Commentary on Job 1 part 1/12

Some, then, say that he lived before Moses and was fifth in descent from Abraham, while others place him within the time of the Law.

But let us not yet pronounce our verdict, until from the narrative itself we learn whether he lived in this age or in that.

For this too contributes not a little toward our knowing the man's virtue.

For it is not the same thing to be such a man—so virtuous and admirable—after having profited from the Mosaic precepts, as to display such great strength even before that exhortation was given.

That the man was great, the very facts declare, and God too declares it, saying:

If Noah and Job and Daniel should stand, they shall not deliver their sons and their daughters.

But why does Moses make no mention of him? For what necessity was there to mention him, or on what account? Yet consider with me how his ancestor Esau did him no harm at all.

Was he not from Abraham? Or rather, was he not from Jacob, but had even a foreign land as his own?

Do you see that God sent teachers to all men? But look with me how from the beginning the knowledge of God was manifest everywhere.

For you see that even his friends held a conception concerning God.

Who taught them? Who proclaimed it to them? For to me too he seems to have lived before the Law, and this is evident from the matter itself; so that one might reasonably say that this book was first a kind of teacher and herald of the knowledge of God—yet made evident through his life and endurance.

But it was necessary also that signs should be wrought upon him, so that in this respect too the teacher might be made complete.

For just as in the case of Abraham many signs came to pass, so also here.

And see how kings themselves come, destined to be witnesses of his calamities.

For since, after the bringing-on of these calamities, his change for the better was going to be disbelieved, for this reason God makes it last a long time and causes many to become spectators, and seats him outside as a spectacle for all who wished to look, so that, when He was about to transform him for the better, no one might disbelieve that this man was the very same as that one.

For just as He permitted Lazarus to remain dead four days, so that the resurrection might not be disbelieved, so also He allowed this man to suffer for a long time—at once displaying his endurance, and at once making credible the wonder of the change.

For those who had seen him in this state, those who mocked him, these very ones, when afterward they saw him transformed, were no longer able to disbelieve that this man was the very same as that one.

And just as at that time those who said concerning Lazarus that 'he already stinks' were taught the truth through the events themselves, so indeed now it came to pass.

Do you see how everywhere God provides for men? When the Jews were in Egypt and this land was destitute of any who might set it right, they had the things concerning Job.

For see him being an example of both conditions, in wealth and in poverty, neither puffed up by the one nor humbled by the other, and pursuing virtue before the Law as though under the Law.

For 'the law,' he says, 'is not laid down for the righteous.'

See the reasonings of nature shining forth.

Whence did this man come to know God? Whence did he so serve Him? Whence did he flee error? Whence did he display the evangelical manner of life, whence so great an endurance? He learned nothing from anyone.

Whence did he become such a man? Who taught him? Who trained him? Do you see that Christ came as a teacher of nothing new or strange? 'There was a certain man in the land of Ausitis, whose name was Job.'

For this is no small praise—to be a true human being.

'In the land,' it says, 'of Ausitis.'

For to be in Arabia, where all were corrupted, where there was nothing

that could serve as a model of good order—this was the marvelous thing.

'And that man was'—again:

blameless, righteous, true, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing.

Each single one of these is sufficient to set forth the bloom of his soul.

But just as some lover describes with great precision the beauty of the beloved, so also here.

abstaining from every evil thing.

'From every,' it says, and not merely in a general way.

Where are those who say that nature inclines rather toward evil? What fear, what tribunals, what laws made this man such as he was? For since Scripture had said:

'There is no righteous man who will do good and will not sin,' for this reason it says:

not sinless, but blameless.

Not only did he not do those things that involve sin, but not even those things that involve blame and censure.

And you will hear him saying later on:

For when he recounts his own virtue, remember these words.

For indeed this too is a mark of his prudence.

For he does not recount his virtue except when he is brought into necessity, just as Paul said:

'I have become a fool in boasting; you compelled me.'

Why blameless? Because righteous.

For there are men who are false.

true not in words only, but also in deeds—that is, a true man.

'Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man.'

For just as statues are false men, so also these are false men.

For if this is what constitutes every man—to fear God—then he who does not fear God is not a man, but a false man.

He had his desire set upon things that are true.

For this reason it says: God-fearing, true.

Then it states the cause of all his good things—namely, that he revered God.

For from those very deeds he came to know God.

For a good life makes one know God, just as a base life does the opposite.

For the knowledge of God is found through one's life and becomes a safeguard of life; so that paganism comes from nowhere else than from an impure life.

For 'everyone,' He says, 'who does base things hates the light and does not come to the light.'

