19. The repetition of a sentence in the sacred writings is an argument of its immutability. — This the Lord uttered already a little before, and yet He subjoins these same things by repeating them. What is this, except that the sentence which He had once spoken in judging He confirms by repeating it again? And that the righteousness of blessed Job and the injustice of his friends might be more manifestly demonstrated, his praise and their reproof is brought forth by a repeated utterance, that things repeated aloud may appear how firmly they are held within. For when the king of Egypt had, under the semblance of oxen and ears of corn, learned by a twofold vision the dreadful times of the coming famine, he heard from the voice of the holy interpreter: That thou sawest a second dream pertaining to the same matter, is a sign of firmness (Gen. 41:32).
From which thing it is plainly gathered that whatever is repeated in the divine utterance is the more robustly confirmed. But because we have heard what the Judge decreed, let us also hear what those condemned are to do. There follows: