Commentary on Job 1 part 3/15

'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evil?' The steadfastness of his soul is shown in this also: that amid such great pains he did not merely endure the word unfittingly brought forth by his wife, but even said:

'You have spoken like one of the foolish women.' He said this while gazing intently at her, for the holy man, considering her reproaches, understood that she brought these things forth at the devil's prompting; and being prudent, he knew that the first transgressor, having been wounded by the devil, had become the cause of Adam's transgression.

'You have spoken like one of the foolish women.' Then, setting before her the fitting reasoning, he adds:

'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evil?' For it belongs to the same understanding both not to be carried away toward the pleasant among things indifferent, and not to be cast down before things painful.

For he who has knowledge concerning affairs knows that the things reckoned good are not such by their own nature, but follow the disposition of the one who uses them; just as, again, the evils—I mean the harmful things—are not in reality evil, but their use lies in accordance with the one who is involved in them.

For many amid wealth have been seen to be both base and worthy—as Abraham and those like him, and Pharaoh and those resembling him.

And again, when many afflictions came upon them, some gave way, while others kept their reasoning unbent—among whom are the blessed Job and Lazarus, receiving these things as from a physician who employs cuttings and cauterizings for the sake of health.

In all these things that befell him Job did not sin with his lips before the Lord. This is said a second time: first, at the initial assault; and now, the second time.

In all these things that befell him Job did not sin before the Lord; but now:

In all these things that befell him Job did not sin with his lips before the Lord. Now some think it makes no difference whether it is said that he sinned in nothing with his lips or that he sinned in nothing before the Lord; but others understand these things thus: that in the case of the removal of his possessions and the death of his children it was said once for all that Job sinned in nothing before the Lord, neither in word nor in thought; but here it is set down with the addition 'with his lips,' saying that perhaps some disturbance did arise—not equal to a sin (for that would be a defeat), but rather a movement of human weakness, forced out by the great pain concerning his whole body.

The Spirit of the author, therefore, says—in order to show the intensity of his suffering and his manly courage—that although his fortitude was strained even to the point of an involuntary stirring of thought, he was troubled, yet not so as to do anything out of faintheartedness and meanness, or to speak.

The hymnist too says something of this kind:

'I was troubled, and I did not speak'—showing that certain things arose concerning him that stirred up disturbance, but he checked their movement so that it stopped at the level of thought and did not speak.

In accord with this are the things Paul writes to the Corinthians:

'I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning the affliction that came upon us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.'

Each one came to him from his own country:

Eliphaz king of the Temanites, Baldad the ruler of the Sauchaeans, Sophar king of the Minaeans. Strange events are for the most part widely heard of, especially if they happen to persons of renown.

Since, then, Job was among the most illustrious both for wealth and for virtue, his friends—having heard of the severity of what had befallen him—came, as was fitting, not from one place, but each from his own country, moved by sympathy; and this though they were kings, and for that reason did not disdain the man who had come into so great a reversal.

He calls him 'ruler' (tyrant) either in parallel with 'king'—the age not yet knowing the name to be blameworthy—or to signify a distinction of rank from a king.

'By me kings reign, and by me rulers hold power over the earth.' And these came to him, no other cause having brought them.

The saying is useful for sympathy, that we may not, on account of the reversals that fall out, overlook the things of love and mutual affection.

And they came to him with one accord, to comfort and to visit him. They had come to do both, since he happened to have suffered both:

for he had been bereft both of substance and of children, and his whole body was held fast by the wound.

And they came to him with one accord—either with great eagerness, or because, having their dwellings apart, they had agreed together and come as a company, so as to come to him thus for comfort:

for they did not perceive the evils to have ceased, but to be already at work.

But seeing him from afar they did not recognize him, and crying out with a loud voice they wept, each one rending his own robe and sprinkling earth upon themselves.

They sat beside him seven days and seven nights. In this the narrative teaches two things: both the manly courage of the blessed man—while others bore it hard because of the immensity of what had befallen—and the sympathy of the friends, who not only came but, when they beheld him, did not recognize him because of the disease, which had altered even the features of his form; and crying out with a loud voice they wept, each rending his robe, and they sprinkled ashes upon themselves. All of which, as has been said, shows both the courage of the holy man and the compassion of these men.

For he remained unbent—which one might well marvel at—and through these things too Job was not provoked to despondency by the fact that his suffering struck the others with dismay, as is wont to happen among men.

And the fact that they remained with him seven days and seven nights was also a mark of sympathy.

Whence one must not disdain the patient endurance shown toward the weak and helpless, being led through these things unto sympathy.

And none of them spoke.

For they saw that the affliction was terrible and exceedingly great. Those who had come for the sake of comfort fell silent at the magnitude of what had befallen.

And fittingly they employed sympathy first:

for this above all is wont to prevail among those being comforted.

For neither was there anything within their means even toward healing, the affliction surpassing the aid of medical art.

And it is likely that, holding an estimate of him as wise, they also chose to keep silent out of reverence, not daring to bring forth a word before him.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day, saying: The wise man is not a speaker of vanities, nor does he bring forth through his tongue things that are not able to come to pass.

And he curses not the day, which is an interval of time, but the things that happened in it.

For it is customary for Scripture to call happenings a 'day.'

This the Psalmist teaches, saying:

'In an evil day the Lord will deliver him'—calling not the temporal span an evil day, but the evil things that befell in them:

and likewise what is said by Paul:

'because the days are evil'—of the same meaning.

Thus one might say that to these the day is good on account of what befalls, but to those it is evil.

The Red Sea would be a good day for these, but for the Egyptians an evil one:

'for they sank like lead in the mighty waters.'

'Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which they said:

May that night be darkness, and may the Lord not seek it out from above, nor may light come upon it, but may darkness and the shadow of death seize it.' It is worth considering whether it accords with the most wise Job and his manly courage both to curse the day in which he was born and the night in which they said:

'Behold, a male'—and that it should be darkness, although every night is such (for it says, 'He called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night'); and what it is that he prays, that the day should not be sought out from above by the Lord, nor light come upon it, and that darkness and the shadow of death should seize it.

Some of these things are not even naturally possible to come about:

for to utter such curses in the form of a prayer concerning a day that has passed and no longer has any subsistence would not be the mark of a wise man.

But if the lovers of the letter should persist in the plain rendering of the text, they enfeeble the manly courage of the holy man—which the devil was not able to enfeeble—by supposing him to have so great a despondency; which, if he had had it, not even so would the devil have been put to shame concerning his courage, nor would the Lord have said to him:

'Do you think I have dealt with you for any other reason than that you might be shown to be righteous?' Therefore, since the things of the letter have no reasonable and fitting place for the holy man, we must contemplate the matters before us according to the laws of allegory.

But before beginning this, it is fitting first to say certain things that contribute to the matter before us:

The soul of man, being immortal and being not only of another substance than the body, but even of a more divine one, was interwoven with it according to various reasons—either because its own worth, by its particular inclination and longing toward bodies, wrought a fellowship with them, or because it was joined to this body for the benefit of those who have need of help.

For neither was it sown together with the body, as those suppose who are ignorant of its greatness, on the ground that it is impossible for an incorporeal substance to come into existence from bodily seed;

nor again is it fashioned later than the body, as though it came into being after it;

for neither, after God rested from all His works, does He bring anyone into existence out of that which is not;

for what does it say? 'That which has come to be is the very thing that shall come to be, and what has been made is the very thing that shall be made, and there is nothing at all new under the sun.'

'See, this is new; it has already existed in the ages that come before us.'

Testimony that souls are introduced into life and interwoven with bodies both because of their own wickedness and for the benefit of others is Jeremiah, who hears:

'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you; I appointed you a prophet unto the nations'; and Jacob and Esau, concerning whom God says:

'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,' while they were still in the womb; and John, who leaped and exulted in his mother's womb.

For these things demonstrate that the souls are not contemporaneous with the bodies;

for he who exults in his mother's womb and partakes of the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and one who is hated before he is born and another who is loved, does not receive these things without cause.

But it is grievous, and most burdensome, not only to be joined to a body because of one's own faults, but also for the benefit of others;

for just as it is not fitting to praise, on account of the victors in war, the cause of the war, since it is the occasion of many unpleasant things, so neither, on account of those who succeed, does it follow that one should praise the entrance into this life; rather one must be persuaded that some, even by their own choice, having made trial of it, have come to the utmost evil, and have become to those who come for the benefit of others the causes of toils.

So then, deeming the evils that come about through this cause to be a painful day worthy of a curse, Job says:

'Let the day perish on which I was born.' And this he says on behalf of the whole race.

Those who see what befell him, knowing that he suffers undeservedly, lead the discourse back to the whole cause, all but saying:

'Were it not for the fall of the many, there would be no need of a stamp of manly courage.' For as, when many have fallen under harm through disorder, the loving physician will reasonably curse the disorder, so the blessed man, in ministering healing—because these things do not happen without judgement, but by a certain sequence and consequence that summons them, so that those who have fallen may be benefited—curses the day of the fall of men, making his discourse common to all.

