’ Now it is lightly called ‘an ant and lion;’ in that with
reference
to winged creatures, or to any other small-sized animals, it is an ant, but with reference to the ants themselves it is a lion.
St Gregory - Moralia - Job
[Heb.
13, 22] And likewise bidding farewell to the Ephesians at Miletus, who were deeply grieved and loudly lamenting, he recalls his humility to their remembrance, in these words, Therefore watch, and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.
[Acts 20, 31] Again he says to the same persons by letter, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are called.
[Eph.
4, 1] Therefore let him infer from hence, if he ever thinks rightly at all, with what humility the disciple ought to address the Master, if the Master of the Gentiles himself, in the very things which he proclaims with authority, beseeches the disciples so submissively.
Let everyone collect from hence in what a spirit of humility he should communicate to those, from whom he has received examples of good living, all that he perceives aright, if Paul submitted himself in a humble strain to those, whom he himself raised up to life.
26. But Eliphaz, who is the first of the friends to speak, though he came with pity to console, yet in that he departs from meekness of speech, is ignorant of the rules of consoling; and while he neglects the guarding of his lips, he is guilty of excess, even to offering insult to the afflicted man, saying, The tiger hath perished for lack of prey, the roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lioness [V. thus], and the teeth of the young lions are broken [Job 4, 10. 11. ]: i. e. by the teeth of a tiger marking out blessed Job, as it were, with the fault of variedness; by the roaring of the lion, denoting that man's terribleness; by the voice of the lioness, the loquacity of his wife; and by the broken teeth of the young lions, signifying the gluttony of his sons brought to ruin. And hence the sentence of God rightly reproves the feeling of the friends, which had lifted itself up in swelling reproach, saying, Ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath. [Job 42, 7]
27. But I see that we must enquire, wherefore Paul makes use of their sentiments with so much weight of authority, if these sentiments of theirs be nullified by the Lord's rebuke? For they are the words of Eliphaz which he brought before the Corinthians, saying, For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. [1 Cor. 3, 19. Job 5, 13] How then do we reject as evil what Paul establishes by authority? or how shall we account that to be right by the testimony of Paul, which the Lord by His own lips determined not to be right? But we speedily learn how little the two are at variance together, if we more exactly consider the words of that same Divine sentence, which assuredly having declared, Ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right; thereupon added, as My servant Job. It is clear then that some things contained in their sayings were right, but they are overcome by comparison with one who was better; for among other things, which they say without reason, there are many forcible sentences they utter in addressing blessed Job; but when compared with his more forcible sayings they lose the power of their forcibleness. And many things that they say are admirable, were they not spoken against the afflicted condition of the holy man. So that in themselves they are great, but because they aim to pierce that righteous person, that greatness loses its weight, for with whatever degree of strength, it is in vain that the javelin is sent to strike the hard stones, since it glances off the further with blunted point, the more it comes hurled with strength. Therefore, though the sayings of Job's friends be very forcible in some points, yet, since they strike the Saint's well-fenced life, they turn back all the point of their sharpness. And therefore because they are both great in themselves, and yet ought never to have been taken up against blessed Job, on
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the one hand let Paul, weighing them by their intrinsic excellence, deliver them as authoritative, and on the other let the Judge, forasmuch as they were delivered without caution, censure them in respect of the quality of the individual.
28. But, as we have said above that these same friends of blessed Job contain a figure of heretics, let us now search out how their words agree with heretics; for some of the opinions which they hold are very right, but in the midst of these they fall away to corrupt notions; for heretics have this especial peculiarity, that they mix good and evil, that so they may easily delude the sense of the hearer. For if they always said wrong, soon discovered in their wrongheadedness, they would be the less able to win a way for that, which they desire. Again, if they always thought right, then, surely, they would never have been heretics. But whilst with artfulness of deceiving they engage themselves with either, both by the evil they vitiate the good, and by the good they conceal the evil, to the end that it may be readily admitted; just as he that presents a cup of poison, touches the brim of the cup with honied sweets, and while this that has a sweet flavour is tasted at the first sip, that too which brings death is unhesitatingly swallowed. Thus heretics mix right with wrong, that by making a shew of good things, they may draw hearers to themselves, and by setting forth evil they may corrupt them with a secret pestilence. Yet it sometimes happens that being collected by the preaching and admonitions of Holy Church, they are healed from such a contradiction in views, and hence the friends of blessed Job offer the sacrifice of their reconciliation by the hands of the same holy man, and even under attainder they are restored to the favour of the Supreme Judge. Of whom we have a fitting representation in that cleansing of the ten lepers. [Luke 14, 15] For in leprosy both a portion of the skin is brought to a bright hue, and a portion remains of a healthy colour. Lepers therefore are a figure of heretics, for in that they blend evil with good, they cover the complexion of health with spots. And hence that they may be healed, they rightly cry out, Jesus, Master [Preceptor, Vulg. ]. For whereas they notify that they have gone wrong in His words, they humbly call Him Master when they are to be healed, and so soon as they return to acknowledge the Master, they are at once brought back to the right state of health. But as on the sayings of his friends we have carried the preface to our interpretation somewhat far, let us now consider minutely the very words themselves which they spake, The account goes on ;
C. iv. 1, 2. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?
[xii]
29. It has been a1ready declared above, what there is set forth in the interpretation of these names. Therefore, because we are in haste to reach the unexamined parts, we forbear to unfold again what has been already delivered. According1y this is to be heedfully observed, that they, that bear the semblance of heretics, begin to speak softly, saying, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou, be grieved? For heretics dread to incense their hearers at the outset of their communing with them, lest they be listened to with ears on the watch, and they carefully shun the paining of them, that they may catch their unguardedness, and what they put forward is almost always mild, while that is harsh which they cunningly introduce in going on. And hence at this time the friends of Job begin with the reverence of a gentle address, but they burst forth even to launching the darts of the bitterest invectives; for the roots of thorns themselves are soft, yet from that very softness of their own they put forth that whereby they pierce, It goes on;
But who can hold in [thus V. ] the discourse conceived?
