Commentary on Job 1 part 8/15

And these things the blessed man says by way of correction, in reference to their judgment; but the sayings are useful also for fostering compassion and for keeping one from growing slack.

'For what? Have I asked anything of you, or do I stand in need of strength from you, so as to save me from the hand of enemies or to deliver me from the hand of the mighty?' Exposing the unreasonableness of the reproach directed against himself, he says:

If, when I asked something of you — such as a prayer to God — you were to say that you could not offer up the prayer on my behalf because I am in sin, that would have some reason.

But since this has not happened, the reproach against me is groundless.

And this very principle we have in the divine Scriptures.

For sometimes there is prayer for those who are fittingly disposed toward repentance, but for those who resist, what is done has no reasonable ground.

Thus, for instance, God says to the prophet:

'And you, do not pray for this people.' And next He states the reason why one ought not to offer up prayer to Him for them, saying:

'Do you not see what these are doing? Their sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle fire, and the women make cakes for the host of heaven' — bringing a common zeal to a common sin.

'Therefore do not pray for them.'

It is necessary, then, whenever an intercession is sent up to God by a holy man on behalf of someone, that the one for whom the intercession is made should also concur.

For if he acts contrary to the one interceding, he does something like that of which it is said:

'One building up and one tearing down.'

What did they gain more than toil? And moreover the one interceding is, as it were, put to shame.

A witness to this is the account concerning Moses.

For when he had gone up to God, while the people below were transgressing, it was said to him:

'Your people have sinned.' And note what is said:

For when he was being sent to rule over them, to lead them as their captain, and to give them laws, God Himself, from His own person, says:

'Go and bring out my people.' For the people were then worthy to be His.

But when it departed from sincere service toward Him, it is no longer God's but a man's.

'Your people have sinned' — and in this He is not being unkind toward Moses.

For seeing the people unworthy of Himself, He did not cast them off entirely, but again entrusts them to Moses, leading Moses up into a fatherly care for them by saying:

'Your people' — so that Moses might thus intercede on their behalf and turn them back again from their error; which indeed came to pass.

'If indeed You will forgive them their sin, forgive.'

'But if not, blot me also out of Your book which You have written.' Similar to this Paul says:

It was especially when he could behold in them an aptitude present for repentance that these things were said.

'Have I asked anything of you?' And that they were unable to give aid:

For I know that to save belongs to God alone, who also has granted the pardon.

For the holy ones make their requests with knowledge.

'Teach me, and I will keep silence.'

'If I have erred in anything, tell me.' And this too the holy man teaches them with the utmost gentleness, how they ought to use words toward those in distress, saying:

You ought to teach, not to reprove untimely — unless indeed this too serves for instruction, according to what is said by Paul:

'Reprove, rebuke, exhort.'

And further, being also a mark of moderation, he even requires a word of instruction from such men, in case he might find something useful.

But if the holy man acts thus, then no one ought to be haughty or reluctant to be instructed by anyone whatsoever.

'But, as it seems, the words of a truthful man are counted worthless.' This is a rebuke against those who despise the opinions of the righteous or otherwise upright men — which the proud are wont to do, giving heed not to sound judgment and a right manner of life, but to outward things, according to what is said:

'The rich man spoke, and all kept silence and praised his word; the poor man spoke, and they said:

Who is this?' And these things are plain from what is evident.

It is clear that the blessed man was truthful, as God Himself also testifies.

And 'worthless' here means 'of little account,' 'worthless' (phaulos) being sometimes used in the sense of 'bad.'

'For I do not ask strength from you.' This agrees with what was said above, where he said:

'For what? Have I asked anything of you?' — with what comes between having been said.

To them, then, that same thought must be applied.

'Nor will your reproof stop me by mere words.' For a word brought forth apart from deeds is unstable and untrustworthy; and moreover, if it does not proceed from truth, it still has weakness in it.

You, using such a reproof, will not stop me either from bringing forth the truth or from wearying in the pursuit of virtue.

'For neither will I endure the utterance of your word.' And this too belongs to courage.

