Commentary on Job 1 part 2/15

of surpassing distress; and there was also the slaughter of the servants by those who took them captive, announced together with the rest.

These things, then, were sufficient—even had they been reported falsely—to throw a man all at once into confusion.

And yet, grievous though the events that had befallen were, the holy man was in no way troubled.

It is said in one of the psalms concerning the holy man:

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings;

his heart is fixed, ready to hope in the Lord. And if, in accordance with blessed Paul, he might also have said:

Who shall separate the faithful from the love of God? Neither tribulation nor distress, neither persecution, nor famine or sword—then consequently the most manful Job continued inseparable from the love of the Lord, though so many painful blows had burst upon him.

For one might say that it was possible to make light of the irrational beasts and of the labour derived from them.

But to have heard also of the slaughter of the servants and to have borne it manfully—this clearly displays the courage and steadfast endurance of the holy man.

It must be observed whether the one who alone was saved, so that he might bring the report, was being preserved for a yet greater trial.

For if Job had continued unaware of what had befallen until the ulceration of his own body, then, when the greater afflictions were present, the lesser ones would not have been so distressing.

While this one was still speaking, there came another messenger and said to Job:

Fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep, and likewise devoured the shepherds;

and I alone have escaped to come and tell you. The unbroken succession of the report of grievous tidings sets forth the extraordinary and wondrous courage of the blessed man.

For observe the point: that while the one reporting the former things was still speaking, the second, standing over him, took his stand not to bring them relief, but to add to their intensity, announcing yet more grievous things—it being the way of such a report of afflictions to turn the reasoning about, to muddy it, and thus to throw it into confusion, so as to make a man, dragged this way and that among the various sorrows, fall outside his fitting composure.

But the holy man was not of that sort.

But as an unbreakable wall, though ever so many of those able to take it dashed against it, remains likewise unshaken, so the holy Job, having his foundation upon the rock of salvation, when the trials came upon him was not shaken.

It is worth beholding also the substance of the second report, how it raises the distress to a higher pitch.

Fire, he says, fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and likewise ate the shepherds. For even though the holy man, having exactly grasped the doctrines of the truth, knew that the permission granted to the trials had not come about apart from God, yet what was happening brought him the greatest grief, on account of those who were being made to stumble, as though God too were advancing against him.

For as to the fact that the raiders, coming upon him, both took away the livestock and slaughtered the servants, the simpler folk could reckon this—as being by the law of enemies when raiders fall upon men, doing this out of lawlessness and hostility—that what was happening was not from God.

But when fire was reported to have come down from heaven, there was danger lest one of the weak should reckon that virtue is nothing to marvel at, since even the one who possesses it is punished by God.

Yet even when this befell, the holy man did not give way, being wholly given over to the contemplation of God.

For neither does the devil have authority to bring down fire from heaven; rather, this came about by divine judgment, so that the God of Job, who had given the devil the authority, might demonstrate to the devil that none of human things is a concern to the blessed man, however many devices he may contrive.

God brought it to pass, in order that, having displayed the greatness of the athlete, he might confute the adversary, since Job bore nobly no small or trivial assault, but the destruction of seven thousand sheep, and that together with shepherds who were plainly not few.

And again the one who brought the tidings was preserved, for the reason we have stated before.

While this one was still speaking, there came another messenger and said to Job:

The horsemen formed themselves against us in three companies and encircled the camels and took them captive and killed the servants with the sword;

and I alone was saved and have come to report to you. Perhaps there was an army in the region which came on divided into three commands against the camels.

The horsemen formed themselves against us in three companies. It is also admissible that there was a continual raid of enemy horsemen occurring at that time, set in motion by diabolical instigation, and that thus, because it was happening as was customary, the reporter said:

The horsemen formed themselves against us in three companies. Not only did they carry off the camels, but they also killed the servants.

Take note how in a certain order, ever more grievous, the succession of the trials comes about.

For first the yokes of oxen, being five hundred, are taken captive, together with the female grazing donkeys, five hundred; then fire, brought down from heaven upon the sheep, being seven thousand, made the calamity more grievous than the one that had gone before.

Third, the camels, being three thousand, were taken away, the servants having been slaughtered as in the former cases too—a costly matter, and a token of no contemptible wealth.

After these came the sudden death of the children, as will be made plain in what is to be set forth.

For even if the death of the servants had been announced first, all the preceding things would have been light by comparison.

But when it happened by a certain intensification of grief, their unbroken succession was sharp and all the more capable of throwing the understanding into confusion—which the devil too wickedly contrived, having demanded it.

And he was put to shame, since the holy man's reasoning was in no wise bent.

While this one was still speaking, another messenger comes, saying to Job:

While your sons and daughters were eating and drinking at their elder brother's house, suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and seized the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon your children and they died;

and I alone was saved and have come to report to you. Not in vain is added the phrase:

while your sons and daughters were eating and drinking; rather it was for the intensification of distress, this too being contrived by the devil who is the author of evil, so that the report of what had happened, becoming heavy, might work surpassing grief in the holy man.

For if the collapse had come to pass while the children were sleeping, then, reckoning the calamity to be without any awareness on their part, he would not have grieved so.

But when it brought on the trial while they were occupied in the necessary care of the body, this makes the grief the more grievous.

For it is beyond doubt that very many were present, as at such an occasion, whom the reporter did not mention, being content with the surpassing grievousness concerning the children, and having what followed concerning those who were present implied along with it.

For such a manner is customary to Scripture:

For when the Saviour broke the five loaves, with which he satisfied five thousand men, the evangelist records, saying:

besides women and children, numbering only the principal ones.

But what is the wind that came from the wilderness and seized the four corners of the house and cast it down—consider this together: whether it was a whirlwind stirred up with excessive force and thus dashing against the house and bringing it down, or a spirit serving the devil, or the devil himself.

For this too is a great, evil spirit, seizing the four corners of the house and bringing it down.

It is possible, once this is inquired into, to ask whether the reporter could have known that it was a spirit serving the devil that did this, or the devil himself.

But if the wind be understood to be a whirlwind, then it must be taken as spoken in the same way as the descent of the fire from heaven upon the sheep, and the things said about that likewise fit this case.

For the devil is not able to set a wind in motion.

And there is added and set upon it the word 'suddenly,' which is emphatic of no one's being able to escape the collapse, the matter having so befallen—the reporter perhaps having been found outside.

Then Job arose and tore his garments and shaved the hair of his head, and falling to the ground he worshipped and said:

Naked I myself came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I also return thither.

The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so has it come to pass.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. The divine Spirit forestalls the malignant designs of wicked men and of the devil himself.

For perhaps one of such men would say that Job was not fond of his children, since he had done nothing worthy of compassion.

But his tenderness of feeling and his courage are shown together, in that he made clear that he had received the terrible blow of the sudden and pitiable death of his children neither without feeling nor ignobly:

for through tearing his garments and shaving his head—this being customary among the ancients over the dead—he shows his sympathy and tender affection;

but what follows brings forth a most manifest proof of his courage and surpassing wisdom, for it says:

He did not lose heart, he uttered no cry unbecoming to a man of understanding, he did not bring forth a word of pusillanimity, but he worships the Author of all beginnings, being persuaded that these things do not happen outside the divine judgment, and that, happening from the beginning, they come to pass consequently and according to a certain right reason.

For he adds also, after having worshipped:

Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I also return thither.

The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

As it seemed good to the Lord, so has it come to pass.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Consider, then, how together with courage wisdom too is found in the blessed Job, in accordance with which, through his words, he introduces divine doctrines beneficial to the whole race of men.

Naked, he says, I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I also return thither.

Concerning which those who hold nothing divine touching the immortality of the soul ought to be questioned.

For where is Job to go forth naked? Is it perhaps into his mother's womb? For it was from there that he came forth naked, according to what is said.

But away with this false notion!

Rather it is clear that this was said as a teaching that the soul is not sown together with the body, as some have supposed.

For the blessed Paul writes something similar to this, saying:

'For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.' For just as the 'carrying out' shows that the one who has died existed beforehand, so too the one who 'brought nothing in' has a prior existence and enters from some place bringing nothing of the sort with him.

And by saying the following he introduces yet another doctrine unknown to many:

'The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.' By this he establishes that Job's possession was not unjust, nor had it taken its beginning from some improper means of support.

'The Lord makes poor and makes rich' — not by some irrational inclination, as those who introduce Fate imagine, but so that the one who is stretched taut amid these things may be made known, whether he bears them fittingly; and there are also other causes, some indeed familiar even to men, but some unspeakable and known to God alone — which the blessed man, understanding, says:

'The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.'

'As it seemed good to the Lord, so also it came to pass.' The word 'seemed good' must be understood not loosely, but as of God having thus judged with certainty.

Something similar to this is found in the Acts of the Apostles, when, writing a letter about not circumcising those who were coming to the worship of God, the apostles said:

'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us' — not loosely, but with deliberation.

This word 'enduring' might also indicate the adversary, showing that Job was not handed over in order to grant delight to the devil who had demanded him, but so that what seemed good to the Lord might come to pass.