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30. There be three kinds of men, which differ from one another by qualities carried forward in gradation. For there are some, who at the same time that they conceive evil sentiments to speak, restrain themselves in their speech by none of the graveness of silence; and there are others, who, whereas they conceive evil things, withhold themselves with a strong control of silence. And there are some, who being made strong by the exercise of virtue, are advanced even to so great a height, that, as to speaking, they do not even conceive any evil thoughts in the heart, which they should have to restrain by keeping silence. It is shewn then to which class Eliphaz belongs, who bears witness that he cannot ‘withhold his conceived discourse. ’ Wherein too he made known this, that he knew that he would give offence by speaking. For he would never be anxious to withhold words that he cannot, unless he were assured beforehand that he would be inflicting wounds by the same; for good men check precipitancy of speech with the reins of counsel, and they take heedful thought, lest, by giving a loose to the wantonness of the tongue, they should by heedlessness of speech pierce their hearer’s spirits [conscientiam]; hence it is well said by Solomon, He that letteth out water is a head of strife. [Prov. 17, 14] For ‘the water is let out,’ when the flowing of the tongue is let loose. And he that ‘letteth out water,’ is made the ‘beginning of strife,’ in that by the incontinency of the lips, the commencement of discord is afforded. Thus, as the wicked are light in mind, so they are precipitate in speech, and neglect to keep silence, thoroughly considering what they should say. And what a light spirit [conscientia] conceives, a lighter tongue delivers apace. Hence on this occasion Eliphaz infers from his own experience a thing, which in a feeling of hopelessness he believes concerning all men; saying, But who can withhold his conceived discourse? It proceeds;
Ver. 3, 4. Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
[xiv]
31. If the text of the historical account be regarded in itself, it is of great service to the reader, that in blessed Job, instead of the ripping up of vices, proclaim is made of his virtues by his reviling friends; for the testimony to our manner of life is never so strong, as when commendable things are told by him, who aims to fasten guilt upon our head. But let us consider of what a lofty height that man was, who by instructing the ignorant, strengthening the weak, upholding the faltering, amid the cares of his household, amidst the charge of countless concerns, amidst anxious feelings for his children, amidst the pursuit of so many laborious occupations, devoted himself to putting others in the right way. And being busied indeed, he executed these offices, yet being free, he did service in the master's office of instruction. By exercising superintendence, he disposed of temporal things, by preaching, he announced eternal truths; uprightness of life, both by practice he shewed to all beholders, and by speech he conveyed to all that heard him. But all that are either heretics or bad men, in recording the excellencies of the good, turn them into grounds of accusation. Hence Eliphaz deduces occasion of reviling against blessed Job from the same quarter, whence he related commendable things of him; for it goes on,
Ver. 5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. [xv]
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32. All men of froward mind assail the life of the righteous in two ways; for either they assert that what they say is wrong, or that what they say aright they never observe; and hence blessed Job is reproved by his friends further on for his mode of speech, whereas now he is torn in pieces for having spoken right things, but not having observed them. And so at one time the speech, and at another time the practice of the good meets with the disapproval of the wicked, in order that either the tongue being rebuked may hold its peace, or the life, being convicted by the testimony of that same tongue of theirs, may give way under the charge. And mark that first they bring forward commendations of the tongue, and afterwards complain of the weakness of the life. For the wicked, that they may not openly shew themselves to be evil, sometimes say such good things of the just, as they know to be already received concerning them by others also. But as we have said above, these very points they forthwith strain to the increase of guilt, and from hence, that they spoke favourable things also, they point out that credit is to be given them in the reverse, and with more seeming truth they intimate evil things, in proportion as they commended the good with seeming zeal. Thus they wrest words of favourable import to the service of accusation, in that they afterwards more deeply wound the life of the righteous from the same source, whence a little before in semblance they vindicated it. But it often happens that their good qualities, which they first condemn when possessed, they afterwards admire, as if departed. And hence Eliphaz, as he declares them to be departed, subjoins the virtues of the holy man, enumerating them, and saying, Ver. 6. Where is thy fear, thy strength, thy patience, and the perfectness of thy ways? [thus V. ]
[xvi]
33. All which same he makes to succeed that sentence which he set before, saying, But now a stroke is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Thus he declares that they were brought to nought all of them together, in this, that he blames blessed Job's being troubled by the scourge. Yet it is to be well taken notice of, that though he chides unbefittingly, yet the ranks of virtues he fitly describes; for in enumerating the virtues of blessed Job, he marked out his life in four stages, in that he both added strength to fear, and patience to strength, and to patience, perfection. Since one sets out in the way of the Lord with fear, that he may go on to strength; for as in the world boldness begets strength, so in the way of God boldness engenders weakness; and as in the way of the world fear gives rise to weakness, so in the way of God fear produces strength; as Solomon witnesses, who says, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. [Prov. 14, 26] For ‘strong confidence’ is said ‘to be in the fear of the Lord,’ in that, in truth, our mind so much the more valorously sets at nought all the tenors of temporal vicissitudes, the more thoroughly that it submits itself in fear to the Author of those same temporal things. And being stablished in the fear of the Lord, it encounters nothing without to fill it with alarm, in that whereas it is united to the Creator of all things by a righteous fear, it is by a certain powerful influence raised high above them all. For strength is never shewn saving in adversity, and hence patience is immediately made to succeed to strength. For every man proves himself in a much truer sense to have advanced in ‘strength,’ in proportion as he bears with the bolder heart the wrongs of other men. For he was little strong in himself, who is brought to the ground by the wickedness of another. He, in that he cannot bear to face opposition, lies pierced with the sword of his cowardice. But forasmuch as perfection springs out of patience, immediately after patience we have the perfectness of his ways introduced. For he is really perfect, who feels no impatience towards the imperfection of his neighbour; since he that goes off, not being able to bear the imperfection of another, is his own witness against himself, that he is not yet perfectly advanced.
