy and accessible because it was said, "the mind indeed distinguishes words," and they might reason that this is easy for them since they have a mind, leading them away from the care of wisdom, by saying: "Wisdom in much time, and science in much life." From this, those unwilling to toil, but thinking that the occasional imposition of some science is enough for them, are to be rebuked. For the knowledge of perfect things does not occur at the same time as one begins.

Furthermore, those who think that learnings are by nature are rebuked by this; for nothing that belongs to human essence by nature and necessity is perfected by time. No mortal, as a living being, adds to himself by time; but the wise man is attained by time. "For when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child; when I have become a man, I laid aside the things of a child" (1 Cor 13:11). To this, someone might oppose the "not those of many years are wise, nor the elders know judgment" (Job 32:9), contrary to what was said by Job to those who think otherwise. Yet both can be understood as following one another; for the blessed Job says that he who begins wisdom and hastens to take it up will not take it up as it happens, but will take it up in much time. But neither would Elihu say contrary to this; for if someone did not desire wisdom, but had progressed in age, he would already be wise; for the old man is not wise by necessity.

You will understand what is said by the singer, if it contributes to the taking up of wisdom in much time, in saying: "Know, Lord, my end and the number of my days, who it is, so that I may know what I fall short of" (Ps 39:4). For virtue is shown to be taken up not by nature, but being perfected by time, in the "so that I may know what I fall short of." And what is wisdom, in the following...

It has been said: "Behold, piety is wisdom, and to abstain from evils is knowledge." And first it is necessary to establish the abstention from evils, so that in this way piety may become wisdom being. For it has been said: "Having desired wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will supply it to you" (Sirach 1:26); for wisdom comes to being after the soul has been purified.

With Him are wisdom and power, with Him counsel and understanding. Having said "wisdom in much time," in order that you do not think him to be speaking about human wisdom, he teaches not to seek it among created things, but how it is found, saying: "With Him are wisdom and power." For it is not from without Him, but in Him it is, being of the same essence as Him; for the source of it exists, and the source does not receive from elsewhere. And the power is with Him, which is Christ; "for Christ is the power and wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:24). And with Him also are counsel and understanding, so that these things are not sought by human impositions, but from Him. And all these things the Son is; for "he prepared the heavens in wisdom" (Proverbs 3:19) is said concerning the Son. If he casts down, who will build up? If he shuts according to men, who will open? If he withholds the water, he dries the earth; but if he touches, he has destroyed it by turning it away.

The word concerning providence, as also previously was said, he teaches by silence to those contradicting him. For even if they were setting forth providence, they were falling into oppositions. He says therefore: "Who has withstood his counsel?" (Job 42:3); for indeed one finds the one suffering, the one in distress, the one weighed down by disease, and others being seized in various accidents and not being able to stand, being cast away. For they happen according to the will of God. Not only concerning building, but also concerning the aforementioned, there is no one who will be able to say according to the apostle: "Why did you make me thus?" (Rom 9:20); but also those who dare something apart from the will of God, since they did not call upon Him, are turned away.

Providence and the Displacement of Counselors§74

74According to the saying, "they shall build and I will turn back," says the Lord (Malachi 1:4). And concerning those having a bad building, it is said: "you destroy them and will not build them." Thus, if it is shut according to men, no one will open; for if God is not prospering a certain action, which someone pre-ordains, through whom words are known, who is able to open? He shut the escape from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and an opening was not found. And in its entirety, many such things you will find.

For He closes against the useful, not allowing the enjoyment of human things, but to be in want; and toward what? Toward salvation, He brings the difficult things. And He closes in another way according to men, when He does not allow them to prosper in evils, and this happening properly toward God, not as the Pharisees did; for it was said to them: "you shut the kingdom of the heavens, you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those entering to enter" (Matt 23:13). And the kingdom of the heavens is shut when those who seem to be teachers, through whom they work evils, make certain imitators of themselves, so that neither they nor those imitating them may enter into the kingdom.

If, therefore, God also shuts to the one who has shut it because of his conduct, who will open to him? Likewise the water and that which hinders according to the sensible, according to what is said, "one part shall be shortened and a part, on which I will not wet, shall be dried," hinders, it dries the earth; and of this you have the example in the Kingdoms; for He is "the one raising clouds from the end of the earth, making lightning into rain" (Psalm 135:7). And according to His own authority, He touches the earth toward growth and toward destruction of those in it, as in the flood according to Noah (Gen 7).

But if you lead these up with understanding, you will find also the profit from them. With Him are power and strength, with Him are knowledge and understanding. The reasonable proof of each of those things happening from Him, the God, is that no one else would be able to do it, or Him, as He teaches, asserting: "with Him are power and strength." And so that no one may irrationally suppose that He makes God remain by power and strength alone, He brings: "with Him are knowledge and understanding." For even if someone is displeased with the things happening, saying, "why is this fertile and wealthy land again becoming a wasteland, while the needy remains without bread?", let him hear.

The phrase 'with him are knowledge and understanding.' For He himself, 'having arranged all things by weight and measure,' provides to each according to the words of His providence what He wills. The production or administration of existing things does not occur by chance, but the diversity of created things and the wisdom of administration have come from and stand in divine wisdom.

It must be noted that it is not said, as if God were a compounder, that 'strength and might are with him' and 'with him are knowledge and understanding'; for all these things the Son is, being simple and uncomposite. He leads away captive counselors, and he makes the judges of the earth err. And these are the works of providence; for by will and by judgment, captive counselors are led away and judges are displaced.

And if 'counselors' refers to those who blow great in the state, many of these are also found scattered in captivity; which is clear from the captivity of Israel, concerning which Jeremiah lamented over their city, saying: 'How sits the city once full of people, now as a widow full of nations; she who ruled among the lands has become a tributary' (Lamentations 1:1). And if 'those who advise' signifies the name of counsel, then God leads away those who do this for evil. An example of this is Ahithophel, whose counsel and life were perverted.

For from this also one can understand the work of providence: that even those most wise among those advising, following the purpose of advising, fail in their outcomes, not as if they advised badly, but as if providence is testing them otherwise. So also rulers who have done all things by themselves fail; for the end belongs to God. By His own power He 'made judges err.' And if 'made err' signifies madness, this also happens to those using judgment in a way that is not required; for God displaces such people, proving them foolish. But 'made err' can also signify their displacement; for by the providence of the Word of God, 'judges are displaced' and kings are seated on thrones. Similar to this is 'through me kings reign' and 'the Lord establishes kings and removes them.' Often He gives these both in anger and according to...

The Scattering of Counsel and the Pouring Out of Dishonor§75

75The phrase 'I gave them a kingdom in my wrath' is used. Because things apart from God's judgment are hollow, He himself says, lamenting, 'They reigned and not through me; they began and did not make known to me' (Hosea 8:4), through which, in wrath, such people are again released, the opportunity for reconciliation being provided again for a time.

For a throne is often taken to mean a kingdom, even if it is used instead of a teaching office, as is clear from 'The Lord King is established forever' (Psalm 29:10), and again: 'Your throne, O God, is unto the ages of ages' (Ps 45:6), and even more: 'A throne of authority is prepared with righteousness' (Proverbs 16:12). But it is also said to the disciples: 'You also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel' (Matt 19:28). When it is said, 'The scribes sat upon the seat of Moses' (Matthew 23:2), this seat is one of teaching. And he girded their loins with a belt. Unless he himself lives, the one being girded has no strength; therefore, it is God who is He and who governs all these things by His own providence. And the matter of the belt signifies as 'And rulers shall hold the earth through me.'

He sends them as captives. If he speaks of those not using the matter correctly, it shows that He spares not even them when the time calls. But if he means those using it according to what is necessary, God also sends even these many times, like those concerning Daniel and Jesus the son of Josadak, into captivity for the sake of the usefulness of another multitude; for how great was the thing they were doing, they were not worthy to undergo captivity. Consider, however, the greatness of them, that even having become captives and being in Babylon, they remained unshaken.

And if, then, we see the saints being sent into this life, let us reckon that it was not for their own sake, but they underwent this for the benefit of others. The apostle, alluding to this, writes: 'This attitude was among you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave' (Phil 2:6-7). He destroyed the powerful ones of the earth. For it is by the judgment of this God that these also undergo destruction, just as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar. And God destroyed the arch-evil devil; for it is said: 'But the angels who do not obey...'

He scatters the lips of the faithful. Some think that certain words are faithful and unanswerable, and God scatters these. Without fail, it is said concerning Ahithophel, the counselor of King Israel, who was previously a counselor to David and later to Absalom; for it was said of him that the counsel of Ahithophel was like the counsel of God, and this was being circulated about him as being unsearchable in his counsels. Without fail, David, to whom the unmanifest and the hidden things of wisdom were revealed, praying to God said, 'Scatter the counsel of Ahithophel' (2 Sam 15:31), and so it happened. He recognized the understanding of the elders.