He uses the words in a more narrative fashion, so that the form of the discourse may be made clear.

'Let it perish, then,' he says, 'the cause, and let that which wrought the entrance into this life exist no longer.'

Then, since childbirth also happens to take place in the night, he takes up the name of the night as well:

'Let that night be darkness'—that the meaning may be:

no longer journeying, but as in darkness, may they not find the road of the coming-into-being of wickedness, being hindered—as though someone should say concerning those harmed through disorder:

'May the affairs of the disorderly no longer prosper.'

'And let not the Lord seek it out from above.' For it was fitting for the holy man to pray that the rational beings should be driven on toward virtue, and no longer suffer a return to a worse condition—for it is not the same one—according to those who introduce reincarnation.

'Neither let light come upon it.' Let the impulse toward the worse be hindered, while the agents remain heedless, so that, according to what is said, 'the light of the ungodly shall be quenched.'

'Let darkness and the shadow of death seize it,' so that for those who incline toward evils this dark thought may be tripped up, hindering their impulse toward evil, since they suppose that the undertaking is deadly.

Like to this is what is said by the prophet:

'I will build up her ways with thorns, and she shall not find her path.' For it is a great thing that wickedness itself be hindered both by fear and by ignorance.

For in this way one will come to be disposed hatefully toward it.

'Let gloom come upon it; let that day and that night be cursed; let darkness carry it away.' These one ought to reckon not as curses but as prayers for the ceasing of evils.

For according to what has been previously expounded, one must pray that the cause of the fall and its road be unknown, so that there may be no prospering in evils for a man.

For the desire of virtue makes the road toward wickedness more unknown, and this desire, when intensified, produces a total forgetting of that activity;

for this would be the meaning of 'let darkness carry it away.'

But it—I mean wickedness itself—is also worthy of a curse, since it makes those who practise it liable to things worthy of a curse.

'Let it not be among the days of the year, nor be numbered among the days of the months; but let that night be pain.' The holy man does not wish the day of the fall to be in number and remembrance, seeing that it becomes painful through repentance, on account of that dark cause; and 'night' it is called because of its toilsomeness and lightlessness, in order that from repentance there may come about some setting-right, removing...

...of the night, and render the one who has come to be in repentance to be reckoned in, so as to be comprehended within that year concerning which the psalmist says:

'You will bless the crown of the year of Your goodness,' and, singing as one who makes progress:

'You will greatly care for me in Your counsel, in Your power.' 'And let no gladness nor joy come upon it.' Being a lover of his fellows, the holy man prays that no one may rejoice in a fall or take pleasure in it.

For often, seeing someone hastening toward evil deeds, we would pray, saying:

'May he not attain what he is bent on.' With this same mind the holy man also sings his prayer, not cursing:

This very thing the Saviour Himself says:

'It were good for that man if he had not been born'; and in Ecclesiastes it is shown:

'Better than these two is he who has not yet come to be.' But for the one not yet born—according to this birth, that is to say—if a good thing befalls him, it does not befall him without existing subsistence.

'But let him who curses that day curse it—he who is about to subdue the great sea-monster.' This prayer is for the loosing of the cause of the things that have befallen—of evils for those who by their own choice have come onto the road of birth, and of toils for those who came for the sake of others.

He prays, then, that the cause of the human calamity, being truly worthy of a curse, may fall under a curse, so that those also who come to be in it, recognising that it is full of cursing, may flee from it as from something God curses.

And it is well too that he joins to the God who curses no other activity of His but that according to the economy of salvation.

'But let him who curses that day curse it'—and the Creator, or the Teacher, added—not that these follow, but 'he who is about to subdue the great sea-monster.'

For since the devil, who is also called a sea-monster, became the cause of the fall of men, and it is for the loosing of this that he offers up the prayer, he consequently makes use of prophecy, namely that the devil who has the power of death shall be brought to nought. For he foresaw this too, being moved by the Holy Spirit through the purity of his soul, even as it was granted to the saints to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy, so that others also, sobering up from these things, might be delivered from the sin that holds fast, so as, through advancing in virtue, to hear:

'You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon'—which is the devil.

'Our adversary the devil walks about as a lion, seeking whom he may devour'; and again:

'You crushed the heads of the dragon.' And well is it said 'who is about to,' indicating what is according to the incarnation.