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Hence Truth says in the Gospel, In your patience possess ye your souls. [Luke 21, 19] For what is it to possess our souls, but to live by the rule of perfection in all things, to command all the motions of the mind from the citadel of virtue? He then that maintains patience possesses his soul, in that from hence he is endued with strength to encounter all adversities, whence even by overcoming himself he is made master of himself; and as he quells himself in a manner worthy of all praise, he comes forth unquelled with dauntless front, because by conquering himself in his pleasures, he makes himself invincible to reverses. But as Eliphaz rebuked him with reviling, so now he adds a few words, as if in exhortation, saying,
Ver. 7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
[xvii]
34. Whether it be heretics, of whom we have said that the friends of blessed Job bore an image, or whether any of the froward ones, they are as blameable in their admonitions, as they are immoderate in their condemnation. For he says, Who ever perished being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Since it often happens that in this life both ‘the innocent perish,’ and ‘the righteous are ‘utterly cut off,’ yet in perishing they are reserved to glory eternal. For if none that is innocent perished, the Prophet would not say, The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. [Is. 51, 1] If God in His providential dealings did not carry off the righteous, Wisdom would never have said of the righteous man, Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding. [Wisd. 4, 11] If no visitation ever smote the righteous, Peter would never foretell it, saying, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. [1 Pet. 4, 17] They then are really righteous, who are furnished forth by the love of the Country above to meet all the ills of the present life. For all that fear to endure ills here, for the sake of eternal blessings, clearly are not righteous men. But Eliphaz does not take account either that the righteous are cut off, or that the innocent perish here, in that oftentimes they that serve God, not in the hope of heavenly glory, but for an earthly recompense, make a fiction in their own head of that which they are seeking after, and, taking upon themselves to be instructors, in preaching earthly immunity, they shew by all their pains what is the thing they love. It goes on ;
Ver. 8, 9. Even, as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and [V. so] sow sorrows, and reap the same, by the blast of God do they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed.
[xviii]
35. To ‘sow griefs’ is to utter deceits, but to ‘reap griefs’ is to prevail by so speaking. Or, surely, they ‘sow griefs,’ who do froward actions, they ‘reap griefs,’ when they ate punished for this forwardness. For the harvest of grief is the recompense of condemnation, and whereas it is immediately introduced that they that ‘sow and reap griefs,’ ‘perish by the blast of God,’ and are ‘consumed by the breath of His nostrils,’ in this passage the ‘reaping of grief’ is shewn to be not punishment as yet, but the still further perfecting of wickedness, for in ‘the breath of His nostrils’ the punishment of that ‘reaping’ is made to follow. Here then they ‘sow and reap griefs,’ in that all that they do is wicked, and they thrive in that very wickedness, as is said of the wicked man by the Psalmist, His ways are always grievous; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. [Ps. 10, 5] And it is soon after added concerning him, under his tongue is labour and grief. So then he ‘sows griefs,’ when he does wicked things, he ‘reaps griefs,’ when
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from the same wickednesses he grows to temporal greatness. How then is it that they ‘perish by the blast of God,’ who are for the most part permitted to abide long here below, and in greater prosperity than the righteous? For hence it is said of them again by the Psalmist, They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other folk. [Ps. 73, 5] Hence Jeremiah saith, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [Jer. 12, 1] For because, as it is written, For the Lord is [Vulg. ] a long-suffering rewarder [Ecclus. 5, 4], He oftentimes for long bears with those, whom He condemns for all eternity. Yet sometimes He strikes quickly, in that He hastens to the succour of the pusillanimity of the innocent. Therefore Almighty God sometimes permits the wicked to have their own way for long, that the ways of the righteous may be more purely cleansed. Yet sometimes He slays the unrighteous with speedy destruction, and by their ruin He strengthens the hearts of the innocent. For if He were now to smite all that do evil, on whom would He yet have to shew forth the final Judgment? And if He never at any time smote any man, who would ever have believed that God regarded human affairs? Sometimes then He strikes the bad, that He may shew that He does not leave wickedness unpunished. But sometimes He bears with the wicked for long, that He may teach the heedful what judgment they are reserved for.
36. Thus this sentence of the cutting off of the wicked, if it be not spoken of all men in general at the end of this present state of being, is undoubtedly to a great degree made void of the force of truth; but it will then be true, when iniquity shall no longer have reprieve. And perchance it may be more lightly taken in this sense, since neither ‘the innocent perishes’ nor ‘the upright is cut off,’ in that though here he is worn out in the flesh, yet in the sight of the eternal Judge he is renewed with true health. And they that ‘sow and reap griefs,’ ‘perish by the blast of God,’ in that in proportion as they go on here deeper in doing wickedly, they are the more severely stricken with the damnation to follow. But whereas he premises this sentence with the word, Remember, it is clearly evident that something past is recalled to mind, and not any thing future proclaimed. Then therefore Eliphaz would have spoken more truly, if he had believed that these things were wrought on the head of the wicked in general by final vengeance.