And this was what God himself said to Job:

'Do you think I have dealt with you for any other reason than that you might be shown to be righteous?' — and that he departs from virtue neither on account of riches nor on account of children.

One may also marvel at his thankfulness, as he says:

'May the name of the Lord be blessed' — which is a refutation of those who despair in such misfortunes and utter such things as are not even seemly to say.

But the holy man is not such a one — senseless, unbending in his reasoning; rather, amid so many and such calamities he becomes a herald of true and divine doctrines.

'Thus Job rent his garments' — this must be taken in a figurative sense.

It might be plausible to say that he stripped himself for this reason: first, showing the tempter that:

'If you desire even what is left over, take these too'; then, symbolically showing that, like a contestant, he strips himself for the struggle against the opponent.

The cutting off of the hair might also be a symbol of reckoning all superfluous things to be of no great account, but rather contemptible to a righteous and prudent man — one who is neither made slack amid times of ease nor distressed amid afflictions; which the blessed David also set forth in his psalm, singing:

'I will bless the Lord at all times.' In all these things that befell him Job did not sin before the Lord, nor did he impute folly to God. A great testimony is given by the Holy Spirit to the blessed Job in what is said:

'In all these things Job did not sin before the Lord.' For it is often possible not to sin openly, yet for a disturbance to arise in the mind, according to what is said:

'I was troubled and did not speak.' But the added phrase 'before' shows that no fault at all occurred;

for otherwise he would have been observed by God.

'This man sinned in nothing' — and the phrase:

'He sinned in nothing before the Lord' — which manifests a surpassing purity, in that the holy man stumbled neither in word, nor in deed, nor in reasoning, nor in thought.

It was to this end, at any rate, that God, calling those who repent, said:

'Remove your wickednesses from your souls before my eyes' — which shows that:

we are to abstain from evil not in deed alone, but also in thought, since God sees.

This the Saviour also says in the Gospel:

'But when you do alms, do not sound a trumpet as the hypocrites do'.

'He who sees in secret will reward you.' For just as the one who does alms in this manner does not hear the praise that comes from the many, so the one who does not sin before the Lord is beyond all evil.

'And he did not impute folly to God.' For the one who is persuaded that what happens is dispensed by divine providence does not impute folly to the God who governs; whereas the unbelieving in these matters often lay blame and say:

'This ought not to have happened, or that; so-and-so ought not to have been poor, or rich, or sick, or well'; or:

'Why has the young man departed from life while the old are still living?'

And in short, those who say such things suppose the governance of the world to be senseless.

But the holy man, even while in such great trials, blesses the Lord, being persuaded that the judgment of God is just.

'And it came to pass, as on this day, that the angels of the Lord came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came in the midst of them.'

'And the Lord said to the devil:'

'Whence do you come?' Then the devil said before the Lord:

'Having passed through the whole earth under heaven and walked about all of it, I am here.' At his former coming the devil, having received authority from God over all Job's possessions and children, and having destroyed everything, was yet unable to overturn the manly resolve of the holy Job.

For he remained the same through his greatness of soul, and the same in his godliness.

The devil undertakes to set in motion a second demand, against his body, being eager to subject him to unbearable pains.

Since the same verses are found as the preceding ones, what was said with regard to those must also be applied to these, so that the same things need not be repeated many times — adding only this much, that the diabolical [character] is shown exceedingly.

Namely, that what was said by the Lord to the devil is most reproving, since he had no upright deed of his own to speak of with confidence — and it is shaming, in that he had been vanquished, which he himself shamelessly would not confess.

It must be noted that the devil does not now answer in the same way.

[Formerly:] 'Having gone around the earth and walked about under heaven, I am here'; but now:

'Having passed through the whole earth under heaven and walked about all of it.'

And consider carefully whether, like a liar, he did not wish to make mention that he had gone around the earth, so as to be thought not to have assailed Job at all from the beginning, but then out of shamelessness.

For he knows that nothing escapes God.

'The things over which you gave me authority, I have done:'

'I have taken away Job's possessions and destroyed his children.' For this would have been the consistent thing to say, and:

'He remained the same.' But he proceeds to a second request, from which he supposes he will overturn the holy man's resolve.

And if the devil also conceals his own intention by saying 'all of it' in place of 'the earth,' yet let us establish from the Scriptures that the earth is often called 'all of it' [the whole].

'The whole [earth] was filled with the knowledge of the Lord.' And Job also, in what follows, says concerning God:

'He who makes the whole [world] in the highest,' showing that God draws [a man] up from earth to heaven on account of virtue.

'And the Lord said to the devil:'

'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is no man like him among those on the earth — righteous, godly, guileless, blameless, abstaining from all evil?'