And he recognized the understanding of the elders who have instead of many opinions prudence and the unceasing life instead of old age; for it was worthy of his knowledge. It is appropriate to hear 'recognized' in the sense of understanding; for he also recognizes the foolish and their counsels. But it is clear how he, recognizing those things—speaking of the elders according to Abraham—accepts them. Pouring out dishonor upon rulers, but humbling the lowly. For of him who 'appoints and removes' (Daniel 2:21), it means to grant honors in the appointing, and to pour out dishonor in the removing; and to 'pour out' signifies doing this abundantly; for many times we have observed this, as in 'the love of God is poured out in our hearts' (Rom 5:5), instead of 'has been greatly given' according to what is said; 'a myrrh emptied out is your name,' which became 'a wonder in all the earth' (Psalm 8:1) according to the Psalmist, before this sending out the fragrance only to Judah, and later reaching all, as it is said, 'You have magnified your holy name over all.' But it also serves as a demonstration of the grace being abundantly given, 'I will pour out from my spirit upon all flesh' (Joel 2:28). Therefore he says that there will be a pouring out of dishonor upon rulers according to justice, of those being humbled by God; for he himself makes the honored dishonorable, the poor rich, and the weak strong, according to him who 'raises the poor from the earth and lifts the needy from the ash heap' (1 Sam 2:8). But if you take the lowly according to opinion and choice, he humbled them by 'making them into highness.'

The Shadow of Death and Divine Wandering§76

76he prevents a perceived destruction by making things seem unimportant, following the principle of 'treating non-existent things as if they were real.' Thus he says: 'Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time' (1 Peter 5:6). And again: 'The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6). For he brings those who have perfected the virtue of humility into the kingdom of heaven; for he is the one about whom it is said: 'And he will save the poor in spirit' (Psalm 34:18). He reveals deep things out of darkness.

Having said this, he will proceed regarding creation and providence, and regarding foreknowledge and his unchangeable nature, as well as knowing the things being done in secret. Similar to this is what is said by David: 'Lord, you have tested me and known me; you knew my seat and my rising; you understood all my thoughts from afar' (Psalm 139:2). For it is not that when I reason, you come to know my thoughts, but rather you exist as a foreknower of things, and so also of thoughts. 'Where shall I go from your spirit, or from your face where shall I flee? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I descend to Hades, you are there; if I take up the wings of my dawn and dwell at the limits of the sea, even there your hand will guide and your right hand will hold me fast' (Psalm 139:7-10).

But even beyond these things, he says something else in the 'I said: therefore darkness shall overpower me,' instead of 'hide me.' But even this, teaching again that the knowledge of God cannot be prevented, he says: 'The darkness shall not be darkness from you, and night shall be enlightened as the day' (Psalm 139:12). For to men, indeed, the night makes a difference from the day, but to you, O Lord, even these things are enlightened, instead of 'they become manifest'; which is also what the apostle makes manifest, saying: 'all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him' (Hebrews 4:13). And in Daniel it is said: 'knowing all things in the darkness, and the light is with him' (Daniel 2:22), which is our Savior, who 'enlightens every man' (John 1:9). Therefore, everything is manifest to him... and the deeds of men, those happening in secret and in darkness, he makes manifest when it is necessary. And he is also able to reveal the obscure parts of words, according to 'he will understand a parable and a dark saying' (Proverbs 1:6), through enlightenment.

Having become mine in thought, he led the shadow of death into light. Now he calls the shadow of death the wickedness which is hidden and operating with deceit toward someone, as if to call the shadow of death himself. For often those operating are signified by the name of the virtue, just as the righteous is called righteousness in 'that we might become the righteousness of God in Him' (2 Cor 5:21). And the apostle, regarding those having love, indicated it by the name of love, saying: 'Love is patient, does not boast, is not rude, does not think of evil, believes all things' (1 Cor 13:4). He does not speak these things concerning the virtue, but concerning the one having the love.

Then again he selects: 'Love never fails' (1 Cor 13:8); and it is not a great thing that a virtue 'does not fail'—it is not its nature—but he speaks concerning the one established in this; for as much as anyone has of it, he is not to be lost. Therefore, if he says 'to lead the shadow of death into light', he does not mean the wickedness, but he speaks of the one operating it, according to 'for you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord' (Eph 5:8). For when they were darkness, existing in ignorance, they happened to be a shadow of death. But when he enlightened them having known them, then he led them out from the shadow of death, so that it might be said concerning them: 'as luminaries in the world' (Phil 2:15), who 'having put away the lie', which is 'darkness', 'speak the truth', which is what is light.

He is wandering nations and destroying them. Wandering is a homonym. For deception is also called wandering, and lawlessness is called wandering, according to that which is said: 'and they became wanderers among the nations' (Hosea 9:17). But God does not wander in an unwholesome way in doing this, but is pulling them away from wickedness. And if he also says that 'to deliver to a reprobate mind' is wandering (2 Thess 2:11), he does not do this in an unwholesome way, as it is heard from the Lord saying: 'Behold, I will send him a delusion' (2 Thess 2:11), which is: because he turns toward evils, while caring for his salvation, God turns him away, instead of the soul prospering in evils. He turns him toward a useful wandering placed for him. In the same manner, it is said that he destroys the wicked, either by subjecting them to punishment or by destroying their vice through a turning back. Thus, God either destroys the nations by punishing them or by destroying their wickedness. So also 'to seek and...

The distinction between medical help and malicious criticism§77

77To save the lost who have come. Overthrowing nations and guiding them. Those who exercise foresight and say that God governs all things, a difference is brought forth; for some say that God governs in general, but not in particulars; and we also say this.

They also use such an example: the market-regulator, they say, exercises foresight for the city, making the crops abundant, but he does not carry out the other administration for the people of the city. And they say about a creator, that he creates the kinds of beings, but not the particulars. We also say this, hearing 'for you made me' (Ps 139:13) and 'your hands formed me and made me' (Job 10:8) and 'before you formed me in the womb I knew you' (Jer 1:5), which they interpret regarding the manner of forming, stumbling upon this or that.

The 'overthrowing' therefore signifies this; for this is the word also applied to those inscribed in the constitution. What he says is that through the providence of God all things go well and in order, and even regarding the particulars, he does this; for this is most clearly shown from 'guiding them'. 'But not, but I will speak to the Lord, and I will contend against him, if he pleases' (Job 13:3). Having accused them as being mistaken, he says 'I will speak to the Lord', showing his own self-confidence. And 'I will contend against him' is instead of 'I will demonstrate my own position, if he wishes according to the hypothesis; for I know that he himself knows the cause of the harm'.

Similar to this is 'Do I now persuade men or God?' (Galatians 1:10) and 'The one who judges me is the Lord' (1 Corinthians 4:4). It is not small, but perfect, and as God testified in the beginning 'righteous and blameless' (Job 1:8), so to say 'I will speak to the Lord' and 'I will contend against him, if he pleases' is perfect. For apart from his will to do such a thing, which is not lawful. And you are all unjust physicians and healers of evils. An unjust physician is according to...

The readily available other aids are brought to those suffering, according to what is useful. This happens in two ways: either from the physician's abundance of resources or from ill-will. These ones who were rebuking Job said to him, more out of ignorance than out of malice, 'You suffer because of sins,' thinking they were bringing words of consolation; they were therefore unjust because they were ignorant of the cause. As for 'all are physicians of evils,' this might be said regarding those who think highly of themselves, as if they were able to heal what is happening to others by chance.

May you be struck deaf, and may it result for you in wisdom. He prays that they might have knowledge of the seasons, when it is necessary to speak and when it is necessary to be silent, having recognized that they stumble; for this shall be to them a beginning and a precursor of wisdom. For if they would learn that it is also possible to be afflicted in a different way in order that the present virtue might be revealed, wisdom shall be to them.

Textual gaps... as it is said in Proverbs: 'To a fool asking for wisdom, wisdom shall be reckoned.' For when anyone recognizes that there is need of students and of a teacher who enlightens, it shall result to him in wisdom. Just as he who is able to speak about wisdom and to teach is wise and a teacher, so also he who is able to ask what ought to be asked is in part wise. He called him 'foolish' not as being entirely lacking, but as having something lacking. Similar to 'may you be struck deaf' is 'the season to be silent'—and 'the season to speak.' 'Hear the rebuke of my mouth, and pay attention to the judgment of my lips.' He says mouth and lips instead of the word. But the holy one rebukes as holy and judges as becomes Him; he uses rebuke and judgment skillfully and legally; for the righteous does not have an untimely rebuke, nor does he do this falsely, but having judged. 'For the mouth of the righteous shall meditate on wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of God is in his heart, and...