'abstaining,' it says, 'from every evil thing.'

being far from every evil thing—and you cannot say that it was through weakness.

He was righteous; but if not on that ground, it says, then also:

Hear another saying somewhere:

'lest, being filled, I become false and swear falsely by the name of the Lord.'

Do you see that to those who are not vigilant wealth is an occasion of falsehood? But this man was not such.

For he was rich, so that you might learn that he even had wealth as an inclination toward vice, and that it is not wealth that is the cause, but the disposition of the mind.

See him also in poverty, lest again you suppose that poverty is the cause of thanklessness.

See him both in wealth and in poverty, and in both conditions a great athlete.

But whence he was such, he does not say; yet later you will hear him telling it—and it is clear that it came from himself.

And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

See how first he states the virtue, and only then does he state the things given by God.

See the goodly offspring from both natures, and duly measured out: from the more cherished kind the fruit was more abundant.

He first states the reasons for which one ought to call the man blessed—his abundant virtue and the bloom of his soul.

For in ancient times these things also came from virtue — I mean, a goodly offspring and an abundance of children.

'There shall not be,' He says, 'among you one that is childless nor one that is barren.'

Yet Abraham was childless — and this for a purpose, that you might learn that these are not the rewards of virtue, but others are.

It was for this very reason that He promised these things to you, condescending to your weakness.

'And his livestock,' it says, 'were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses at pasture, and very many servants, and he had great works upon the earth.'

Observe that the wealth he possessed was of the more rustic sort.

It did not speak of loans and interest, nor of gold buried in the ground, nothing superfluous, but all things needful.

Such was the wealth of the men of old.

And if anywhere they did possess gold, it was but little.

It did not say that he had houses with gilded roofs.

This wealth was not unfruitful.

For from sheep and oxen it was possible to do good to those in need, but from a golden roof no longer so.

No one is hindered from possessing this sort of wealth.

'And he had,' it says, 'great works upon the earth.'

Some say these were spiritual works — for such truly are great works — while others say they were his vineyards, olive orchards, and other things of the kind.

Yet that alone is a great work which abides, which is not dissolved nor brought to an end, which does not fall to ruin.

Do you see amid how much wealth he remained righteous and kept himself from every wicked deed? 'And that man,' it says, 'was noble among those from the rising of the sun.'

'He was,' it says, 'more illustrious and more distinguished than all, and he could reckon among his ancestors men eminent and renowned.'

What might not have lifted him up into pride — virtue of soul, prosperity in all things, being alone such a man, both rich and virtuous, being of admirable ancestry? Yet hear what the prophet says when these things fall to the lot of the ungodly:

'Therefore pride has taken hold of them utterly; they have clothed themselves with their own injustice and ungodliness.'

And again this same man says:

'Why do the ungodly live, and grow old in wealth?' But he himself was not so.

It is not, then, the nature of wealth that is the cause of these evils, but the disposition of those who do not use it as they ought.

You see here no huckstering, no unjust trafficking, no scheming, nothing else of the kind, but lawful wealth, natural abundance, which God Himself brought about.

You do not see here horses, nothing ostentatious, nothing given to vainglory, nothing childish, but all things useful.

These same things may be said also concerning Abraham.

For his wealth too consisted in these things — for the tilling of the earth, for the care of things necessary.

This admirable wealth is the more desirable, the more pleasant, the more useful, the more secure, the more just, the more godly, the more befitting a man, the less toilsome, involving no such great loss, nor subject to changes, nor liable to be overturned.

Some refer the phrase 'from those of the rising of the sun' to Abraham, since Abraham was from that region.

'And his sons, going together to one another, would make a feast every day, taking with them also their three sisters to eat and drink with them.'

They had been trained in the greatest of good things — to eat in common, to keep a common table.

For this contributes not a little to concord.

Do you see, beloved, gladness together with security? Do you see a brotherly table? Do you see a company bound together in one? For this came about from great affection.

'Taking with them together,' it says, 'also their three sisters to eat and drink with them.'

For this is a proof of the greatest affection.

For this reason Paul also gave the charge, saying:

'When you come together to eat, wait for one another.'

So great a bond is the fellowship of the table, that it can even overcome the wickedness of robbers.

For it is said that those who have shared salt and table change their disposition toward those with whom they have shared, and no longer employ their wickedness against their table-companions.

So Job found a method that had in it both the pleasant and the necessary, accustoming them to eat in common every day.

Observe too the dignity of the feast.

This was the work of the sons, not of the daughters.

'For they,' it says, 'made these preparations,' and this not once, not twice, but it was done continually.