For it was not fitting for the naked Godhead to bring the devil to nought, but through this—the temple of the Word that had come into being, which came from the seed of the one deceived and harmed by the devil.

For it would have been a boast to the devil, if it had been by the naked Godhead that He had subdued him.

The different names of the devil indicate his different activities, not different substances.

For he is called devil and adversary and evil one and lion and dragon and serpent and sea-monster on account of his manner, since he works his wickedness in various ways—which is subversive of the Manichaean doctrine.

'Let the stars of that night be darkened, and let it not endure, nor come into illumination, nor see the dawn-star rising.' The stars that came into being on the fourth day—the same ones until the consummation—belong to every night, and it is not that these belong to one night and those to another, so that the addition of 'that' leads us away from the literal narrative;

for no one night in particular has other stars, so that concerning them too it should be said how they are to be darkened.

Besides, how is it not out of tune with a wise man to pray that stars be darkened which God made to give light, and to pray this on account of the distressing circumstances that had befallen him—which is destructive of his manly courage?

Wherefore these things must be led up according to what was previously rendered.

The holy man prays, then, that men may not reckon as choiceworthy the things that are not choiceworthy.

Since sin-loving souls have certain things that lead them by the hand toward wickedness—either a teaching of evils or reasonings that lead into these, which are called 'light' proceeding from it, because in a certain way they produce advancement into wickedness—he prays that these things may not run together, nor be a support to those who move toward wickedness, saying:

'Let the stars of that night be darkened,' calling 'night' the road that leads into the human condition.

Let nothing appear bright to the souls, nor lead them by the hand toward it, so that it may become for them a bond of many evils.

May there not be found or come to be in it such kindling as leads toward it.

And in this very night let there not even come to be a dawn-star, that is, an argument seeming to be luminous through its plausibility, urging that one ought to be pleased with this road.

For often the sin-lover abides in his fault, either accepting the pleasure or stirring up plausible reasonings, from which he supposes he is not going astray.

'Because it did not shut up the gates of my mother's womb.' The cause of the imprecation now appears as he speaks it, which does not fit the perceptible night, but the condition, as we have said, that leads into this life.

For if it had not opened them, neither would the gates of the mother's womb have been opened—that is, this painful life would not have existed, nor, on account of such sin...

...the sin of the race had come about.

And this being the case, neither would he who is according to the economy...

...passing through and enduring by means of this condition; which things the blessed Paul also, knowing, declared:

It is far better to depart and to be with Christ.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake; so that the one is good for some reason, while the other is good absolutely.

For it is blessed to be outside of this present life.

To His familiar friends, at any rate, Jesus says:

You are no longer of this world, but I have chosen you. It is better, then, not even to have set out at all upon such a road, even if it should come about by dispensation.

For it is a good thing, if no one, being healthy, had need of a physician.

For in this way it would follow that one is not in that same condition to which there also attach things painful and unpleasant, as he goes on to add:

For it would have removed pain from my eyes. He signifies not only the pain that afflicts and encompasses him, but also that he saw many being perverted;

For the eye of the righteous man is weighed down by the lawless deeds wrought by the wicked.

And this very thing, to be given over to this life, is no small pain.

In unrighteousness it has all these things ... which would have remained idle had wickedness not come to be.

But Habakkuk too utters such a cry, saying:

Why have You shown me toils and pains, to look upon misery and impiety? For why did I not die in the womb, but came forth from the belly and did not perish at once? Why did the knees meet me, and why did I suck at the breasts? As it seems, like Jonah he begs off from the dispensation undertaken for the benefit of those who are helped, while also demanding instruction concerning the judgments of God, which is proper to the righteous, who are not entirely ignorant, but ask so that others may learn — this kind of discourse being cast in a personated form.

Jeremiah, at any rate, brings forward an inquiry:

You are righteous, O Lord, yet I will speak of judgments to You — which shows that he knows what befalls these people, concerning whom he asks:

Why does the way of the ungodly prosper? The judgment of God in reality admits of much variety — the unjust flourishing, while the righteous are hard-pressed and share in loathsome sufferings; just as Jeremiah himself, being holy, so as to have been sanctified even from the womb, yet suffered so many things as even to be cast into a pit of mire.

But Lazarus and the rich man too — the one suffering evil, the other living in the greatest luxury — set forth the exactness of the inscrutable judgments of God.

And he calls this 'prospering' with reference to the opinion of the many.

Not, therefore, speaking idly, but asking so that others may learn such things, the holy man goes on to add:

Of this same kind, then, is also what is said in one of the psalms:

How good is God to Israel, to those upright in heart!