'And still he holds fast his guilelessness.' And now the phrase:

'Have you set your mind upon [him]?' — as was said before too, but here it carries an intensification, in that after the wrestling-match [the devil] was put to shame.

For the devil, supposing that Job rejoiced in outward things as though they were goods, said:

'Have you not put a hedge around the things within and without his house?' But when his assault proved vain, the phrase 'have you considered' is said in place of:

'You have come to know by the test the manliness of one who is godly, blameless, guileless, and abstaining from all evil.'

And in addition to these things the Lord, reproving him, adds:

'And still he holds fast his guilelessness. You have considered, then, that he will not bless me to my face, as you supposed.'

It must be noted that in the preceding passage it was said:

'Abstaining from every evil thing,' but now:

from which it is recognized that the term 'the evil' was used [as equivalent to] 'the wicked.'

'You who love the Lord, hate what is evil' — that is to say.

Now 'guilelessness' (akakia) is understood to signify various things.

For it denotes both the absence of evil and simplicity of heart.

'Judge me, O God, for I have walked in my guilelessness' — here he calls virtue 'guilelessness.'

For he who possesses virtue is deprived of evil.

'The guileless and the simple clung to me' — he means the virtuous as 'guileless' (for these are 'simple'), and simplicity is a mark of virtue.

'They deceive the hearts of the guileless,' and again.

'The guileless believes every word,' and again.

'That he may give shrewdness to the guileless' — this signifies the unmixed and sincere.

For whom he also prays that shrewdness be given — not that which is equivalent to evil, but that which belongs to prudence.

Job, then, still possessed a guilelessness that was made perfect in every word.

'But you said to destroy his possessions for nothing.' The Lord here exposes the devil's vain scheming against the saints.

For he labors in vain who does anything without cause.

If, then, the devil too — hoping to overthrow the saint by attempting the ruin of his possessions and his children — recognized his attempt to be fruitless through the abundance of the saint's fortitude, then he warred against him in vain.

For none of the things he had hoped for came to pass.

'And the devil answered and said to the Lord.'

'A man has — for the sake of his own life he will pay it all.'

'But rather, stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh.'

'Surely he will bless you to your face.' There being three things called goods — those external, which are divided into money and property and health and the other things pertaining to the body, and other goods, namely the virtues — he reckons only the indifferent things to be goods, and supposes that Job too is of this mind; and shamelessly he says to the Lord (we understanding 'saying' according to what has been said before) that a man would pay everything so as not to suffer anything himself.

This is indeed plausible and holds for the most part, yet it is not true in all cases.

For many have risked their lives for the sake of money.

The evil-loving devil, disparaging the fortitude of the blessed man and wishing to bring against him — even upon his body — the very things he did bring, says that the possession of external things is contemptible, maliciously concealing the fact that countless people have prayed to perish for the sake of their children.

For thus too wars derive their occasion, being waged for the sake of children.

For each man, standing as a bulwark before his own children, hazards his life on their behalf.

But the adversary, out of his desire to injure Job, utters something monstrous even concerning these matters.

Wherefore, as he also said before.

'But stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh.'

'Surely he will bless you to your face.' For the devil knows — even if he has fallen — that unless God permits it, he himself can do nothing against anyone; and this 'permission' is to be understood in this way: that it comes about wisely, inasmuch as it comes from God.

'And the Lord said to the devil.'

'Behold, I hand him over to you; only preserve his life.' The Lord permits even this for our benefit, so that Job — set up like an inscription on a monument — might become a stamp and figure of fortitude, a mark of such virtue for those then living and for later generations; which indeed came to pass.

For it is possible to hear the athlete and contender himself saying.

'I know that I shall be shown to be righteous.' And in handing him over, the Lord says.

'Only preserve his life' — which may be understood thus.

We often see aberrations and distortions of the ruling faculty (the mind) occurring in certain people, for reasons which God — who knows the hidden things — knows, when such persons are thus handed over.

So what the Lord says is this.

'Do not work upon him a stupor and a distortion of the ruling faculty, but touch the flesh and bones which you also asked for.'

But if the phrase 'only preserve his life' is put in place of 'do not kill him,' consider it further.

'Only preserve his life' — examine this together.

'And the devil went out from the Lord and struck Job with a grievous sore from his feet to his head.' Every sinner is outside of God, but preeminently the devil, as the author of evil.

This has also been discussed earlier concerning him.

And since in the narrative it was said that the devil came with the angels, the figure of speech is fittingly introduced.