For many, hearing again and again the burdensome words of those in distress, grow weary, so that they lose strength even on their account.

But the holy man received neither the reproof from his friends nor their words so as to be discouraged, not admitting them at all from the outset as being able to shake him.

'Only that you fall upon an orphan, and you leap upon your friend.' For this reason I do not accept the reproofs from you as being rightly made: because just as upon an orphan and a helpless one you fall — not perceiving Him who is the helper of all — but you even leap upon a friend, not acknowledging the duties of friendship.

The saying is useful toward not trampling upon the misfortunes of others.

'But now, having looked into your faces, I will not lie.' The saying is instructive toward not uttering slanderous words about those who are absent, but toward speaking to a person's face the things that ought to be said.

'Do not slander, nor gladly listen to one who slanders.' And it is a mark of holy boldness to say:

'I will not lie,' just as Paul also says:

'Sit down now, and let there be no injustice.'

'And again, come together with the righteous.' These are words that give permission and are patient of wrong, teaching men to speak with leisure and attentiveness — which is signified through 'sit down' — and with examination.

This has been said elsewhere also:

'Before you examine, do not find fault.' Great too is the injunction that says:

'Let there be nothing unjust.' For it is a great thing not to act unjustly in speech, according to what has been said:

'If anyone does not stumble in word, he is able to bridle the whole body also.' 'Come together again unto the just cause.' The word 'again' instructs them as before, when they used to come together while he was not yet in adversity, that they ought not to form their judgement out of the compulsion of his afflictions, but rather looking toward what is just.

And he reverently fulfils his promise, saying:

'Having looked into your faces, I will not lie,' exhorting them to devote themselves to the search for what is just;

since his friends supposed that those who are in affliction, as being bound to entreat God concerning sin — as though this were the cause of their sorrows — he prays that God would make known to them why He appointed him as one who pleads against Him: namely, because of a contest and not because of sin;

for not everyone who entreats God suffers this because of sin.

'And am I a burden to You?' It seems that I am a burden upon You;

for they weigh me down, saying:

and for this reason those men, in a manner, lay me as a burden upon You through me, as though You were punishing one who is not answerable.

But I say that You are not punishing me, but training me, even though they indiscriminately suppose that everyone whatsoever who receives the trial of hardships suffers because of sin.

'And why have You not made forgetfulness of my lawlessness and cleansing of my sin?' He teaches the friends to inquire into his affairs and to reckon that, even if he did sin in something, yet the good-loving God overlooks faults — just as He also overlooks those of the friends, if indeed they themselves were not suffering — so that from this they might understand that he suffers not because of sin, but because of contests.

And these words are a question, leading them into reflection, and not a slighting of the just cause, as we have said — that God, through His own goodness, might cleanse him without scrutinizing his affairs;

and cleansing takes place on behalf of sin without punishment following upon it.

'But now I shall depart into the earth, and in the morning I am no more.'

He sets forth the disposition of those who do not judge rightly, that:

'If these men take me to be a sinner and one suffering because of sin, as though there were nothing after this, they suppose that I have so lived, having hoped only in this present life; and according to them, if I depart into the earth, I shall be no more;'

'and when the day succeeds, I shall be no more;'

'for, according to them, no other age at all will succeed for me.'

But it is the voice of a holy man, upon which the blessed one also hoped, who says:

'I will rise up early in the morning'; and again:

'From the night my spirit rises early unto You, O God'; and:

'O God, my God, unto You I rise early';

which signifies both the daily keeping of vigil and the resurrection from this age into the age to come.

And one might plausibly say that:

'As long as I am among sorrowful things, I am in night; but having risen at dawn and come into day, I am no longer amid distressing circumstances.'

And as we have noted before, he utters these things not out of despondency;

for indeed he would not have been attested as just.

And Baldad the Sauchite, taking up the word, says:

'How long will you speak these things? The breath of your mouth is full of many words.'

'Will the Lord be unjust in judging, or will He who made all things disturb what is just?' This man too, holding the same view as the one before him — namely, that afflictive things are absolutely sent because of sin — and sharing with the former friend in laying down a single cause for hardships, addresses his words to Job.