But as for me, my feet were almost moved; my steps had well-nigh slipped, because I was envious at the lawless, beholding the peace of sinners. That he is not in doubt is clear:

How good is God to Israel! These things He does, as understood by those who have an upright heart.

He represents himself as being shaken, though he is steadfast, taking on the persona of those who are displeased, in order that afterward, following the words of doubt, he may bring in the words of instruction.

And Job too, at any rate, inquiring of God, wishes to learn — for it is this persona that he introduces — the cause of such a course of life.

As it were taking upon himself the body of the way, he says † ... for that ... having fallen into so great a ... wickedness, so as to have need of fellowship with the body and of helpers who came for the sake of the dispensation, so that he says the things set forth.

For why did I not die in the womb? For out of reverent caution the saints beg off from being entrusted with the benefit of the weaker ones.

For this very reason he also says what follows:

And I came forth from the belly and did not perish at once? Likewise also:

Why did the knees meet me? Why did I suck at the breasts? For the holy man wished that sickness might not befall rational beings, so that there might not follow, for the pure, the necessity of coming for their sake by way of a healing.

Why did the knees meet me? — which signifies a journeying.

For upon the others this life followed here because of their own faults, but upon the saints it met them not as upon those who are liable, but as upon those fulfilling a dispensation.

For now I would have lain down and been at peace; having slept, I would have found rest with kings, the counselors of the earth. For if, he says, such a sequence and chain of events had not come about, so as to bring me on my way as far as this condition for the sake of those needing care — that is, had I met my end in the womb, not having come forth from the belly and being straightway taken away, and had the knees not met me nor had I sucked the breasts, that is, had it not been for the toilsome dispensation entrusted to us — now I would have lain down and been at peace; that is:

Having obtained a rest in that very life, I would have passed my time in the pursuit of things divine and heavenly and rational.

The kings and counselors tyrannize over the meek of the earth, concerning whom it is said:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth — while we understand by 'kings' those in eminence, and by 'counselors' those of lesser rank, over whom the kings hold sway.

The parable in the Gospels contains such an analogy:

Be over ten cities, or five. Who exulted over swords. The holy man, not being one who loves war, did not, according to the obvious sense, wish to pass his time with such kings — who, being ready for battle, reckon a life amid such things to be good — but knowing that the wrestling of the saints is not against blood and flesh, according to the Apostle, but against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness, against which those who conduct themselves well, armed with the armor of salvation, fight as champions: with those he wished to have his sojourn, not having undergone human birth.

But one of those peaceful ones was also he who appeared to Joshua the son of Nun as the commander-in-chief of the Lord's host, to whom he also said:

Are you for us or for our adversaries?

Being discerning and not rash, the holy man knows that the adversary too often transforms himself into an angel of light.

But these are also exultant — not preferring boastfulness, but rejoicing in the victory over the adversaries and exulting in God.

Or with rulers, whose gold is abundant, who filled their houses with silver. Since the things now set forth are of the same intent, let us receive them as fittingly belonging to the persona of the holy man.

For he did not, being a lover of money or a flatterer, deem it a thing to be prayed for that he should dwell with the rich — he who bore nobly the loss of all his possessions and goods, and did not accept wealth from his friends, being free of flattery and having an unfettered purpose and an unshaken reason; so that it was with such rulers and kings, who happened to be adorned with wealth, that he wished his sojourn to be.

The wondrous Paul writes to certain who supposed they had grown rich with a good wealth:

Would that you did reign, so that we too might reign with you! For much gold — which signifies pure understanding — these possess, being pure and drawing near purely to the light of knowledge.

... of reason, out of surpassing purity, having nothing of that condition in which Job came to be for the sake of the dispensation — a condition which, on account of intercourse and sojourn among men, does not keep the likeness of such an intellect undefiled; which likeness would be wiped clean, since it is no sin, but something else that has supervened, which came about for the sake of the benefit of others.

Or like an untimely birth issuing from the mother's womb, or like infants that never saw light. To the words:

Why did I suck at the breasts? — this is given back through the verses spoken in between, from:

Now I would have lain down and been at peace, up to:

Who filled their houses with silver. Let the intent, then, be the same as in what was previously said:

For just as it was unwished-for to come into birth, so also it would have been welcome to him to have come into being as an untimely birth, so that he might not further share in this way of life according to generation and its afflictions; or, even if he had become an infant, that he might again have turned back, so that he might not, after infancy, come to be in a settled maturity of age.