The Judge's Impartiality and the Conscience§78

78"His steps will not be made to slip." (Psalm 37:31). For the law of God is in the heart of the righteous; he meditates on wisdom and his steps are not made to slip, which are "the walking powers of the soul." Such a thing also the saying of Proverbs means, "the judgments of the thoughts of the righteous" (Proverbs 12:5). And when such thoughts exist, the word follows to be like this: "for the good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of the heart" (Luke 6:45). Whether you speak not in the presence of the Lord, and speak deceit toward him, or whether you shrink back? From their own conscience he begins to teach them by reproof, that whatever they bring forth, seeing God, they speak; but he also announces to them the deceit as being brought forth in his presence for the sake of correction, so that they might cease from such a disposition, since they have the Lord watching over them. And therefore he prevents their audacity, because just as they shrank back from a man, hiding deceit and speaking against him, so they do to God.

The words are useful against those who lie and use deceit, concerning which also David says: "of those speaking peace with their neighbors, but evil in their hearts" (Psalm 28:3). But you yourselves become judges. It is well, if it searches you out. If anyone says: "How is it that he just said 'you are unjust doctors' (Job 13:4) and 'whether you speak not in the presence of the Lord, and speak deceit toward him'" and now says: "but you yourselves become judges"? To this it must be said: that each of those sinning, being enticed by pleasure, does not perceive the eye of the God who watches. But if a righteous and wise man, or even another such, is called, the conscience of the sinner leads him to the realization that God sees the inward thoughts of each, striking him into perception. This is therefore what the saint does, saying: "but you yourselves become judges. It is well, if it searches you out." For those being conscious of a slip do not wish to be searched out even by a righteous man, how much less by God; for of the saints it is such, according to David saying: "refine my reins and my heart" (Psalm 26:2). For if, doing all things, you are placed before him, nothing less will convict you. Even if the...

“Having done all things that must be done, you shall be added to him”—instead of “you shall make yourselves his own”—“you shall again be subject to reproof through ignorances.” This indeed the blessed apostle was saying: “I do not consider myself my own conscience, but not in this have I been justified” (cf. 1 Cor 4:4). For it enters into me to overlook something of the ignorances, and I have not been justified because of that. And as far as I think I have no conscience against myself, I think I am without responsibility. But it is not my judgment that shows me having been justified, but the judgment of God.

The blessed David also confirms this, saying: “Who will understand trespasses? From my secret parts cleanse me” (Psalm 19:12). For in truth, someone recognizes sins, but trespasses, which in a certain way are unintentional, someone hardly understands. “And if therefore,” he says, “you do all things toward purity, from the unintentional things, as from God judging, you shall have the reproof.” Through which also the Lord said to his own disciples: “When you have done all things, say: we are unprofitable slaves, what we ought to do, we have done” (Luke 17:10).

And if even in secret you should admire faces, whether not his agitation will trouble you, and fear will fall upon you from him? The best judge of matters is the examiner; he does not look toward the faces of those being judged. For if those being judged were rich or rulers or others possessing superior value, he does not look toward their face, but toward the actions, which he judges. This also is carried forward in the Catholic Epistle: “admiring faces for the sake of advantage” (Jude 1:16), and it is clear that the flatterers are justifying the ungodly because of gifts and removing the justice of the just. But God, standing as protector, does not will thus, but lays down law: “according to the great and the small you will judge, you will not receive a face,” clearly of the rich, and “you will not have mercy on the poor in judgment” (Deuteronomy 1:17). And it is said elsewhere: “justly let the just pursue the just.”

For it is not necessary to add to the rich, nor should the poor, pitying his need, overlook the just. And it becomes the work of a righteous judge, just as it is handed down in the history concerning David, so that after the judgments and outcomes of matters, if it should happen that the poor is there, or one who has ignored the just, or one acting unjustly, the rich man is exhorted so that he might show philanthropy toward him. And the righteousness of the judge will be more ready for this.

The Purpose of Sin's Ashes and the Body's Nature§79

79Accepting. Thus indeed it is said concerning David: 'doing judgment and justice' (2 Samuel 8:15).... Job... 'if you also marvel at faces in secret' (Job 13:10); for every bribetaker does not accept the things of those providing from the visible, but in secret, often also in a disguised manner, according to that, he wishes to come together. And he brings fear, saying that if someone dares to hide the thing of partiality by craft, but God, being angry through the onslaught against the sinners, will shake them, instead of 'he will let the passion be provided to them.'

He says the onslaught with the impulse of passion is like the movement of the swirling waters according to the dawnings, so that what he says briefly is such: 'do you bring his movement, if he is indignant?' Similar to this is what is brought in Zechariah, said to the sinners: 'the Lord shall go in the whirlwind of his wrath' (Zechariah 9:14). And the whirlwind of wrath signifies the anger because of their sins, for he himself is... The 'shall go' might perhaps be similar to that said in Genesis concerning Adam, that he heard God walking just as he was sinning (Gen 3:8); through this he receives a sensation of the departure of God because he no longer has anything luminous in himself. For those lengthening themselves from God hear: 'the Lord is far from the ungodly' (Proverbs 15:29), not in place of this being said, but in distancing the one being good and the one being bad from Him. And these things are because of the 'shall go in the whirlwind.'

Let us return to the beginning, to those 'marveling at faces in secret,' whom also the anger of God according to a whirlwind will shake, as it was given; and upon them also fear falls from God, and this is for benefit, so that they may know that a threat is brought against them as sinners. And of this fear, which I say according to the threat, is another by which it is said: 'the fear of the Lord surpassed all' (Sirach 25:11), which is primarily reverence. For there is no other fear of God or heightened respect, through which those having it become lacking; 'for there is no deficiency to those fearing him' (Psalm 34:9). But the passive fear follows the sinners. For another of this kind is said to be sent upon sinners for punishment; observe...

Otherwise, it signifies nothing else through the name of fear or the avoidance of wrath. This is not a passion of God; for it is said, 'I sent away the wrath' (/implied); a passion is not sent away. But your boasting shall pass away like ashes. The word shows the state after the wrath of those sinning, being brought to nothing in the revelation occurring through the wrath, the conceit of those judging secretly being consumed.

Since ashes signify worthlessness, it is to be learned from one of the twelve prophets saying, 'And you shall trample down the lawless and they shall be as ashes under your feet' (cf. Zephaniah/Prophetic imagery). For ashes are something burning that has lost its own power. Indeed, a threat regarding burning is brought in Deuteronomy, as through the fruits being hindered because the land has lost its own power. And it is for some benefit that sins are burned up; just as thorns and thistles, being burned, do not bring a little harm, so also the sins—even if they are burned according to what is said, 'the lawlessness shall be burned like fire and shall be consumed by fire like dry stubble' (Isaiah 9:18)—they no longer defile the soul, but are called out toward repentance according to what is said in the Gospel: 'If the powers that happened in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, they would have repented' (Matt 11:21).

For if anyone receives in his mind the salvation-fire, about which the Savior said, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I want, if it is already kindled' (Luke 12:49), he burns up the former sins; and sitting, instead of 'having ceased from sinning,' he is turned toward repentance, choosing a somewhat severe and rigorous life. But the body is clay. Man is composed of soul and body. And there is a time when the body is led away as a slave by the soul and, in a certain way, is no longer being treated as clay, but being a servant to the soul along with reason and with the mind acting.

But when someone cares for nothing of his salvation, his soul, turning toward wickedness and serving the flesh, doing such things as do not differ from an irrational animal, he shows that his body is clay, as nothing helping from the soul's movements. For the body is something distinct from the soul, as the Savior himself taught, saying:

The Metaphor of Teeth and the Soul§80

80“Do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Since they are able to kill the body of a man, but not the soul, it is clear that the same essence is not of soul and body. Therefore, when the soul is hindered from its own and natural impulses, then the man appears as a body of clay, not because the soul is changing into a body, but because its actions are no longer heavenly, but bodily; just as Paul calls “those walking according to the flesh” (1 Cor 3:3) and “according to man” men, saying they have human qualities and not divine energy.

For it is said by the blessed Paul to all those who have devoted themselves to the bodily and because of this are being human in mind: “For where is strife among you, are you not carnal and walking according to man?” (1 Cor 3:3). But when “walking upon the earth they have their citizenship in heaven” (Phil 3:20) and “bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49), they are not a body of clay. “You have made me deaf, so that I may speak and rest my spirit.” He says this, urging them to recognize those coming against them, shifting the cause to the saying “and rest my spirit,” instructing that if they might chance to be corrected from the state of being divided, his spirit—which he had rightfully been angry against their iniquity, not passionably, but as the law is laid down to be angry against sinners—would rest.

And the name of deafness signifies silence, as in “I was deaf and I did not open my mouth, because you are the one who made me” (Psalm 39:9). For he says that not speaking is deafness. And again: “When the sinner stood against me, I was deaf and I was humbled, and he was silent from good things.” For when the sinner, who is the devil, having persuaded the soul to sin before it, reproaching it as “an enemy existing and an avenger,” then the soul, feeling shame, receives silence as deafness. Therefore he says, “hold your peace,” so that through the same, instruction might be born in them. Taking up my flesh for those who travel, he in a way gives them a respite. Since he himself had previously accused them as being “accusers of evils”—for they were not calling to prayer as they ought, but rather were stirring up grief and the...

Regarding what is being asked of him, he says: 'I take up my flesh to the teeth,' I am no longer angry against you, but against myself. Let the name of the flesh be thus smoothed over.

For often, when someone wishes to report a crushing having happened to himself, he remembers the flesh according to what is said: 'when those doing evil to me approach to eat my flesh,' (Psalm 27:2) instead of 'to harm me'; for it was not his flesh they were eating under the skin, but they were distressing him. Similar to this is the 'so that while living they would devour us,' which shows the aggressive action of those who force.

One might say: 'I take up my flesh to the teeth. Thus I nourish my teeth. And just as food being taken up to the teeth is thinned and its usefulness is shown, so also, nourishing my teeth and receiving the increase of benefit from the harms of these, I proceed.' But if he shows endurance through saying 'having taken up the flesh to the teeth' instead of 'not caring for the harm,' consider this.

I will place my soul in hand, if the powerful one should strike me, since he has also lifted the hand. In agreement with the 'having taken up my flesh to the teeth,' one should also strike upon the 'I will place my soul in hand,' so that he is saying: 'and I also despise my own soul, being subject to the one striking me and having already been subjected to this, in order to benefit you in some way,' thereby declaring the God who has consented with the one asking him. 'I am therefore ready to be given over to death.'

But if he says this regarding the change that is about to be, it is worthy of the one understanding to observe: 'since he has also lifted' does not contradict, calling God good because he rescues from those who afflict; 'I will indeed speak and convict against him,' and this will result for me in salvation. In all things, his zeal is to instruct the friends concerning the cause of the oppressors, so that he might win them over not to think against him.

For he reckoned this as salvation, to know this and the account of the providence concerning this, which he wished to make manifest by saying 'and I will convict'; for often the conviction signifies the proof, just as Paul says: 'all things being convicted are made manifest by the light,' (Eph 5:13) and again 'faith is of the things hoped for.' (Heb 11:1)

The Purpose of Divine Discipline§81

81He uses 'subsistence, the demonstration of things unseen' instead of 'proof.' For no deceit will enter against Him. Desiring to present its truthfulness and its reverence, he says: 'What I say, I speak as one seeing God. For it is not possible for any deception to occur to God, as to let deceit enter before Him.' This, however, could be understood in two ways according to the similar parallel, which is thus essentially evangelical: 'And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it' (John 1:5). For that which is overshadowing is released by the presence of the light, or whatever approaches as a deception near the light is turned away; when the deception is released, it does not grasp at all. For all those who deceive and scheme are ignorant in their zeal; for the beauty of the truth they shall not grasp. Thus, deceit does not approach the spring of truth because those using it do not dare to bring it to itself. And in another way, there is no deceit in God; for it is not His nature to be in Him. 'For God is faithful, and there is no injustice in Him' (Deuteronomy 32:4). And again: 'If we are faithless, He remains faithful' (2 Tim 2:13). For He is unshakeable and unchangeable.

Hear, hear my words; for I announce them to you as you are listening. The word repeats, so that He might call them firmly to listen. For it is possible for the hearing to be struck by the voice without having heard, because of not paying attention with the mind. Therefore, the Savior, awakening those listening so that they might listen truly, said: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matt 13:9). And again, to others not paying attention, He says: 'Neither His voice have you heard, nor His appearance have you seen' (John 5:37-38), and interpreting how it proceeds: 'Nor do you have His word remaining in you,' which happened if they were listening truly. Thus also the blessed Job, desiring to prepare their hearing, said the 'Hear'; for as He says, 'since you have been prepared, I am pleased to speak,' desiring them to become wise listeners: 'an ear...'

But the desire of a wise man is to listen. 'Behold, I am near to my judgment' (Job 13:18). This is the beginning of instruction for them, and now it is being cast down as a discipline, because he has been judged to suffer not because of sin, but because of a struggle, so as to know the time according to which the judgment will end. I know that I shall be revealed as righteous.

For who is the one to be judged by me, saying, 'That I will now deafen and exclude him'? He does not say this out of arrogance, but to discipline them so that they may not have any impression concerning him other than the truth. For when someone speaks well of himself without intending to do this, when another is determined concerning him to do otherwise. For if someone has a certain service at hand to fulfill for those in need, and if he slanders it as if it were being struck away, we would not blame in a defense one saying, 'I am providing all our things to those in need,' if he had not said this previously.

In this way, do not blame Job for self-love, but because of the stated reason he says these things and says them with pure boldness: 'Who is he that will be judged by me so that I may deafen,' instead of 'I will be silent' (Job 13:19), 'and exclude,' instead of 'I will cease speaking.' It will be necessary for me to die: 'Then from your face I will hide; withhold your hand from me, and let your fear not terrify me' (Job 13:21).

The ambiguity of the things foretold would be smoothed out by him saying, 'If as the friends say, it will be necessary for me to do this, showing it as trivial, "from your face I will hide"; but if as I say, "withhold your hand from me and let your fear not terrify me".' 'For every one who sins, working unworthily, is hidden from the face of God,' just as Adam 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 secrecy of your face from the disturbance of men' (Psalm 31:20). This too covers the earnest one with God's protection, so that he may not fall by human disturbances. But the secrecy of the face...

Job's perception of God's hiddenness and the friends' judgment§82

82The divine mysteries are distinct from what is visible. For God cannot be seen in secret through the works of providence and creation, but only in what is revealed. It has been said: 'because The knowledge of God is clearly seen in them;in them;in them; for God has revealed himself to them. For his invisible things, understood from the creation of the world through the works, are seen' (Rom 1:20). Therefore, to be hidden by God is salvation, but to be hidden as Adam was is useless, which he says does not happen because of the absence of sin: 'withhold your hand from me' (Job 13:21) and the following, 'that these may be instructed, that they may not suffer this because of sin' (Job 13:15). For the friends intended only that he suffers because of sin' (Job 13:15). Then you will call, and I will answer you; or you will speak, and I will give you a reply' (Job 13:22). Through many things he shows his boldness toward God, so that in this he might lead them to a true understanding of what is happening to him. And this is proof of his righteousness.

And you have this also concerning the priest Moses, who was made worthy to speak to God in 'Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice' (Exodus 19:19). But the answer from God should not be thought to be a mere voice, but a divine energy, through which he speaks to God. 'How many are my sins and my lawlessness? Teach me what they are' (Job 13:23). Again through them he says such things, so that they may learn that one who has sin and lawlessness does not know God. And he himself, having said 'I know that I shall appear righteous' to the friends, speaks reverently to God, saying, 'Teach me how many my sins are' (Job 13:23). Similar to this is 'I know nothing about myself, but I am not justified by this; the one judging me is the Lord' (1 Cor 4:3). It is also good to learn from mistakes, so that we may turn away from them.

'Why do you hide from me, and consider me your adversary?' (Job 13:22). This is due to their misunderstanding; for God dwelling in him was not hidden from him, but because of their thinking this, these things were said. 'For these think that you are against me, supposing that I suffer because of sin (Job 13:24).' Or, like a leaf moved by the wind, or like grass carried by the spirit, you have opposed me.

Regarding me, the whole of the understanding would be thus: 'Why do you hide me, supposing me to be against you, like a leaf moved by the wind and grass carried by the spirit?' This turns out to be characteristic of a changeable manner and fickleness, according to that which is said by the Savior concerning John: 'Why did you go into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?' (Matthew 11:7)—instead of 'something easily dismissed and falling by chance.' These things, as previously said, Job says toward the dispute of the friends.

‘That you have recorded evils against me, and you have left for me the sins of youth.’ It is clear that he speaks toward their assumption; for now he says 'evils' regarding the afflictions. For the friends, supposing that he suffers through sin, he himself joined to 'you have recorded evils against me' the 'you have left for me the sins of youth,' meaning that 'from which my friends, running against me, judge me to be suffering through sin, they have the following: to suppose that the sins of youth have been left around me

'You put my foot in mire.' He does not say these things according to his own will, but toward the one supposing that every one being afflicted undergoes this. Being smoothed out, it would be thus: 'The power of my walking, by which I act rightly, was understood differently by them as being of my sinning, and because of this, by participating in tribulations, you placed it in mire.' For he himself acted in a certain way, giving it out to the one asking, from which it happened that his foot was placed in mire, being prevented by them, as it is said, from sins, not wanting their the progress of the righteous, which is the ability to perceive correctly.

For since you are accustomed to the Scripture and to those things established from opinion to say that the one acting speaks as if from God because of the agreement, it will be clear to you from 'God handed them over to sufferings of dishonor' (Rom 1:28) and 'to a reprobate mind' (Rom 1:28) and 'the desires of their hearts' (Rom 1:28). If even through the total affliction he could no longer perform for himself the things toward the needs or the requirements or other things—as he also has said—'but my door stands open to everyone coming'—he was saying this, realize, which he did not ignore because it had happened to him through struggle. For many such things God does because of the benefit, as from...

The brevity of life and the purpose of suffering§83

83It should be learned that God led his people through the wilderness for three days, so that they would not return hastily to Egypt. Understand that the communion with the body should not be seen as a burden or a secret matter through economy, as the extreme purity is not yet complete.

And this is for a reason; neither we nor God are to be blamed. 'You have guarded all my works' (Job 13:27). The blessed one knows what was said by David, who was holy, that God does not observe all the iniquities of the birds, but trains them again, and this is why they suffer—that is, through struggle. The one who spoke before said that God, having guarded all his works, leads him to the 90, so that from this they might understand that the greatness of so many leadings is not due to sin, but to struggle and the goal of manliness.

The 'you have guarded' here is not instead of 'you kept,' but 'you will have observed.' And if he speaks of his own 'sins of youth' and presents 'you have guarded all my works' as having sinned, it is not to be wondered at; for all the saints, for the sake of moderation and good-mindedness, offer such voices, just as the men in the furnace and the blessed David said: 'Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorances' (Psalm 25:7). 'You have reached to the roots of my feet.' This means 'you have made all that concerns me as exact as the roots, that is, both the reasons and the beginnings of my practical progressions, to observe so that you might lead me to punishment.' And this again he says based on their assumption.

That which grows old is like an ascetic or a garment of coarse linen. ''Of those,' he says, 'you remembered the sins that have grown old like an ascetic.' But an ascetic who has grown old is inactive for the need for which he was prepared; for he does not hold the liquids being poured in. So also the sins of youth have grown old and, like a garment of coarse linen, no longer serve the purpose. But sins grow old when they are worn away by virtue; for when being practiced they are always made young, even if the one practicing them is long-lived, he himself being called newer from the character of the one making things new. But a mortal, born of woman, is short-lived and full of wrath. He wills for them...

He presents the cause of his suffering by joining together the weight of the temptation and human life; for having examined that 'you have laid the sins of my youth upon me' (Ps 38:5) and 'all my works you have guarded' (Ps 38:5), as if you had sent so many to me, he brings forward as a supporting argument for the matter not being so, 'but man born of woman is short-lived and full of wrath' (Job 14:1). Because of the hardship of life, he would not have brought such punishment upon the short-lived and full of wrath, unless he had encountered it for the sake of a struggle. For if the goodness of God and the brevity of men's lives had coincided, these things would not still have been reckoned as having happened because of sin.

But consider, lest he also have such a mind; the one who has not become God through virtue, but remains in the human condition, he is in wrath and is short-lived in a certain way, 'in this life alone, hoping.' But the one believing in the Savior so as to become God, he is not subject to punishment through wrath, even if he is afflicted, the affliction being called wrath in another way. He says therefore, 'if I also lived according to man, observe, so that from this you may judge, that I fell through wrath.' Or, just as a flower bloomed and fell away, and a shadow that will not stand. These things are to be joined with those before them.

That for the passing man, like a flower and a shadow, such evils were brought upon him, it is not according to the present context because of sins. 'For if he observes iniquities, Lord, Lord, who shall stand? But with you is the atonement' (Psalm 130:3-4). So it was to be understood by the friends, that not because of mistakes, but as is foretold, because he was set before the goal of manliness, these things happened to him. And these things, first, according to a first thought.

But according to a second, it would be said thus: as a flower falls, 'he who walks according to the flesh', and as a shadow, resembling an accompaniment and doing nothing previously. For since the shadow is received instead of the unsubstantial, it is shown by 'my days pass away like a shadow' (Ps 144:4). Will I not also make a point of this, and that you made this to enter into judgment before you? In agreement with the former response, someone might be, joining these things thus: 'if even the one born of woman is short-lived and filled with toil, so as to resemble one fallen like a flower and a shadow that flees quickly,'

The Measure of Life and Divine Providence§84

84But indeed I have composed a discourse of this, not bypassing it so as to let it enter into judgment before you. A proof of this would be what is said toward God: 'My people, what have I done to you?' (Micah 6:3) and again, 'Behold, I am being judged against you.' For God, bringing in such a care concerning men, would not have demanded justice from man so unyieldingly and absolutely, as his friends suspected him of punishing.

These things he brings forward as a defense, so that he does not suffer otherwise than for it to appear just according to: 'Do I suppose I have dealt with you differently, so that you should appear righteous?' (Job 40:8) For who is clean from filth? Not even one, even if his life on the earth be but one day, and his months be numbered before you. And he joined these things together so that they might understand that he does not suffer because of sin. For if it were so, no one would be without trouble, even if he lived for a short time.

And these things are for how the friends might be instructed in the cause; for if an objection were to be said against what was spoken of him, he said this, saying something standing in place: 'For even if you are short-lived and passing like a shadow (Job 14:2) and falling like a flower, it does not prevent you from suffering because of sin.' To which he most directly said: 'For who is clean from filth? But no one,' so that it was necessary for all, as has already been said, to suffer. And filth and sin, someone else might say, signify the same thing, with the one saying the filth of sin as something lesser of the other.

You have concerning filth and sin in Isaiah thus: 'The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and the daughters of Zion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst' (Isaiah 4:4), the blood signifying sin there, the unclean thing, and the filth the unintentional acts, which the Savior, having come, cleansed by himself. For because blood often signifies sin, it is said toward the ancient evil devil: 'In whatever way a garment stained with blood is not to be clean, in the same way you will not be clean.' For he did not happen to be stained with blood, but it is clear that the blood signifies to him the 'sin unto death.' Therefore, the one having a fault capable of being washed has filth, but the one is as if unrepentant, like the one 'having blasphemed against the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 12:31) and the like, is not under filth, but sin, and the one transgressing the commandments with the intent of knowing.

And 'neither is the life of the one on earth even a single day' can be interpreted in two ways. There is the one being born now who has the sin of Adam by succession, who is the one beginning to judge things by the word, when he also fulfills the word of man. Nor will such a person be purified in a day, because ignorance remains for the one who has also begun now to distinguish the false from the good, even if he lives for a day, even if he lives for a numbered number of months.

The worthless one is 'blotted out from the book of the living' (Ps 69:28) and is not numbered by God, but the diligent one is numbered by Him. 'If, therefore, he assumes such a thing,' he says, 'even this one has not been kept from filth' (Job 14:4). Similar to this is 'I have no conscience against myself, but I am not justified by this' and 'Cleanse me from my secret sins' (Psalm 19:12). For he has habituated himself to a time and will not exceed it.

The providence concerning man is made clear here, not as if it remains in life as it happens and as it pleases, but from the judgment of God, not exceeding the time appointed by Him. And these things are not to be said as being held by fate, but as the will of God, 'having appointed each thing by limits and measures.' And if he speaks allegorically that the one being led by God in a certain way does not exceed his duties because virtue is measured, consider this.

Depart from Him, so that he may be at rest and find the life well-pleasing like the laborer. Since God is present to him through providences, the 'depart' has been said instead of 'cease your anger.' For approaching God is different: that by participation and that by anger. For they suppose that he suffers through the sins of friends, and having spoken so harshly of those things passing away—that 'man is short-lived' (Job 14:2), 'like a falling flower' (Job 14:2), 'like a shadow' (Job 14:2), and as if 'God makes his word'—showing them that he is not brought low through sin, he says 'depart from Him.'