But he ought to have reckoned that whatever things belong to affliction befall not only the wicked but also the earnest;

and still more he ought to have considered that the just man is the more admirable when he endures tribulations and hardships.

So this man too rebukes the blessed one, saying:

'How long' — as if to say:

'Until when?' — 'Do you not consider the cause of your hardships?' And he charges him with much speaking, though he ought rather to have admired him the more, because, as though forgetful of his hardships, he was making these discourses about doctrines — matters of which the friends were ignorant, not even applying themselves to inquiry, and this though they were held fast by nothing of sorrowful things.

Then, still confirming his own view, as though bringing forward a reasoning even to Job himself, he says:

'Will the Lord be unjust in judging, or will He who made all things disturb what is just?' For according to their supposition there would be a disturbance of righteousness, if being just he were suffering.

For the permission granted against him came about for the display and purpose of manly courage.

'If your sons sinned before Him, He sent them away by the hand of their lawlessness.'

This man too confounds the discourse and is carried about with the doctrines, saying that:

'Even if you yourself did not sin, yet your sons did' — not having considered that one would not be punished on behalf of another.

And perhaps he was insinuating this: that because of his own sins lawlessness was sent by their hand, hinting at the matters of the calamity in which his children perished.

And he makes mention of a son, framing his word from the better portion;

for Job also had daughters.

He would therefore be indicating that, since sons sinned and yet had much benefit from Job, it is clear that daughters also sinned.

And again, according to him and his view, these things also are to be taken.

'But do you rise early to the Lord Almighty, making supplication;'

'if you are pure and true, He will hearken to your supplication, and He will restore to you a habitation of righteousness.'

In these things too he speaks contradictory things.

For having said that 'He sent by the hand of the lawlessness of your sons,' he says to him:

'If you are pure, He will indeed hearken to your supplication.'

For how is he pure, concerning whom he was maintaining that he is afflicted because of sin? — especially since he adds:

'And He will restore to you a habitation of righteousness,' that is to say:

'He will give you again, as to a pure man, pleasant things, restoring them to you.'

And we have 'the pure' signified in the sense of 'the virtuous,' according to which it has been said:

'Blessed are the pure in heart';

according to which it has been said — for they are pure for this reason, that they do not have the uncleanness that comes from wickedness;

according to which it has been said concerning the wicked:

'And she is crushed because of the uncleanness of her soul;'

'her uncleanness is at her feet.' And such are those also whose feet run to wickedness.

But if righteousness is being restored to him, then now he does not have it;

and if he does not have it now, how is he pure? Or how does he leave it in doubt whether he is pure, being disposed to think that one who falls into adverse circumstances is a sinner? This contradiction of theirs followed from their laying down a mistaken first principle, which is what attends upon every heresy.

For in saying to the man in misfortune:

'If you are pure and true, He will hearken to your supplication and will restore to you a habitation of righteousness,' he shows that it was possible for the good and true man to fall into these things;

upon which it necessarily follows that not everyone who is in adverse circumstances is wicked and in sins.

'Your first estate then shall be small, but your last shall be beyond telling.'

Again now too he contends against his own starting point;

for he takes it as following that to the pure man, after pains, God restores pleasant things many times over.

For through these words he appears to introduce the manner of the visitation of afflictions, which he had not set forth before, saying that his latter estate is beyond all telling — evidently on the ground that he endured nobly — unless indeed someone should say that these things are declared to have befallen him after his repentance, in answer to his prayer to God.

But this the saying does not permit us to affirm, namely: 'If you are pure' — and indeed what is said is set by way of contrast, the words:

'If you are pure' — and yet what is spoken is set for the sake of contradistinction, namely the phrase:

'But do you rise early to the Lord Almighty. For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently according to the race of the fathers.'

He wishes to establish his own argument from the men of former times, or from the writings which contained the accounts of their lives.

For it is by no means unlikely that written records also existed, especially because it is said:

'Who would grant that my words should be written down?' and what follows.

Moreover, there were laws as well, under which these men too held rule — I mean the friends.