37. But this point, that God is said to ‘breathe,’ claims to be more particularly made out. For we, when we ‘breathe,’ draw the air from the outside within us, and, thus drawn within, we give it forth without. God then is said to ‘breathe’ in recompensing vengeance, in that from occasions without He conceives the purpose of judgment within Him, and from the internal purpose sends forth the sentence without. When God ‘breathes’ as it were, somewhat is drawn in from things without, when He sees our evil ways without, and ordains judgment within. And again as if by God ‘breathing,’ the breath is sent forth from within, when from the internal conception of the purpose, the outward decree of condemnation is delivered. And so it is rightly said that they, that ‘sow griefs,’ perish ‘by the breath of God,’ for wherein they execute wicked deeds outwardly, they are deservedly stricken from within. Or, surely, when God is said to ‘breathe,’ in that the breath of His wrath is immediately introduced, by the designation of His ‘breathing’ may be denoted that very visitation of His. For when we are wroth, we kindle [d] with the breath of rage. To shew the Lord then meditating vengeance, He is said to ‘breathe’ in His indignation, not that in His own Nature He is capable of turning or change, but that after long endurance, when He executes vengeance upon the sinner, He, Who continueth tranquil in Himself, seems in commotion to them that perish. For whereas the condemned soul sees the Judge arrayed against its doings, He is exhibited to it as troubled, in that it is itself troubled by its own guiltiness before His eyes. But
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after he had in appearance exhorted him with clemency, he openly subjoins language of reproach, saying,
Ver. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
[xix]
38. For what does he call the roaring of the lion but, as we have said a little above, the severe character of that man? what the voice of the lioness, but his wife's loquacity? what the teeth of the young lions, but the greediness of his children? For because his sons had perished when feasting, they are denoted by the term of ‘teeth;’ and while unsparing Eliphaz rejoices that they are all ‘broken,’ he denounces them as deservedly condemned. And he yet further doubles the cruelty of his reproaches, when he adds;
Ver. 11. The tiger perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lions' whelps are scattered abroad. [Vulg. thus]
[xx]
39. For whom does he denote by the name of ‘tiger’ but blessed Job, marked with the stamp of changeableness or covered with the spots of dissimulation? For every dissembler, in that he desires to appear righteous, can never shew himself pure in all things; for while he assumes some virtues in hypocrisy, and secretly gives way to vicious habits, some concealed vices speedily break out upon the surface, and exhibit the hide of overlaid hypocrisy, like a coat for sight, varied with their admixture, so that it is very often a marvel how one, who is seen to be master of such great virtues, should be at the same time stained with such damnable deeds. But truly every hypocrite is a tiger, in that while he derives a pure colour from pretence, it is striped with the intermediate blackness of vicious habits. For it often happens that while he is extolled for pureness of chastity, he renders himself foul by the stain of avarice. Often while he makes a fair shew by the good quality of bountifulness, he is stained with spots of lust. Often while he is clad in the bright array of bountifulness and chastity, he is blackened by ferociousness in cruelty, as if from a zealous sense of justice. Often he is arrayed in bounty, chastity, pitifulness, in a fair outside, but is marked with the interspersed darkness of pride. And thus it comes to pass, that whereas by the intermixture of vicious habits, the hypocrite does not present an unstained appearance in himself, the tiger, as it were, cannot be of one colour. And this same ‘tiger’ seizes the prey, in that he usurps to himself the glory of human applause. For he, that is lifted up by usurped praise, is as it were glutted with the prey. And it is well that the applause that hypocrites have is called ‘prey. ’ For it is nought else than a prey, when the things of another are taken away by violence. Now every hypocrite, in that by counterfeiting the life of righteousness he seizes for himself the praise that belongs to the righteous, does in truth carry off what is another's. Thus Eliphaz, who knew that blessed Job had walked in ways worthy to be praised in the period of his wellbeing, concluded from the stroke that came after that he had maintained these in hypocrisy, saying, The tiger perisheth for lack of prey. As if he had said plainly, ‘The shifting of thine hypocrisy is at end, because the homage of applause is also taken from thee, and thine hypocrisy is in ‘lack of prey,’ in that being stricken by the hand of God, it lacks the favourable regards of man. ’
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40. But in the translation of the Septuagint, it is not said ‘the tiger,’ but ‘the Myrmicoleon perisheth for lack of prey. ’ For the Myrmicoleon is a very little creature, a foe to ants, which hides itself under the dust, and kills the ants laden with grains, and devours them thus destroyed. Now ‘Myrmicoleon’ is rendered in the Latin tongue either ‘the ants' lion,’ or indeed more exactly ‘an ant and lion at once.
’ Now it is lightly called ‘an ant and lion;’ in that with reference to winged creatures, or to any other small-sized animals, it is an ant, but with reference to the ants themselves it is a lion. For it devours these like a lion, yet by the other sort it is devoured like an ant. When then Eliphaz says, the Ant-lion perisheth, what does he censure in blessed Job under the title of ‘Ant-lion’ but his fearfulness and audacity? As if he said to him in plain words, ‘Thou art not unjustly stricken, in that thou hast shewn thyself a coward towards the lofty, a bully towards those beneath thee. ’ As though he had said in plain terms, ‘Fear made thee crouch towards the crafty sort, hardihood swelled thee full towards the simple folk, but ‘the Ant-lion’ no longer hath prey,’ in that thy cowardly self elation, being beaten down with blows, is stayed from doing injury to others. ’ But forasmuch as we have said that the friends of blessed Job contain a figure of Heretics, there is a pressing necessity to shew how these same words of Eliphaz are to be understood in a typical sense likewise.
