The Dragon Within and the Hardened Heart
The face which he put on—who is able to expose it? Who is able to uncover it and show what the dragon is within? And a little further on: I ran back in memory to the sacred writings that lie in this divinely inspired book of Job, and as in a bodily shaping, [the sentence is corrupt and has no main verb; roughly:] the exceedingly formless and varied thing hidden among his thoughts and in the stripping away of outward masks, describing the devil and the demons, the source of evil and of wicked things. For he says, “Who will uncover the face of his covering?” (Job 41:5 (41:13)).
And since there was a contention over this outward, visible variety, as they rise up from some depth of unseen vice, these words are also added to what has been said: “Who will uncover the face of his covering?”—that is, who is able to enter into the thoughts of his heart, since they are folded together? “His heart will not be shaken; it is fixed like a stone, and it stands like an anvil that cannot be hammered” (Job 41:15-16 (41:23-24)). His heart, he says, has turned to stone, and it cannot be beaten out; he is wholly hardened and brazen—not driven, not following reason, not yielding. He is hard, unmalleable, unyielding. And if anyone has drawn power from the devil, he too has the heart of this dragon, unmalleable and not to be driven. But if anyone is gold, following the word, he yields to the goldsmith’s art until he becomes a golden leaf and receives the impressions of the letters of God, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.
Chapter 42, verse 10: “And the Lord gave Job double all that he had before, for doubling.” Verse 12: “And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than the former; and his livestock were fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen.” Verse 13: “And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.” If the Lord gave Job double all that he had before, after the…
Greek
πρόσωπον ὃ ἐνεδύσατο, τίς ἱκανὸς ἐλέγξαι; τίς ἱκανὸς ἀποκαλύψαι καὶ δεῖξαι ὅ τι ἔνδον δράκων ἐστί; Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα. Πρὸς τὴν μνήμην ἀνέ δραμον τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων, τούτῳ θεοπ νεύστῳ βιβλίῳ τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐγκειμένων, καὶ ὡς ἐν σωματικῇ διαπλάσει τὸ λίαν ἀνειδὲς καὶ ποικίλον κεκρυμμένον τῶν ἐπινοιῶν καὶ τῆς τῶν ἔξωθεν προσωπείων ἀπαλλαγῆς, ἀπο γράφων τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ δαιμόνων ἀρχε κάκου καὶ πονηρῶν. Φησὶ γάρ· Τίς ἀποκαλύ ψει πρόσωπον ἐνδύσεως αὐτοῦ; –Καὶ ἐπεί περ ἔριζε τῆς ἔξωθεν φαινομένης ταύτης ποικιλίας, ὡς ἔκ τινος βάθους τῆς ἀφανοῦς κακίας ἀνίσχουσι, ἐπενήνεκται τοῖς εἰρη μένοις καὶ ταῦτα· Τίς ἀποκαλύψει πρόσωπον ἐνδύσεως αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι τίς ἱκανὸς εἰσελ θεῖν εἰς τὰ νοήματα τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ, διότι συνεπτυγμένα τυγχάνουσι; ιδʹ, ιεʹ, Οὐ σαλευθήσεται, ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ 388 πέπηγεν ὡς λίθος, ἕστηκεν δὲ ὥσπερ ἄκ μων ἀνήλατος. Ἀπελιθώθη, φησὶν, ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἐλαθῆναι δύναται· ἀλλ' ὅλος ἐστὶν ἀπεσ κληκὼς καὶ ἰταμός· οὐκ ἐλαυνόμενος, οὐκ ἀκολουθῶν λόγῳ, οὐκ εἴκει· ὁ δὲ σκληρός ἐστιν, ἀνήλατος, ἀνένδοτος. Καὶ εἴ τις ἀπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου ἀπέσπασε δύναμιν, καὶ τού του δράκοντος αὐτὸς ἔχει τὴν καρδίαν ἀνή λατον καὶ οὐκ ἐλαυνομένην. Εἰ δέ τις χρυσός ἐστιν ἀκολουθῶν τῷ λόγῳ, τῷ χρυσοχοϊκῷ οὗτος εἴκει ἕως ἂν γένηται πέταλον χρυσοῦν, καὶ δέξηται τοὺς τύπους τῶν γραμμάτων τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Κεφ. ΜΒʹ, ιʹ. Ἔδωκεν δὲ ὁ Κύριος διπλᾶ ὅσα ἦν ἔμπροσθεν Ἰὼβ εἰς διπλασιασμόν. ιβʹ. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος εὐλόγησε τὰ ἔσχατα Ἰὼβ, ἢ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν· ἦν δὲ τὰ κτήνην αὐ τοῦ, πρόβατα μύρια τετρακισχίλια, κάμη λοι ἐξακισχίλιαι, ζεύγη βοῶν χίλια. ιγʹ. Γεννῶνται δὲ αὐτῷ υἱοὶ ἑπτὰ καὶ θυ γατέρες τρεῖς. Εἰ πάντα τὰ ὅσα ἦν ἔμπροσθεν τῷ Ἰὼβ, διπλᾶ δέδωκεν ὁ Κύριος, μετὰ τὴν