'For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our life upon the earth is a shadow.'

For one must hear with understanding the phrase 'we are but of yesterday,' namely that he says this with respect to human origin, especially since he says:

'For inquire of the former generation.'

For one must hear prudently the things said concerning man — for example (that we may speak from the Scriptures), it is said many times concerning David that he was ruddy with beauty of eyes.

But this we understand as spoken not concerning the soul, but concerning the body.

Yet when he himself says, 'the hidden and secret things of my heart you have made known to me,' this we take to be concerning the soul.

And so the phrase 'of yesterday' too we understand not according to the soul, but according to man's coming into being.

'For our life upon the earth is a shadow.' It is therefore concerning the life upon earth that he says it is a shadow.

But since mention has once been made of this expression, it is necessary for us to treat of it.

And it is used in relation to an archetype, according as it is also said:

'For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come.'

A shadow is also that which accompanies a thing, and the drawing-near of something is often called a shadow, according as it is said by derivation:

'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.' And a 'shadow-sketch' (skiagraphia) is also so called: the faint prefiguring in outline that precedes the finished picture.

It is possible, then, to understand human life as a shadow in respect of its being easily shaken and easily led astray.

It can also be set in contradistinction to an archetype, in a downward sense:

For as compared with the life to come, the present age is a shadow, being vanity.

This present life can also be called a 'shadow-sketch,' inasmuch as here our knowledge is in part, while the perfection is to be in the age to come.

A shadow can also be contemplated in an anagogical sense, inasmuch as we say that the shadow of bodies too is something that accompanies them:

And consider whether this is not signified in the words:

'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' For it is not simply that the creatures of God are vanity, but that, in comparison with the heavenly and eternal things, the temporal things which readily change are vanity.

And 'life' (bios) too signifies many things: either this act of living, or one's manner of conduct.

It also denotes possession, according as it is said:

'But whoever has the livelihood of the world, and sees his brother in need.' And money too is called 'living,' according as it is said:

'If a man should give all his substance for love, they will utterly despise him. Will not these teach you and tell you, and bring forth words out of the heart?' Wishing to confirm his own case from those of older times, he says this, on the ground that they had encountered a great many events which those in his own day had not experienced.

But since the discourse is once for all about teachers, let us say that it is a great praise to the teacher if, in addition to what he learned — either by reading himself or by learning from another — he also himself at some time puts forward things not contrary, but in harmony with them.

For just as no one would approve of land that merely gives back the seeds cast into it, so no one would find admirable a man who, having received instruction in his own soil, offers only what he has heard; but he is admirable who, in addition to these, has begotten other things — and wonderful ones — and who is able to bring forth by the tongue what he has learned.

For there are those who, being unable to do this, can benefit only themselves and not others.

But if 'to teach' and 'to declare' can be different things, consider how the one who teaches brings forward proofs, while the one who declares comprises a narration of the clear things, from which the obscure things are made known.

And that it is from the heart that the reasonings send forth words, the Saviour says by way of contrast:

'For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts.' And if you should say that 'to bring forth words' means to transform them into deeds, you would not err — others hearing 'to bring forth' and 'to declare' as parallel terms.

'Does the papyrus flourish without water, or the reed-grass grow tall without moisture? While it is still upon its root, and cannot be reaped.'

Having said that teaching comes to those of later generations from the ancients and the fathers, he supports it from a parable, declaring that:

As without water the papyrus does not flourish, nor does the reed-grass grow tall unless it be watered, so long as it is still upon the earth — for so it will befall them not even to be reaped — so it is impossible for one who does not receive in his mind the benefit of the better things to bring forth profitable fruit.

He can also be speaking concerning human affairs, that just as by water, so by Providence these things are watered; and when Providence does not come upon them, they will have an easy and quickly-withering dissolution.

If, then, someone falls into afflictions, and afterward again has a change out of them, this too has come about by Providence.

But even if the things done by men have what seems to be a human root, they will have no subsistence unless Providence governs them.

Like to this is what is well said by the psalmist:

This, said of every herb, is the same as the former.