[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
Ver. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the young lions, are
broken.
[xxi]
41. Forasmuch as the nature of every thing is compounded of different elements, in Holy Writ different things are allowably represented by anyone thing. For the lion has magnanimity, it has also ferocity: by its magnanimity then it represents the Lord, by its ferocity the devil. Hence it is declared of the Lord, Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David hath prevailed. [Rev. 5, 5] Hence it is written of the devil, Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. [1 Pet. 5, 8] But by the title of a ‘lioness’ sometimes Holy Church, sometimes Babylon is represented to us. For on this account, that she is bold to encounter all that withstand, the Church is called a ‘lioness,’ as is proved by the words of blessed Job, who in pointing out Judaea forsaken by the Church, says, The sons of the traders have not trodden, nor the lioness passed by it. [Job 28, 8. Vulg. ] And sometimes under the title of a lioness is set forth the city of this world, which is Babylon, which ravins against the life of the innocent with terribleness of ferocity, which being wedded to our old enemy like the fiercest lion, conceives the seeds of his froward counsel, and produces from her own body reprobate sons, as cruel whelps, after his likeness. But the ‘lion's whelps’ are reprobate persons, engendered to a life of sin by the misleading of evil spirits, who both all of them together constitute that great city of the world which we have declared before, even Babylon; and yet these same sons of Babylon severally are called not ‘a lioness’ but ‘a lioness's whelps. ’ For as the whole Church together is denominated Sion, but the several individual Saints the sons of Sion, so both the several individuals among the reprobate are called the children of Babylon, and all the reprobate together are designated the same Babylon.
42. But so long as good men remain in this life, they keep watch over themselves with anxious heed, lest the lion that goeth about surprise them by guile, i. e. lest our old enemy slay them under
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some shew of virtue; lest the voice of the lioness stun their ears, i. e. lest the glory of Babylon catch away their minds from the love of the heavenly country; lest ‘the teeth of the young lions’ bite them, i. e. lest the promptings of the reprobate gain power in their heart. But, on the other hand, heretics are already as if secured touching holiness, because they fancy that they have surmounted all obstacles by the preeminent merit of their life. And hence it is said here, The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth if the young lions are broken. As though it were expressed in plain words; ‘We for this reason are never beaten and bruised with any strokes, for that we tread under at once the might of the old enemy, and the lust of earthly glory, and the promptings of all the reprobate, overcoming them by the preeminence of our life. ’ Hence it is further added;
Ver. 11. The tiger perisheth for lack of prey, and the lions' whelps are scattered abroad. [xxii]
43. By the title of a ‘tiger’ he again represents him, whom he formerly designated by the name of a ‘lion. ’ For Satan both for his cruelty is called ‘a lion,’ and for the variousness of his manifold cunning he is not unsuitably designated ‘a tiger. ’ For one while he presents himself to man's senses lost as he is, one while he exhibits himself as an Angel of light, Now by caressing he works upon the minds of the foolish sort, now by striking terror he forces them to commit sin. At one time he labours to win men to evil ways without disguise, at another time he cloaks himself in his promptings under the garb of virtue. This beast, then, which is so variously spotted, is rightly called ‘a tiger,’ being with the LXX called an ‘Ant-lion,’ as we have said above. Which same creature, as we have before shewn, hiding itself in the dust kills the ants carrying their corn, in that the Apostate Angel, being cast out of heaven upon the earth, in the very pathway of their practice besets the minds of the righteous, providing for themselves the provender of good works, and whilst he overcomes them by his snares, he as it were kills by surprise the ants carrying their grains. And he is rightly called ‘Ant-lion,’ i. e. ‘a lion and ant. ’ For as we have said, to the ants he is ‘a lion,’ but to the birds of the air, ‘an ant,’ in that our old enemy, as he is strong to encounter those that yield to him, is weak against such as resist him. For if consent be yielded to his persuasions, like a lion he can never be sustained, but if resistance be offered, like an ant he is ground in the dust. Therefore to some he is ‘a lion,’ to others ‘an ant,’ in that carnal minds sustain his cruel assaults with difficulty, but spiritual minds trample upon his weakness with virtue's foot. Heretics then, because they are full of pride by pretension to sanctity, say as it were in exultation, The Ant- lion, or probably, the tiger perisheth for lack of prey. As though the words were plainly expressed, ‘The old foe has no prey in us, in that, as far as regards our purposes, he already lies defeated. ’ Now it is for this reason that he is again mentioned under the title of ‘an Ant lion,’ or of ‘a tiger,’ who had been already set forth by the ‘roaring of the lion broken,’ because whatever is said in joy, is repeated over and over. For when the mind is full of exultation, it redoubles the expressions. And hence the Psalmist, from true joy, frequently repeats this, that he was assured that he had been heard, saying, the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplications. The Lord hath received my prayer. [Ps. 6, 8. 9. ]
44. But when holy men are glad of heart that they have been rescued from some evil habits, they possess [Lit. ‘shake’] themselves with great fear even in that very gladness. For though they be now rescued from the commotion of any single storm, yet they call to mind that they are still tossing in the treacherous waves of an uncertain sea, and they so exult in hope that they tremble in
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fear, and so tremble in fear that they exult in confidence of hope. Whence it is said by the same Psalmist, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [Ps. 2, 11] But on the other hand, they, whom a specious shew of sanctity fills with big thoughts, when they get the better of any one evil habit, immediately erect their heart in pride, and as it were glory in the perfection of their lives, and for this, that perchance they have been once snatched from the perils of the storm, they already forget that they are still at sea, they look upon themselves as great in all things, and imagine that they have wholly overcome their old adversary; they regard all men below them, in that they believe that their wisdom places them above all. Whence it is added;
Now a secret word was spoken to me.