'And when the days of the feast were completed, Job would send and purify them.'

Where did he send? How did he purify them? What was the manner of the purification? For what reason did he purify them? Was there anything unclean in the banquet? What does this mean? Listen to what follows and learn what 'he purified' signifies:

Not from any bodily defilement — for this law did not yet exist — but from the mind.

For that you may suspect nothing wicked, hear what it says:

'And rising up early in the morning, he offered sacrifices for them according to their number, and one calf as a sin offering on behalf of their souls.'

'Lest perhaps my sons have thought evil in their minds against God.'

For things hidden and unconfessed he offered the sacrifices.

Consider then what kind of man he was in things manifest, who took such forethought for things hidden and pertaining to the mind.

And observe, I pray you, how at once he fulfilled the apostolic saying which declares:

'Fathers, bring up your children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.'

This is the care of children; this is the guardianship owed by those who have begotten them.

Consider what sort of men he was rendering them.

Chiefly indeed he displayed their virtue by mentioning their great concord, and then also by the guardianship of their father.

'Lest perhaps,' he says, 'they have thought evil in their minds against God.'

Not because they were such men, but because they were men.

Was it then that he himself never thought any such thing? A great matter indeed it is to fear even the things that are hidden.

'Lest perhaps,' he says, 'my sons have thought evil in their minds against God.'

For in word they would not have dared to say such a thing, having such a tutor and teacher.

But since he could not be an examiner of hidden things, he devised and reasoned so that not even those things might escape him.

'The manifest things,' he says, 'I shall be able to set right.'

'What must I do concerning the hidden things?' And indeed God says to Moses:

'The things manifest are for you and for your sons, but the hidden things are for the Lord your God.'

But this man did not even leave the hidden things to God; rather these too he strove to set right by a kind of remedial method.

For the same act became at once a teaching to the children, and not merely a removal of sins.

For those who knew that punishment is laid up with God even for the reasonings and sins of the mind — for the father would not have offered sacrifice unless he were eager to loose sin — and who were continually instructed in these things through the sacrifices, would become more hesitant, if ever anything of the kind should happen.

Do you see that he set right not the sins in deeds only, but also those in the thoughts, and fulfilled through his works what was spoken by Christ? 'For out of the heart,' He says, 'proceed evil thoughts,' and these are the things that defile the man.

Since then these things defile the man, he purified them.

Do you see a cleansing that is neither Mosaic nor legal, but apostolic, wiping clean their minds day by day? He cared for them not by exhortation and counsel alone, but also by his patronage and by prayers to God; not as a father only, but as their priest also—and yet we know of no priest at that time.

Let fathers hear this, all who have children, how great a forethought they ought to exercise on their behalf.

For since there was drinking, since there was a banquet, and the mind is often wont to be led astray at such times—for this reason Moses too said:

When you have eaten and drunk, remember the Lord your God.

That place is precipitous; it quickly leads to forgetfulness.

Then, therefore, remember most of all, when the devil is most eager to cast the treasure out of your mind.

So this man too knew that luxury and dissipation work some such thing—even as the children of Israel ate and rose up to play—and for this reason, when the drinking was over, he offered the sacrifices.

Some say that in ancient times there were also priests, like Melchizedek, self-appointed by their own hand.

This, then, is the meaning of 'he sent.'

But if he offers sacrifices, it is not according to the Law, since Abraham also offered, and Noah, and Abel.

But what then? Ought he to have rebuked them? Yet he did not know the sin.

But to pass it by? Yet it often happened that they had sinned.

See how even in the sacrifice he taught them concord, offering one calf for all, as though for a single soul.

See how affectionate, how devout, how god-fearing, how righteous, how truthful, how he abstained from every evil thing.

For you cannot accuse him of having neglected his children.

For he provided them with all the forethought that was needful.

For he did this for God's sake.

So what shall we say? That he loved his children? That he loved God? Out of which love did he act the more? To me it seems it was out of that love which was toward God rather than that which was toward his children.

'Thus,' it says, 'did Job all the days.'

Do you see his devotion? It was not for a fixed number of days, but for all his time.

But we, if we do some good thing once or twice, or offer up a prayer,

we slacken off, supposing that we have accomplished the whole.

'And it came to pass,' it says, 'as this day, that the angels of God came to stand before Him, and the devil came with them, having gone about the earth and walked up and down under heaven.'

And the Lord said to the devil:

Whence have you come? And the devil answered the Lord and said:

Having gone about the earth and walked up and down under heaven, here I am.

The theater is now opened; the athlete is drawn into the arena.