For if he imposes such a multitude of afflictions upon him, man has no opportunity for repentance. He instructs them, therefore, that they do not understand this sensibly, through 'depart from Him, so that he may be at rest.' For he is not able to bring about an opportunity or to find the life well-pleasing after so many circumstances—so that he may give as a wage to the worker. Otherwise, he alludes differently: if he suffered through sin, it would be sufficient.

The Purpose of Reproof and the Metaphor of the Tree§85

The Freedom of the Savior in Hades§86

86so that from this there might come rest

He was excessively liberated, from the more excellent staying and guarding in Hades—not according to punishments, but regarding the guarding... being hidden there, 'until the wrath passes' (Job 14:13), as it is being said of God to remember him, in order to say more clearly that he would rather receive the time of his resurrection in Hades than undergo so many pains.

For indeed, he who truly experiences in Hades according to each one, the righteous man lives better during the time before the coming of Christ, since he is about to be liberated from the clamorous and sickly body to enjoy the incorruptible. For the Savior, according to the human, was not subject to being in Hades, even if it happened there through others. For it has been said of himself: 'I became as a helpless man among the dead, yet free' (Psalm 88:4-5). And indeed, angels lead the holy ones, but the wicked ones, the shadows. But the Savior, being free, did not need angels, being master of them and being ministered to and led by them. For he said: 'No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down myself' (John 10:18).

But also in the Song of Songs, through symbols, he says he is smelling the myrrh of death, showing himself free: 'I will go my own way to the mountain of myrrh' (Song 1:4). And also 'there is no man of the nations with me' (Song 1:5) shows his unattached state according to the human. Instead of this, another interprets 'I alone shall drink the wine-cup.' But also, when Peter says: 'I will lay down my soul for you,' he rebukes him, saying: 'You will lay down your soul for me? Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times' (Matt 26:34).

Because the holy ones are led by light-bringing angels and the wicked ones by dark demons, it has been said: 'O fool, in this night take your soul from you,' implying they are punished. And concerning Lazarus it is said: 'It happened when the poor man died, he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom' (Luke 16:22), clearly by good angels. For if a man dies, he will live having completed the days of his life. Not unsuitably, being persuaded and knowing concerning the resurrection of the dead, he places the more excellent deliverance from the painful life here, that it is more beautiful 'to be dissolved and to be with Christ' (Phil 1:23), saying: 'for if...'

Resurrection as a New Birth§87

87"If a man dies, he shall live having completed the days of his life" (Job 14:14), from which a doctrine concerning resurrection is presented and a judgment of each life in this life, not occurring randomly or by chance when death happens. And even if "having completed the days of his life" can signify the days before the resurrection, consider also that which the eternal life shall receive: "I will wait, until I become again."

In the same sequence of words, and the opinions of those previously arguing against him, are placed alongside the true ones, so that while they lie parallel, we may see which are being dismantled and which are being constructed. For he was saying, regarding their erroneous opinion: "but a man having fallen asleep shall not rise" and "a man having ended his life has gone, and a fallen mortal is no longer." For the nature of man did not have it as they thought, that having possessed subsistence until the present life, having cast off this life, he is no longer, just like the irrational animals.

For the souls of irrational animals are scattered with their bodies, and therefore they are destroyed. But since the nature of man is not scattered, nor is he destroyed; for he is immortal. And since the friends did not depart, as it happens through painful struggle just as it happened to him the blessed one, considering that he suffers because of sin, opposing their opinion, he says the calculation that to bear the painful things is to become again. "I will wait," for he says, "until I become again," signifying the resurrection, which those saying he is being destroyed do not accept, some placing the nature of the soul... but the "I will wait, until I become again" is part of "if a man dies, he shall live having completed the days of his life."

Possessing this presupposition, the blessed Paul also wrote: "if in this life we hope only, we are more to be pitied than all men" (1 Cor 15:19) and "if I have fought as a wild beast against men in Ephesus, what is my profit, if the dead are not raised?" (1 Cor 15:32) Thus, not setting aside the opinion of the friends, that it is through virtue to suffer, the saying "but a man having fallen asleep shall not rise" was said...

But 'I will respond to you when you call again' stands in opposition to the opinion of those who mock: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die' (Isa 22:13). The phrase 'until I become again' must be explained in this way: resurrection is a kind of birth. For this reason, 're-birth' is spoken in relation to the Savior. For the former birth, having a different manner, consisted by the change of matter, either as dust in the first maker, or as the side as in the Eve of the seeds as in those born, or by a virgin turning something of herself into the salvific womb, such being the change. Thus also of the resurrection, whether it is a transfer into the dust of the body, or into something else according to these changes, the rising body is raised incorruptible. It is, therefore, a birth.

Then 'you will call, and I will respond to you.' Wishing to show that not only the body is raised, but also the soul possessing the thoughts concerning God, he says, 'you will call, and I will respond to you.' For to listen to God calling is proper to a rational being. 'Do not cast away the works of your hands' (Job 14:15). Having taught concerning the resurrection of the whole human and the immortality of the soul, he instructs his friends so as not to consider him judged as insignificant by God. 'You have enumerated my faults to me, and you will not pass over any of my sins' (Job 14:16). Teaching an unerasable knowledge of him, through these things he also in a certain way instructs his friends who are at odds, that through sin he suffers, how he must repent and not be arrogant regarding the purity existing within him, for the sake of moderation toward himself and toward them, raising them to repentance by saying these things. 'I will note if I have passed by unintentionally' (Job 14:17). As if speaking to them again, he says these things while they are at odds, as if he were undergoing these things as a sinner, and by moderation and for their instruction, so that they might imitate him being so pure and bringing forth words of repentance. 'You have sealed my iniquities in a bag' (Job 14:17). That is to say: 'You have included in them both the quality and the number.' And it is necessary to perceive these things also, similar to the former. And besides, a falling mountain will fall. Believing in the cause of all things, that he will complete the contest.

Divine Rejection and the Sinner's Delusion§88

88Having crushed the one who requested the mountain called here, he says to them that 'he will weaken and fall from the expectation he had', trying to see me.' For indeed all request, as it is foretold, but they do not know that the purpose of the opponent will fall away. And the rock will be made old from its place. Even if the opponent thinks himself to be the rock, 'it will be made old'—Instead of 'a stumbling block shall be seen,' it signifies the appearance of correctness.

And the rock is mentioned because it sends out the impression as unshakeable, and because Christ is being formed and is an imitator of the true rock, concerning which it was said: 'And the rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:4). And he calls the state here a place, according to which the virtuous man wishes to see. Since the place is also called a step, it is said in the Acts: 'Master, Knower of hearts, reveal one to take the place of this ministry from which Judas passed' (Acts 1:24).

And even after saying that 'you sealed my iniquities in a bag' (Job 14:17) and how regarding his own sin he had brought forward the previously set forth things, he applied the words 'but the mountain falling shall fall, and the rock shall be made old from its place' (Job 14:18) to show that 'even if a mountain arises through pride or through hardness, its condemnation shall be,' having perceived this. Waters smoothed the stones, and waters overwhelmed the depths of the earth's soil; and did you destroy the endurance of man? He confirms through these things the previously spoken, that repentance is powerful.

For through 'waters smoothed the stones' (Job 14:19), he demonstrates that the one beginning to repent, persisting in this, according to the water which removes the excess from the stone, frees himself from the superfluities of sin, as if no longer having the roughness from it, and just as lying in the depths of soils, he works the flood of sin. 'If these things have this manner, do not recognize the endurance of man, nor say that this is destroyed when it has worn him down and gone to an end.' He moves the word toward God. For after saying that repentance is possible and that one must not lose hope in man, he brings the 'having worn him down and gone to an end' as an instruction, that unless God is a co-worker, the things of endurance are in vain. 'If...

For unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it (Ps 127:1). God does not push away the worthy person, but the one positioned in such a way, saying: 'Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you' (Matt 7:23). He turns His face away and drives them out.

It is said: 'The face of the Lord is against those doing evil' (Psalm 34:16); and again the saints pray: 'Let your face shine and we shall be saved' (Psalm 80:3); and in others: 'May His face shine upon you and give you peace' (Num 6:25). Therefore, if the sinner, through God's great patience, remains unfeeling toward his failings, not thinking himself to be God, but desiring to remain hidden, saying: 'Darkness covers me from every side and the walls, who sees me?', God says: 'I am a God drawing near and not a God far off. Shall anyone hide in secret and I shall not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord' (Jer 23:24).

Having turned His face from the sinner, He sends him away, instead of 'showing him to be a stranger to Himself,' according to: 'God will drive them away because they did not listen to Him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations' (Hosea 9:17) and: 'Like wounded women cast down sleeping in a grave, of whom you no longer remembered, and they themselves were driven from your hand' (Psalm 88:5). And though many of His sons became so, he did not know; even if a few became so, he does not know.