[xxiii]
45. ‘A secret word,’ heretics pretend to hear, that they may bring a certain reverence for their preaching over their hearers' minds. And hence they preach with a secret meaning, that their preaching may seem to be holy, in proportion as it is at the same time hidden. Now they are loath to have a common sort of knowledge, lest they should be placed on a par with the rest of their fellow-creatures, and they are ever making out new things, which whilst others know nothing of, they plume their own selves on the preeminence of their knowledge before inexperienced minds. And this knowledge, as we have said, they teach is occult; for, that they may be able to shew it to be wonderful, they affirm that they obtained it by secret means. Hence with Solomon the woman, bearing the semblance of heretics, says, Stolen waters are [Vulg. ] sweeter, and bread eaten in secret is more pleasant. [Prov. 9, 17] Whence in this place too it is added;
And mine ear as it were by stealth received the veins [Vulg. ] of the whispering thereof.
They ‘receive the veins of whispers by stealth,’ in that abandoning the grace of knowledge in fellowship, they do not enter thereinto by the door, as the Lord witnesses, Who saith, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [John 10, 1. 2. ] Therefore he ‘receives the veins of divine whispers by stealth,’ who, whilst the door of public preaching for receiving the knowledge of His excellency is forsaken, searches out the gaps and chinks of a froward understanding. But because the thief and robber, who enters by another way, both loves the darkness, and abhors the clearness of the light, it is properly added;
Ver. 13. In the horror of a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men. [xxiv]
46. It often happens, that while heretics are bent to discourse of things above them, they become their own witnesses against themselves, that what they deliver is not true. For in a vision of the night the sight is uncertain. Therefore they declare that they received ‘the inklings [rimas] of whispers’ in ‘the tenor of a vision of the night,’ for, that the things, which they teach, may be made to appear sublime to others, they declare that they themselves can scarcely comprehend them. But it may be inferred from hence how far that can be rendered certain to their hearers, which they themselves beheld but dubiously. And so is it marvellously ordered, that while they run on speaking of sublime things, in the exposure of folly, they are entangled in the very words of their sublimity. Now to what height they rear themselves for singularity of wisdom, is shewn, when he adds in the same breath, when deep sleep falleth upon men. As if it were openly said by heretics,
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‘When men are asleep beneath, we wake to receive heavenly truths, in that to us all that is known, to the knowledge whereof the dull hearts of men cannot arise. ’ As if they said in plain words, ‘In things, wherein our understanding rises erect, the faculties of the rest of the world lie asleep. ’ But sometimes, when they see that this is disregarded by the hearer, they feign that they are themselves in fear of what they say. Whence it is added;
Ver. 14. Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
[xxvi]
47. For because they desire to appear objects of wonder for the loftiness of their instructions, they affect to be awed at the accounts which they make up. And whilst it is a less difficulty to hear than to speak, they are bold enough to put forth that, which, forsooth, they feign that they the very same persons were scarcely able to hear. Whence it is added yet further;
Ver. 15, 16. And when a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up. There stood one, but I knew not the face of him.
48. That they may shew that they have been made acquainted with incomprehensible mysteries, they relate, not that ‘a spirit’ stood still, but that it ‘passed by before their face. ’ And they pretend that they beheld a countenance they knew not, that they may prove themselves to be known to Him, Whom the human mind is not equal to know. And here it is further added;
An image was before mine eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a light breath of air.
[xxvii]
49. Heretics often picture God to themselves by a sensible form [imaginaliter], seeing that they are unable to behold Him spiritually. And they tell that they hear His ‘voice as of a light breath of air,’ in that for the obtaining the knowledge of His secret things, they delight to have as if a particular freedom of intercourse with Him. For they never teach the things, which God reveals openly, but such as are breathed into their ears in a secret manner. All this, then, we have said, to indicate what we are to look for in the words of Eliphaz, as he bears the semblance of heretics. But forasmuch as the friends of blessed Job would never have been the friends of one so great, unless they had evidently learned something of truth, which same, while they go wrong in uttering sentences of rebuke, yet do not altogether totter in the knowledge of the truth, let us return upon these same words a little way back, that we may make out more exactly how the things which are said concerning the perception of truth, may be delivered in a true sense by persons viewing things aright. Now sometimes heretics utter things both true and lofty, not that they themselves receive them from above, but because they have learnt them in the controversy of Holy Church, nor do they apply them to the furtherance of conscientious living, but to the display of scientific skill. Whence it very commonly happens, that by knowing they tell high truths, yet in living they know nothing what they tell. Therefore, whether as they represent heretics, who hold, not the life, but the words of knowledge, or whether in the person of the friends of blessed Job, who, doubtless, with regard to their knowledge of the truth, might in seeing realize what they aimed in teaching to give utterance to, let us more minutely examine these sayings which we have gone through, that, while the words of Eliphaz are carefully gone into, it may be shewn what knowledge he possessed, though in that knowledge he failed to retain humility, who appropriated to himself peculiarly a benefit common to all. For he says,
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Ver. 12. Now a hidden word was spoken to me. [xxviii]
50. For the invisible Son is called ‘the hidden Word,’ concerning Whom John saith, In the beginning was the Word. [John 1, 1] Which he the same person teaches to be ‘hidden’ in that he adds, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. But this ‘hidden Word’ is delivered to the minds of the Elect, when the power of the Only-Begotten Son is made manifest to believers.