He might say, then, that whether it be small or great, that which is in this life is subject to Providence, and withers away unless She keeps watch over it.

'So, then, shall be the latter end of all those who forget the Lord.'

He says something glorious, from a thought not lacking in shrewdness: that just as plants not watered by water wither, so human affairs, coming to be outside of Providence, have no subsistence.

But if this man too says 'latter end' having in mind the age to come, consider further:

For it is not beyond dispute that those who forget the Lord will meet with such 'latter ends' in the perceptible sense, since it is said concerning certain who pass their days in prosperity:

'And in the rest of Hades they fell asleep. But the hope of the ungodly shall perish.'

In truth, the hope of the ungodly is not concerned with things that have real subsistence.

For hope, in its very kind, is nothing other than the expectation of good things.

And he who fears also expects — but not good things:

for fear is the expectation of evils, whereas hope is that of good things.

Since, then, the ungodly expect things that have no real subsistence, their hope perishes:

for they make use of pleasures as though they were abiding, and in this they hold a vain hope.

You have this in the Proverbs, differing much in wording, but sounding in harmony with what is now being said:

'The righteous, when he dies, leaves behind regret' — for when the righteous man dies, he finds the things he was expecting, and did not repent of having toiled on their behalf.

'The hope of the ungodly perishes.' And in Isaiah:

'Hope for the godly.' But those who have hoped only in this life, and who say:

'Let us eat and drink' — these hold a vain and empty hope, stretching it toward the things that are seen:

And most naturally does Paul say:

'But hope that is seen is not hope:

for what one sees, why does he also hope for it?' 'And his house shall be left uninhabited.'

In the perceptible sense this is not entirely true.

But it is plain that he who transforms the words of Jesus into deeds builds an abiding house:

and this is virtue, holding fast to which one will never have this house uninhabited:

for the righteous man must abide in his own virtue.

For his righteousness endures unto ages of ages. But since evil has no substance of its own, the base man is therefore homeless, being ever disordered and possessing nothing stable, because evil itself is but an accompaniment.

But if someone should say this also concerning the good, asserting that men acquire virtue too by their own effort, nevertheless the good itself has real subsistence.

The house of the ungodly, then, shall be uninhabited; for truth manifestly dissolves deceit.

And his dwelling shall turn out to be a spider's web.

The spider displays an elaborate pattern, fashioned out of a natural weaving, which is most easily dissolved when anyone but touches it.

The works of the base, then, and the structure of their manner of life resemble a spider's web that has no stability.

And so in Isaiah too it is said concerning the base who conceive lawlessness and speak iniquity:

'They weave a spider's web, for they conceive travail and bring forth lawlessness.' And he describes their deed as well, saying:

'They have hatched the eggs of asps, and he who is about to eat of their eggs, having crushed a wind-egg, found in it a basilisk.'

'Their web shall not become a garment, but they weave a spider's web.' And observe that, besides their lack of substance, he also signifies their treacherousness through the asps.

If, however, one should be a dove according to what is said:

'Who are these? They fly like clouds and like doves with their young ones' — such a one would have eggs, which, when divided, on account of their noble nature yield a living offspring.

But the eggs of the base, which deceive, beget destructive serpents, which are trampled underfoot by the holy one, according to the psalm which says concerning the perfect man:

'You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample underfoot the lion and the dragon.' Such men as these are not weavers of garments that cover the shamefulness of sin, but of a useless and easily-dissolved spider's web, which is also made clear from this:

'Let them be clothed from the works of their own hands' — for the diligent man is clothed from the works of his own hands, so that speaking with boldness and thanksgiving he may say:

'My soul shall rejoice in the Lord;

for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation' — which garment Paul commands us to put on, saying:

'Put on bowels of compassion,' and what follows.

'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.' This garment is no spider's web;

for it is incorruptibility, and on this account it abides.

But the [garment] of the base has no substance;

his sin shall be sought out and shall by no means be found for its own sake; for it resembles a spider's web......

Wherefore he has a tent, but not a house, unlike the one who keeps the words of Jesus.