Understand, lest these things reveal the ungraspable nature of God's judgments. Rather, his flesh grieved and his soul mourned. This shows that as the wrath against the sinner moves according to the secret words of providence, the one falling into it suffers and mourns, but is ignorant of the words of the handing over. These things are instructional, so as not to say to friends that they know that one suffers through sin.

For the one who does not endure suffers and is consumed when he falls into calamities, but the brave man, even if he is stung by hardships, bears them courageously toward the goal, looking away (Heb 12:2). For only the one who seeks nothing good or useful suffers if he is afflicted. But the virtuous man, like a crowned athlete, does not regard the hardships because of the expectation of the crown. Having understood, Eliphaz the Temanite says: Whether the wise man will give an answer of the understanding of the spirit? And this one of the same...

The Error of Judging Job by Sin§89

89Existing in a state of delusion and thinking that he suffers through sin, he begins his words by asserting that it is wise to answer with understanding, implying that Job does not answer with understanding. This one, then, is a fool, and he is striking at the holy man regarding his lack of understanding. And he filled his belly with toil by reproving with words that are not to be used, and in words that have no profit. As it has been said, he begins foolishly; for he says that it is wise of the wise to answer sensibly, but 'he filled his belly with toil by reproving with words that are not to be used,' instead of saying 'from the pains, which he had in his heart and is unable to restrain, he brings forth words that are not to be used, and words in which there is no profit,' scattering his words as if they were useless and futile things sent forth. 'Will you not also cease from fear?' The preceding things are confirmed; for he reproves him as one who has not had fear, and it is clear that he also, by subjecting God, claims that because he has not had fear, but has suffered these things through sins, and that one not having fear uses such words. For they thought him bold, not knowing his virtue, supposing that having renounced fear, he says these things. 'Have you completed such words before the Lord?' Perhaps because of the easy availability of the words, which he brought forth purely from the one having conscience, he says these things, which this accuser considers as blasphemy, assuming the false beginning that he suffers through sin. 'You are guilty of the words of your mouth.' He dialogues with him with boldness as if he were bringing forth words against one who is not righteous. And he also thinks that he reproves him from his own words, asserting that 'you shall be reproved by words from yourself' (Job 15:6). You did not even distinguish the words of the mighty. Consider whether he says 'the mighty' to mean those who excel in understanding, either at the same time or before, as it is said in the things mentioned before: 'For he inquired of the first generation, and searched out the generations of the fathers' (Job 8:8), so that what he says might be such a thing: 'not through judgment...'

The text cuts off mid-sentence at the end of the provided Greek.

The purpose is the words of the wise, so that through them your words and your whole life are regulated. For it is often said that they rebuke you as if you were suffering because of sins. They say, 'Let your own mouth convict you and not I; let your lips testify against you.' They bring these things forward out of audacity, for they did not have the power to rebuke him in such a way. They bring this forward in reference to the initial dispute.

For what? Did you not first come from men, or did you come upon the earth before the dusts? They want to present to him that 'you do not differ from other men, nor do you exist outside of their nature so as to have grasped more than the others,' in order that they might present themselves as having reached the truth, for which he suffers a cause. And those who bring in the soul by associating it with the body take advantage of this—the Hierarchs and the Soldiers and the like—saying, 'if not before the dusts'—instead of 'before the earth' (for he named the whole from a part)—'but upon the dusts,' from which they will think to draw the soul to be scattered with the body, while others overturn this, saying the pivot of understanding is a moist thing, which does not suit a soul but a body.

Or have you heard a divine arrangement, yet wisdom has come to you? Proposing the unsearchable nature of judgments from this, he thinks he is wandering into not knowing, that he suffers through something other than sin, being held by this. For he himself was not one having heard a divine arrangement or having wisdom come to him, so as to have a dispute concerning the Holy One as one suffering through sin. For what do you know that we do not know, or what do you understand that we do not? (Job 15:9). He makes it common to all men, as if he were ignorant of the greatness of his virtue, and from this, as it is foretold, he is apparently overturning the idea of himself being righteous; which it was necessary that he, even while ignorant, should not pre-judge the judgment and be persuaded that he is bowed down as a sinner. And even an elder and an old man among us, heavier than your father's days. 'If even...

The Greatness and Inconstancy of Man§90

90"an elder," he says, "you are, and an old one among us, becoming more weighty than even your father"—instead of "more venerable"—"knowing more than we do." And he says these things from an arrogant authority. We have "weighty" instead of "old man" written in the Royal Histories; for the purpose of showing that Eli was an old man, the text says, "and the man was weighty." This also signifies honor and abundance, as if he were saying, "I will confess to you, Lord, in a great congregation, in a weighty people, I will praise you," instead of "in honor and in abundance."

"A few of your sins have been scourged." He says this meaning: "You have sinned and because of this you undergo lashes. But since, enduring this, you add injustice to God, your sin has become more weighty." And he says these things not with understanding; for he did not know the matter as it was, so that he was speaking falsely. And there are various ways of being false. For there is a way of lying that is not malicious; for often we hold an opinion about something as being such and we say it, having the intention of speaking the truth, yet that which is reported is false by its own nature, but it is not said by one who is lying. And there is also the case of one who, not knowing anything at all, brings forth a false word out of arrogance, which is what happened to him.

But there are others who lie in a different way, as one who has knowledge. "You have spoken with great excess" (Job 32:2). "What did your heart dare, or what did your eyes lift up?" (Job 15:12). And they held these opinions about him, both hearing of his sins and because of his words of boldness. Since the blessed one brought forth words from purity, they thought this was an excess of arrogance, in vain and without understanding. "That you have broken a heart before the Lord, and have brought forth from your mouth such words." They thought his boldness, which exceeds all from purity, was anger, which happened to them from their own corrupt nature, since they had subjected themselves to blasphemy, regarding the reasonable and as it is naturally yielded, the freedom of his words, as blasphemy.

For what mortal is there that will be blameless, or that, as he is to come, will be a righteous offspring of a woman? It is a characteristic of those who do not possess virtue to consider this undertaking difficult and to place it as if no one possessed it, just as the one before says, stumbling because of the body's nature as it is likely to be weak.

If he had observed according to the soul and according to the intellect, he contemplated the greatness of human nature, which the hymnographer teaches on both sides, saying: 'What is man, that you take thought of him? Man is made like vanity' (Psalm 144:3-4), which he has said regarding the weakness of the body as comparing it to divine things. But instructing on greatness, he says again: 'You made him a little less than the angels, you crowned him with glory and honor' (Psalm 8:5). And again he says another saying, 'a great man' and 'a precious man, merciful,' which is not according to being born, but according to being in essence receptive of justice in the composition.

He does not believe according to the saints. Similar to this is the 'if he does not believe according to his children, he thought something crooked concerning his angels.' Thus, there he says the angels are the saints, presenting that 'if even angels are corruptible, how can a man be blameless?' It should be noted that to believe often signifies the certain, as it is said: 'All his commandments are faithful' (Psalm 111:7). And he interprets their faithfulness saying: 'established unto the age of ages.' And again: 'the word is faithful and worthy of all acceptance.' And again: 'God is faithful and there is no injustice.' For God is not faithful from participating in faith, but from having certainty. And heaven is not pure before him.

Just as even the stars will not be compared to God's light, being without any darkness, and the heaven itself is not pure, not at all, but rather in addition to God. And it is possible to call these ones who 'left the heavenly dwelling' heaven here, whom he said 'his children, concerning whom he does not believe.' For God himself says in Isaiah from his own person: 'My sword is drunken in heaven' (Isaiah 34:5). And the sword signifies punishment, as it is said: 'My sword shall eat blood of wounds, and my arrows shall be drunken with blood' (Deuteronomy 32:42). Thus, among the angels who have fallen, he says the sword becomes drunken, bringing punishment called heavens. Therefore, this heaven is not pure before him. And a man, being detested and unclean, drinks an equal measure of injustice. Even if a heaven happens to be earthly through transgression, he is made like a man no longer worthy to be an angel, because the drink leads to injustice; for he carries unmeasurably the...

The Fragility of Life and the Suddenness of Destruction§91

The Uninhabited Houses of the Soul§92

92It is signified. But there is no need to be surprised that he says such things. For it has already been said that perhaps he brings these things forward from mishearings of the ancients. He knows in himself, as in Job 15:23b, that he remains in a state of falling. He says that the conscience of those committing sin knows the expectation of the habits of the wicked, that this is a state of falling.