By ‘the hidden word’ we may also understand the communication of inward Inspiration, concerning which it is said by John, His anointing teacheth you of all things. [1 John 2, 27] Which same inspiration on being communicated to the mind of man lifts it up, and putting down all temporal interests inflames it with eternal desires, that nothing may any longer yield it satisfaction but the things that are above, and that it may look down upon all, that, from human corruption, is in a state of uproar below. And so to hear ‘the hidden word’ is to receive in the heart the utterance of the Holy Spirit. Which same indeed can never be known save by him, by whom it may be possessed. And hence it is said by the voice of Truth concerning this hidden utterance, And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with, you for ever; even The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive. [John 14, 16. 17. ] For as that ‘Comforter,’ after the Ascension of the Mediator, being another Consoler of mankind, is in Himself invisible, so He inflames each one that He has filled to long after the invisible things. And because worldly hearts are set upon the things that are seen alone, the world receiveth Him not, because it doth not rise up to the love of the things that are unseen. For worldly minds, in proportion as they spread themselves out in interests without, contract the bosom of the heart against the admission of Him. And because out of mankind there are few indeed, who, being purified from the pollution of earthly desires, are opened by that purification to the receiving of the Holy Spirit, this word is called ‘a hidden word,’ since, surely, there are particular persons that receive that in the heart, which the generality of men know nothing of. Or truly this same inspiration of the Holy Spirit is ‘a hidden word,’ in that it may be felt, but cannot be expressed by the noise of speech. When, then, the inspiration of God lifts up the soul without noise, ‘a hidden word’ is heard, in that the utterance of the Spirit sounds silently in the ear of the heart. And hence it is added;
And mine ear as it were stealthily received the veins of the whispering thereof.
[xxix]
51. The ear of the heart ‘receives stealthily the veins of heavenly whispering,’ in that both in a moment and in secret the inspired soul is made to know the subtle quality of the inward utterance. For except it bury itself from external objects of desire, it fails to enter into the internal things. It is both hidden that it may hear, and it hears that it may be hidden; in that at one and the same time being withdrawn from the visible world its eyes are upon the invisible, and being replenished with the unseen, it entertains a perfect contempt for what is visible. But it is to be observed that he does not say, Mine ear received as it were by stealth the whispering thereof; but the veins of the whispering thereof; for ‘the whispering of the hidden word’ is the very utterance of inward Inspiration itself; but ‘the veins of the whispering’ is the name for the sources of the occasions whereby that inspiration itself is conveyed to the mind. For it is as if It opened ‘the veins of its whispering,’ when God secretly communicates to us in what ways He enters into the ear of our understandings. Thus at one time He pierces us with love, at another time with terror. Sometimes
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He shews us how little the present scene of things is, and lifts up our hearts to desire the eternal world, sometimes He first points to the things of eternity, that these of time may after that grow worthless in our eyes. Sometimes He discloses to us our own evil deeds, and thence draws us on even to the point of feeling sorrow for the evil deeds of others also. Sometimes He presents to our eyes the evil deeds of others, and reforms us from our own wickedness, pierced with a wonderful feeling of compunction. And so to ‘hear the veins of Divine whispering by stealth,’ is to be made to know the secret methods of divine Inspiration, at once gently and secretly.
52. Though we may interpret whether ‘the whispering’ or ‘the veins of whispering’ in another way yet. For he that ‘whispers’ is speaking in secret, and he does not give out, but imitates a voice. We, therefore, so long as we are beset by the corruptions of the flesh, in no wise behold the brightness of the Divine Power, as it abides unchangeable in itself, in that the eye of our weakness cannot endure that which shines above us with intolerable lustre from the ray of His Eternal Being. And so when the Almighty shews Himself to us by the chinks of contemplation, He does not speak to us, but whispers, in that though He does not fully develope Himself, yet something of Himself He does reveal to the mind of man. But then He no longer whispers at all, but speaks, when His appearance is manifested to us in certainty. It is hence that Truth saith in the Gospel, I shall shew you plainly of the Father. [John 16, 25] Hence John saith, For we shall see Him as He is. [1 John 3, 2] Hence Paul saith, Then shall I know even as also I am known. [1 Cor. 13, 12. ] Now in this present time, the Divine whispering has as many veins for our ears as the works of creation, which the Divine Being Himself is Lord of; for while we view all things that are created, we are lifted up in admiration of the Creator. For as water that flows in a slender stream is sought by being bored for through veins, with a view to increase it, and as it pours forth the more copiously, in proportion as it finds the veins more open, so we, whilst we heedfully gather the knowledge of the Divine Being from the contemplation of His creation, as it were open to ourselves the ‘veins of His whispering,’ in that by the things that we see have been made, we are led to marvel at the excellency of the Maker, and by the objects that are in public view, that issues forth to us, which is hidden in concealment. For He bursts out to us in a kind of sound as it were, whilst He displays His works to be considered by us, wherein He betokens Himself in a measure, in that He shews how Incomprehensible He is. Therefore, because we cannot take thought of Him as He deserves, we hear not His voice, yea, scarcely His whispering. For because we are not equal to form a full and perfect estimate of the very things that are created, it is rightly said, Mine ear as it were by stealth received the veins of whispering; in that being cast forth from the delights of paradise, and visited with the punishment of blindness, we scarcely take in ‘the veins of whispering;’ since His very marvellous works themselves we consider but hastily and slightly. But we must bear in mind, that in proportion as the soul being lifted up contemplates His excellency, so being held back it shrinks from His righteous perfectness [rectitudinem]. And hence it is rightly added;