'The devil went out from the Lord.' And having gone out, he does not delay, but immediately carries out the object of his petition, enveloping him in a wound covering his whole body, wishing by the assault to dissolve the vigor of his virtue.

He mentions the extremities to make clear that he also struck the parts in between.

'And he took a potsherd to scrape the discharge.' The verse signifies his desolation and his helplessness, no one being present to nurse him, but even his wife being absent because of her zeal for the work, from which perhaps both she and he were fed.

For in what follows the wife, speaking to him, says.

'And I, wandering and a servant, going from place to place and from house to house, waiting for the sun to set' — this presents what has been said.

To such a degree had his body been dissolved that it was breaking down into discharges.

Therefore he scraped himself with the potsherd, being in his soul free from disease and unbending.

'And he sat upon the dunghill outside the city.' It is likely that in those cities they did not permit one who had such a body to dwell among them.

He was seated and beholds the sudden change — from what prosperity and manner of life to what misery he had been changed by the tempter — so that he was even driven from his home and sat upon a dunghill, with no household member present, nor even a friend, nor his very wife, as was said before.

For she does not appear to be ill-disposed toward him, as we have set forth.

'And after much time had passed, his wife said to him.'

'How long will you persist, saying.'

'Behold, I wait yet a little while longer, expecting the hope of my salvation? For behold, your memorial has been blotted out from the earth — sons and daughters, the pangs and pains of my womb, for whom I labored in vain with toils.'

'And you yourself sit in the rottenness of worms, passing the night in the open air.'

'And I, a wanderer and a servant, going from place to place and from house to house, waiting for the sun to set, that I may rest from the toils and the pains that now hold me fast.'

'But say some word against the Lord and die.' The devil, worn out by so many assaults and unable to cast him down through the removal of his substance and the destruction of his children, nor yet through the immeasurable affliction of his body, weaves for him a third snare — the discourse of his wife.

Perhaps through her he might deceive Job, as he deceived Adam through Eve.

For after much time had passed, since he himself could not shake the athlete, the wife brings forth words of faintheartedness, perhaps intending to free him from his suffering, if he should speak a word against the Lord unadvisedly.

And observe in each phrase how she calls him forth to faintheartedness.

By setting the great length of the illness before him as a ground for faintheartedness — then next.

'Behold, I wait yet a little while longer, expecting the hope of my salvation' — in a certain way she turns his expectation toward the impossible.

For perhaps, when she often grew despondent, he, setting before her the things of good hope, made her cease from faintheartedness; and she, not seeing this — since she had a weak power of reasoning — called him forth to faintheartedness as one who hoped falsely.

For the irrational soul is wont always to reckon expectations as uncertain.

And intensifying what she supposes to be the return of utter hopelessness, she says.

'For behold, your memorial has been blotted out from the earth.' No son, no daughter remains to you to preserve the memory of your succession — all but saying.

'Even if it should come to pass that you regain your health, the enjoyment of health is profitless when there are no children — those you had having perished.'

'And if only this were present, perhaps your longsuffering might have some reason,' she says, 'but besides these things, you yourself also sit in the rottenness of worms, while I go about from place to place out of poverty.'

Having through all her words shot forth an arrow of faintheartedness, she brings her most wretched discourse to its end, saying.

'Say some word against the Lord and die.'

How was it that the woman held this reasoning—that if she should speak a word against the Lord, she would die? To this one might reply in various ways: either that the Adversary suggested this to her, so that what he was eager for might be accomplished, namely the words:

'Surely he will bless you to your face'; or perhaps in those cities the one who blasphemed against the Lord used to be put to death by the ruler or by the citizens.

For perhaps she had never known anyone who blasphemed and yet went on living.

For perhaps this was what happened at that time, when wickedness had not yet been poured out abroad.

Perhaps she reasoned that not even God would allow him to live if he uttered a blasphemous word.

'For behold, your memorial has been blotted out from the earth'—as though to say:

'Nor will you have any hope of ever coming to the same enjoyment of those good things which she alone considered to be good, disregarding the things that are truly good.'

Yet, though she spoke in ignorance, in another sense she uttered a true word:

for the memorial of those who have despised human life is heavenly.

And that Scripture confirms this, the Psalmist declares, saying:

When certain men sin and say in their heart that there is no God, God brings upon them grievous afflictions, and manifests himself, so that when they have been benefited, their memorial may be removed from the earth and they may be enrolled in heaven, having been changed unto virtue.

And the words about the children she spoke as a woman, reckoning that their salvation alone was her hope, and asserting that she had borne them in vain.

And repeatedly assailing him, she also brings forward the matters of her own affliction.

But he, looking upon her, said to her:

'You have spoken like one of the foolish women.'