A day of darkness shall surround him (Job 15:23c), instead of 'he is being tossed about by afflictions.' You have in Amos concerning this day: 'Woe to those who desire the day, and why is this day of the Lord upon you? And this is darkness and not light' (Amos 5:18–20), 'and a gloom where there is no light' (Amos 5:20). This is also in Job 10:22a. Necessity and tribulation shall cast him down (Job 15:24a). He says, therefore, that the wicked will fall into these things, preparing for all evil, because through sin he suffers these things (Job 15:24b), like a leading general falling. Even if it is not Job who is saying these things, but he possessed some knowledge of the devil, which it is likely he obtained from the words of Job or from other ancients. He calls him a leading general because of his primordial wickedness. He says, therefore, that necessity and tribulation, as mentioned in the preceding things, shall cast him down in such a way as a leading general; thus he too shall fall, being primordially wicked.

Insolence ran against him (Job 15:26a). It is manifest through the fact that he does not act in secret, but against the Lord. And insolence can be both arrogance and every injustice; for those being reproached makes them worthy of insolence. The one insulting someone says these words and calls them wicked. But he does not entirely make him worthy of insolence; for neither praise makes one good, nor reproach makes one bad. He is in the thickness of his shield. Because he is bold in evil, he shows this in this: for as he uses the shield as if invincible, through its thickness and through fleshly habits. So also the false prophets, having put on the skin of a sheep, were 'wolves snatching' from within. Concerning the devil it is said in this very book: 'Who shall uncover his face-covering, and who shall enter into the folding of his armor?' For he who uncovers his wickedness is sparse. And just as the hypocrite, having another face, shows himself to others, so also the devil...

Being transformed into an angel of light, he deceives and snatches away, and not as the devil; for if he were openly so, we would have fled him. So also the prostitute, personified in the poems, injects the venom with goodly words. But he enters into uninhabited houses.

These things seem to be said about the devil, or about every evil and opposing power and soul partaking of the same wickedness; for their receptive qualities are of the same kind. And if anything is said about the devil as evil, as a worker of evil, it is possible for this same wickedness to be said about another evil power. Therefore, in general, we say about every evil that it enters into uninhabited houses; for where there is a significant dwelling, the evil one has no place.

And we have from the Gospel to demonstrate this: 'When the unclean spirit,' he says, 'goes out from the man, it passes through dry places seeking rest and does not find it' (Matthew 12:43). But dry places in these matters are the souls that are destitute of wickedness. For often the moisture of wickedness is called water: 'So our soul has passed through the unsubstantial water.' And the devil is 'king of all those in the waters,' not of the senses—for these are works of God—but of the evils and the sinners who are caught in that water, concerning which it has been said: 'Many waters will not be able to quench the love' (Song of Solomon 8:7), instead of 'evil does not hinder love.'

Therefore, when the unclean spirit, having been cast out from the man, seeks another house, seeks where to make its den, it passes through dry places, instead of 'it does not dwell in the soul'—for it finds it destitute of the bad moistures, so that it may speak boldly in this and say: 'My soul is like a dry land' (Psalm 143:6) (and 'it does not find rest there'). The hymnist says something analogous: 'I did not know him when the evil one was turning away from me.'

Therefore, the souls there are 'uninhabited houses,' from which every virtue has been separated, and in the absence of which God has departed, and His word and the Holy Spirit; into which the devil, the opposing power, enters. And what those prepared, others will destroy. Having spoken about opposing powers uniquely through 'he enters into uninhabited houses,' he moves to the plural: 'What those prepared, others will destroy.' For as many as...

The Instability of Wickedness§93

93The wicked prepare for malice, while some of them, being saints, take them away from those being held by the divine proclamation, which the blessed apostles have established having been sent to 'make disciples of all nations' (Matt 28:19). And pay attention, that he did not say 'what they have done', but 'what they have prepared', and they prepared through malice, through pleasures, through other evils.

Neither shall he be enriched, nor shall his existing things remain with him. Of those prepared with diligence, how can they still be enriched? For the poor and the gap... gap prepared... gap of his deception... gap good teachers. Similar to this is 'the partridge has hatched what she did not lay; at the end of it they will leave it, at the end of it it will be a fool' (Jeremiah 17:11). It will 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 this one, since having undergone a certain way, does not remain—I do not say that his essence does not remain, but that he does not remain as he wished to be—therefore he does not cast a shadow; 'for he was not from the beginning' (Wisdom 14:13), he says, and malice 'will not be unto the age' (Job 15:35). Nor shall he escape the darkness.

And rightly so; for the one who is an instigator for others toward malice receives an irrecoverable punishment. A wind withers his sprout. Even if it seemed to flourish in those whom he deceived and in those in whom he would fulfill his malice, but this sprout is withered by the wind; for he does not have a root. For malice is not essential, but entering from without, which, when struck by temptation, which is called wind, is rebuked and falls and withers. And his flower will fall. The flower is the beginning and the precursor of fruit, and this therefore falls. Even if the one participating in malice boasts, a little later he is humbled. And this is often even beneficial, just as a physician often cuts away the tumor attached to the body with iron and does not cease to apply painful things, until he fulfills the goal, the healthy state. Let the impious, falling toward God, not consider what he thinks of himself to be secure, he says. For it will result in nothing for him. For all his action is vanity because of the gap.

The Premature Decay of the Wicked§94

94Having achieved nothing, its cutting will be destroyed before its time. For this reason its flower falls and its shoot withers, because it does not remain for the time of perfect fruit. This is similar to the saying, 'Do not become hardened, so that you do not die before your time.'me.'me.' Some, being disturbed by such words, propose fate and say, 'we are under the time in which we act.' But 'before the time' refers to 'before the bringing to completion,' just as we say a time is early or late.

Thus indeed Job says that he 'has come into a tomb like grain ripe, being gathered according to the season' (Job 5:26). And it is a blessing of God that the shoot is destroyed by wickedness before its time. And its rose will not thicken; it might be as early as an eye, and it would fall like the flower of an olive... Its flower is not permitted to come to a perfect fruit-bearing. And nothing less than this, as it is foretold, is effective and useful; it is a sign of the wickedness present in those who act.

But for the righteous it is not so; for the branches of the true vine, remaining in their nature, grow and bear fruit. For the death of the impious is a testimony. After passing through what perishes, the end appears as the death of the impious. For the working of wickedness achieves death, not the common death, but the death of punishment. And fire will burn the houses of the bribe-takers.

And according to immediate benefit it has utility, because the bribe-takers certainly undergo this upon injustices and impieties. For it has been said: 'The ruler asks, and the judge spoke peaceful words; it is the incense of his soul' (Micah 7:3). How then the house of the bribe-taker burns, it must be understood. It has been said: 'And I will take away their good things like a shepherd turning away and walking according to a rule in a day of scrutiny.' For in the examination of things there will be a repayment according to what is said: 'Go into the eternal fire' (Matthew 25:41). There is a time even in this life when the repayment begins...

Divine Judgment and the Deceit of the Belly§95

95Judgment will come against the gifted. Because 'the judgment of God is present' (Rom 2:5), those who pervert the judgments of God fall under punishments. And in the belly, pains shall be taken. He means this: the man becomes a father of ill-born ones, being the cause of punishments.

However, the divine rewards are not produced by man, but God grants them; 'for the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be revealed to us with the coming glory' (Rom 8:18).:18).:18). We don't mean to say that the diligent one is not the cause of good things, but that the graces of God and the gifts are provided through incomparable excellence from him; 'for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights' (Jas 1:17).

Because for the wicked, the manner of punishment follows, they themselves bringing it upon themselves, but to the diligent, God directs the graces, it has been said: 'those I will glorify, but those dishonoring me shall be dishonored' (1 Samuel 2:30). Because the dishonoring of God brings upon them dishonor. Paul also writes: 'To those who seek glory and honor through t good work, God gives eternal life' (Rom 2:7), but 'to those from selfish ambition and who disobey the truth, wrath and anger' (Romans 2:8) follow.

It will depart from him empty, and his belly will be filled with deceit. All his efforts, as it is foretold, are filled with futility, iving pains in the belly. conceived toil and brought forth injustice' (Job 15:35), making it clear that his belly carries deceit. And deceit here he says is all manner of wickedness.

For deceit is indeed a kind of wickedness, and nothing less, and all wickedness is called by the name according to what has been said: 'O full of all deceit and all trickery' (Acts 13:10) and 'therefore laying aside all deceit and hypocrisy' (1 Peter 2:1). However, the belly refers to [the seat of the soul/desire], and it sympathizes with the evil or with the good. Having understood, Job says: I have heard such things.

The Nature of Job's Friends' Counsel§96