'If he shall lean upon his house, it shall by no means stand.'

But whoever, by cleverness and by a persuasiveness that is not good, holds together the dwellings of deceit — this man, being convicted by the truth, shall by no means stand, so that his deceit cannot even have any standing.

'And when he lays hold of it, it shall by no means endure.'

For very easily the contrivance of the base, which is called a tent, falls down and is so vulnerable that it does not even seem ever to have existed.

'For he is moist under the sun, and out of his rottenness his tender shoot shall come forth.'

He suggests that the life of the ungodly is something flimsy, being dissolved by even a little heat.

One should not be surprised if he is said to be moist under the sun;

for there are things which are dissolved by the sun as wax is, since they are dissolved by fire as well.

'As wax melts before the face of fire, so let the sinners perish before the face of God.' And being made moist by the sun — not the sun of righteousness, but that one concerning which it is said:

'By day the sun shall not scorch you' — he brings forth a tender shoot sprouting from evil and rottenness, coming to be under that planting which the Father did not plant, and which shall also be rooted up. 'Upon a heap of stones he sleeps, and in the midst of pebbles he shall live.'

This he says, that the ungodly man wishes to be against God (antitheos) and to be an antichrist.

For God dwells in a temple, and Christ, according to what is said:

'Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?' And again it is said:

'If anyone loves me, we — I and the Father — will come and make our abode with him.' For we are the house of Christ, if we hold fast the boldness and the boasting firm unto the end. And a house is a putting-together of stones according to skill, having a union with one another.

And such is virtue and purity, and this very participation in the One.

But something scattered is the heap of stones and the mixture of pebbles, resembling evil, which has no union but only disorder.

The ungodly man, then, holds his whole way of life in a house of evil, being dissolved like the stones outside the building, which do not fit into the construction of the tower according to the Shepherd.

'If he swallows down, the place shall belie him.'

Even if we should submit to our understanding this man's words, so far as they are subtle, near to which are those spoken by diligent men, we ought not to be surprised.

'Inquire of the first generation, and search out according to the ancestry of the fathers' — as though he too had learned from them:

and one does not altogether preserve these reasonings, because of not supposing that anyone falls into grievous things except through sin.

The phrase 'shall swallow down,' then, is often taken in Scripture for victory, as in the passage:

'Israel was swallowed up, he became among the nations as a useless vessel' — that is, he was defeated.

'When men rose up against us, would they then have swallowed us up alive?' And again:

'that the mortal might be swallowed up by life.' It is said, then, also concerning the sophists and those who champion the wisdoms of this age and its rulers:

The confession of the truth conquers [worldly] knowledges.

If, then, he swallows down and begins to conquer, the place which he occupies through the heap of stones shall belie him, being without substance, according to what is said:

'And iniquity has lied to itself,' because it has no secure mooring.

When the two legs and the lobe of the ear had been swallowed up by the lion who leads it, he who came for the sake of salvation drew them out, setting right our powers of passing over and our disobedience.

'The place' is often used also instead of rank and station.

And so it is also in the case of the blameworthy man, who both belies the one who makes use of him, procuring for him nothing secure.

'Have you not seen such things, that the overthrow of the ungodly is such?' And he brings him forward as a witness of all that has been said beforehand concerning the ungodly, things which he also named the 'overthrow of the ungodly,' because he does not abide in the things over which he boasts, since these change and slip away from him.

'Do not fear when a man grows rich and when the glory of his house is increased, for at his dying he shall not take away everything, nor shall the glory of his house descend with him.' And whether wants or times of plenty alternately succeed one another, they accomplish nothing;

but he who abides in evil until the end shall have a great overthrow.

'And out of the earth he shall cause another to spring up;'

'for the Lord will by no means reject the guileless man.'

He makes clear that it is not the case that, if the ungodly man endures an overthrow, all men are destroyed;

for there shall be a diligent man flourishing anew.

For God will not turn away the guileless man — that is, righteousness shall not utterly fail.

Here he calls 'guileless' the one who has no evil, not the simpleton;

for the word signifies both.