For, that no one might say the very things the devil said:

Does Job fear you for naught?—He stops the mouth not only of the devil, but through him also of those who emulate the devil.

Yes, he was righteous, truthful, god-fearing;

'But it is nothing great,' says one; 'he underwent no trial, no tempest, no shipwreck.'

Show me this man in poverty; show me this man in calamities.

But if, prospering and wealthy, he was devout—what great thing is that? Yet in truth this is a great thing, O man; and he who is devout amid wealth is no less approved than he who does this amid poverty.

Hear the prophet as he says:

For I was envious at the lawless, when I beheld the peace of sinners; and again:

They are not in the trouble of men, neither are they scourged like other men;

therefore pride has laid hold of them utterly.

Do you see that this too was no small trial—to be rich and to be in prosperity and not to be scourged? So that, if you judge rightly, the righteous man is already in the arena and forever in the contest, not by being poor, but even by being rich.

For wealth lifts a man up not toward devotion, but toward the very opposite.

Nevertheless, from another side also learn who he is.

'And the devil,' it says, 'came with them.'

What do you say? With the angels came the one who had offended, the one dishonored? Be not troubled, beloved; this is a depiction and a portrayal.

For just as elsewhere, in the third book of Kings, it says that an evil spirit went forth and said:

Who will deceive Ahab for me? And it says:

How? Much of it is according to human manner, so as to give a face to the account and to draw the simpler reader all the more into the narrative.

For it is not the same, as regards persuasion, simply to make a bare declaration and to shape a discourse and to portray it vividly;

if it had merely said that the devil plotted against Job by God's permission, would the narrative have held so much delight? By no means; the brevity would have blunted it.

But as it is, by adding to the statement a dialogue as well, and setting down the very things the devil would have said had he been permitted, it cuts off every pretext of the shameless;

for the things which it says the devil spoke, he did not speak to God, but he pondered them within.

For he does not share in speech nor in so great a boldness—indeed the demons, when they saw the Son of God, cried out, saying:

For neither does he share in the standing that is with the angels.

'The angels came,' it says, 'and the devil came with them, having gone about the earth and walked up and down under heaven.'

What do we learn from this? That the inhabited world is filled with both demons and angels; that both alike are under the authority of God; that the angels come before God to receive His commands, but the devil can do nothing that pleases him unless he has received permission from above.

For even though he has grown rebellious and stands outside the service of God, nevertheless fear lies upon him like a bridle and does not permit him to use his own power.

But observe: those come like household servants, reporting the things they have done, as may be seen also in Zechariah; but this one has nothing to say.

So then 'he came with them' signifies nothing else than that he too is subject to God, so that the account may give no handle to those who would introduce matter for dispute.

'And the devil,' it says—but this one no longer of God;

for those angels are of God, but this one is no longer of God—'and the devil came with them,' not to stand before the Lord as those did, but he simply came.

For those had boldness, and fittingly came to stand before God; but this one came, yet not to stand before God.

For if Cain was cast out from the face

of God, how much more this one.

What then is the meaning of 'he came with them'? That he is among them in this world.

Just as there are wicked and good men mingled together, so also there are angels and demons.

And, if you wish, I will confirm this for you from the Scriptures.

Women ought to have a sign of authority upon their head because of the angels.

Do not despise one of these little ones, for their angels in heaven always behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.

And again, elsewhere, concerning Peter the apostles said:

And in the Old Testament Jacob said:

The angel who delivered me from my youth.

And over the nations also angels are set.

For it says, 'He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of His angels.'

And in Daniel we find it said thus, that 'Michael your prince.'

And in the Old Testament we find in many places that the angels come from God not only for the sake of some dispensation, but are also entrusted with some charge, as indeed Paul says:

'Sent forth to minister for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation.'

'A mission by evil angels.'

For this reason, when we pray, we also say:

'Ask for the angel of peace,' as there is also an angel of strife and of wars—I mean the devil.

For indeed those too are called angels, as the Savior says:

'Depart, you accursed ones, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'

For the word 'angel' is neutral in meaning.

But if you do not add either 'of God' or 'of the devil,' you have as yet signified nothing.

For this reason nowhere is it said simply 'angel,' but 'it is an angel of the Lord.'

And this signifies that they have been entrusted with the administration of the inhabited world—for this is what it means 'to stand before the Lord'—just as Zechariah says he saw the horses, hinting at the sharpness and swiftness of the powers.

'Having gone about,' it says, 'the earth and walked through it.'

Do you see that heaven is not passable for this evil demon? But should someone say:

'So then heaven is impassable to him, yet the earth received him?'—Yes, for your own benefit.

For if, having such a vigilant enemy, you still do not rouse yourself, then even were you freed from this concern and anxiety, whom would you not surpass in drowsiness? He has set such a bugbear before you, and you do not rouse yourself? Do you not see how Paul too shows the gain that comes from this, saying:

'For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age.'

What are you doing, Paul? By describing the strength of the adversaries, are you casting down the spirits of your own people? 'No,' he says, 'rather I am rousing them.'

For if they did not have such strength as to be able to cast him down, you would speak rightly.

But if they have greater power, then defeat comes by way of slackness.

This, then, I rouse. Do not therefore grieve that he was cast down from heaven to earth, but give thanks to God that He has given you the necessity of being vigilant, that He has set over you a fearsome and severe tutor.

Do you wish me to show you the gain that comes from the devil? Listen to Paul saying:

'I have handed such over to Satan, that they may be disciplined not to blaspheme.'

Do you wish to hear yet another? 'Hand over,' he says, 'such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.'

Do you not see the executioners who follow the magistrates? So too did Paul make use of these.

But of these good things the devil is not the cause, but rather God's love for mankind, which uses the evil one for what is needful.

Do you see that the devil is not everywhere present at the same time, but by circuit? For 'having gone about,' it says, 'the earth and walked through what is under heaven, I am here.'

And the Lord said to the devil:

'From where have you come?' Do you see that the matter is a contrivance? God asks him.

From this we learn that He willed for him to be put to the test.

And for what reason does God ask? So that He may give him an occasion for wrestling and combat.

And observe how He first makes him accountable by his own answers.

So that he might not say, when God had spoken:

'Have you seen anyone like My servant?'—'I do not know; I have not yet gone about all the earth.'

First He makes him confess that he has surveyed the whole of human nature, and then He brings on the question:

'From where have you come?' And He did not say to him simply:

'Having gone about the earth,' but also 'having walked through what is under heaven,' so as to hint at both the wilderness and the whole inhabited world and whatever lies beneath the heaven.

For indeed he dwells most of all in the wildernesses, just as Christ also said:

'It passes through waterless places seeking rest.'

And this too is a work of God's providence, that the greater part of the demons should be settled apart there.

'Have you set your mind against My servant Job, that there is none like him among men on the earth, a man blameless, righteous, true, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing?' Observe how the athlete is proclaimed this second time by the impartial verdict.

But consider for me the folly and the malice of the devil.

God testifies that he is blameless, and do you expect to prevail over the testimony? He would not have said:

'blameless, righteous, true, God-fearing,' unless He foreknew that, even when the trials should fall upon him, he was going to be unconquered.

Observe how He makes the beginning and the pretext of the contests derive its cause from the adversary.

And just as one who has a noble athlete wishes indeed that he should grapple with the opponents, but does not himself wish to furnish the occasion, lest he seem to be someone overly eager for honor, but rather that those very opponents should come to this and issue the challenge, so that the glory of the victory may be the more brilliant and the defeat the more shameful for them—so too does God act.

'Have you set,' He says, 'your mind against My servant Job?' For against whom else does the devil most set himself? Against whom does he hold his envy? 'Against My servant,' He says, 'Job.'

This alone suffices as an account of virtue.

Hear Him saying elsewhere also:

'Moses My servant has died,' and again in another place:

'Remember,' He says, 'Isaac Your servant.'

For this at once stung him, that he is called His servant.

It is all but the utterance of one reproaching and wishing to turn him to the opposite:

'You too were a servant before this, and you too were bodiless; but this man has a body, this man is on the earth, while you were in heaven.' This is what Paul means:

'We shall judge angels—how much more the things of this life!'

'Have you set your mind on how there is none like him on the earth?' From this we learn that this above all led him to envy—finding no one like him.

Why are you stung? Why are you provoked? The comparison is between him and a man.

He had as yet said nothing about this—'that there is none like him,' He says, 'on the earth.'

Like in what? In respect of what do you speak? In respect of wealth? Of noble birth? In respect of some bodily advantage? By no means, but in respect of the virtue of the soul.

For since 'like' often signifies likeness in respect of some such thing, He adds:

'a man,' He says, 'righteous, true, God-fearing.'

But you, though you are not a man, did not remain in virtue.

Behold, this man too was a man.

Do you see the lowliness of his nature? He was a man, and yet he was able to preserve his virtue.

In a tabernacle of clay he displayed such great godliness.

The judgment is impartial—chiefly indeed and primarily, since it is spoken by God, and then also because it was spoken while the enemy was present and the fault-finder was listening.