Ver. 13. In the horror of a vision of the night. [xxx]
53. The horror of a vision of the night is the shuddering of secret contemplation. For the higher the elevation, whereat the mind of man contemplates the things that are eternal, so much the more, terror-struck at her temporal deeds, she shrinks with dread, in that she thoroughly discovers herself guilty, in proportion as she sees herself to have been out of harmony with that light, which shines in the midst of darkness [intermicat] above her, and then it happens that the mind being enlightened
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entertains the greater fear, as it more clearly sees by how much it is at variance with the rule of truth. And she, that before seemed as it were more secure in seeing nothing, trembles with sore affright from her very own proficiency itself. Though, whatever her progress in virtue, she does not as yet compass any clear insight into eternity, but still sees with the indistinctness of a certain shadowy imagining. And hence this same is called a vision of the night. For as we have also said above, in the night we see doubtfully, but in the day we see steadily. Therefore because, as regards the contemplating the ray of the interior Sun, the cloud of our corruption interposes itself, nor does the unchangeable Light burst forth such as It is to the weak eyes of our mind, we as it were still behold God ‘in a vision of the night,’ since most surely we go darkling under a doubtful sight. Yet though the mind may have conceived but a distant idea concerning Him, yet in contemplation of His Greatness, she recoils with dread, and is filled with a greater awe, in that she feels herself unequal even to the very skirts of the view of Him. And falling back upon herself, she is drawn to Him with closer bonds of love, Whose marvellous sweetness, being unable to bear, she has but just tasted of under an indistinct vision. But, because she never attains to such an height of elevation, unless the importunate and clamorous throng of carnal desires be first brought under governance, it is rightly added,
When deep sleep falleth upon men.
[xxxi]
54. Whoever is bent to do the things which are of the world, is, as it were, awake, but he, that seeking inward rest eschews the riot of this world, sleeps as it were. But first we must know that, in holy Scripture, sleep, when put figuratively, is understood in three senses. For sometimes we have expressed by sleep the death of the flesh, sometimes the stupefaction of neglect, and sometimes tranquillity of life, upon the earthly desires being trodden underfoot. Thus, by the designation of sleep or slumbering the death of the flesh is implied; as when Paul says, And I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. [1 Thess. 4, 13] And soon after, Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. [ver. 14] Again, by sleep is designated the stupefaction of neglect; as where it is said by that same Paul, Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. [Rom. 13, 11] And again, Awake, ye righteous [Vulg. ], and sin not. [1 Cor. 15, 34] By sleep too is represented tranquillity of life, when the carnal desires are trodden down; as where these words are uttered by the voice of the spouse in the Song of Songs, I sleep, but my heart waketh. [Cant. 5, 2] For, in truth, in proportion as the holy mind withholds itself from the turmoil of temporal desire, the more thoroughly it attains to know the things of the interior, and is the more quick and awake to inward concerns, the more it withdraws itself out of sight from external disquietude. And this is well represented by Jacob sleeping on his journey. He put a stone to his head and slept. He beheld a ladder from the earth fixed in heaven, the Lord resting upon the ladder, Angels also ascending and descending. For to ‘sleep on a journey’ is, in the passage of this present life, to rest from the love of things temporal.
26. But Eliphaz, who is the first of the friends to speak, though he came with pity to console, yet in that he departs from meekness of speech, is ignorant of the rules of consoling; and while he neglects the guarding of his lips, he is guilty of excess, even to offering insult to the afflicted man, saying, The tiger hath perished for lack of prey, the roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lioness [V. thus], and the teeth of the young lions are broken [Job 4, 10. 11. ]: i. e. by the teeth of a tiger marking out blessed Job, as it were, with the fault of variedness; by the roaring of the lion, denoting that man's terribleness; by the voice of the lioness, the loquacity of his wife; and by the broken teeth of the young lions, signifying the gluttony of his sons brought to ruin. And hence the sentence of God rightly reproves the feeling of the friends, which had lifted itself up in swelling reproach, saying, Ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath. [Job 42, 7]
27. But I see that we must enquire, wherefore Paul makes use of their sentiments with so much weight of authority, if these sentiments of theirs be nullified by the Lord's rebuke? For they are the words of Eliphaz which he brought before the Corinthians, saying, For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. [1 Cor. 3, 19. Job 5, 13] How then do we reject as evil what Paul establishes by authority? or how shall we account that to be right by the testimony of Paul, which the Lord by His own lips determined not to be right? But we speedily learn how little the two are at variance together, if we more exactly consider the words of that same Divine sentence, which assuredly having declared, Ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right; thereupon added, as My servant Job. It is clear then that some things contained in their sayings were right, but they are overcome by comparison with one who was better; for among other things, which they say without reason, there are many forcible sentences they utter in addressing blessed Job; but when compared with his more forcible sayings they lose the power of their forcibleness. And many things that they say are admirable, were they not spoken against the afflicted condition of the holy man. So that in themselves they are great, but because they aim to pierce that righteous person, that greatness loses its weight, for with whatever degree of strength, it is in vain that the javelin is sent to strike the hard stones, since it glances off the further with blunted point, the more it comes hurled with strength. Therefore, though the sayings of Job's friends be very forcible in some points, yet, since they strike the Saint's well-fenced life, they turn back all the point of their sharpness. And therefore because they are both great in themselves, and yet ought never to have been taken up against blessed Job, on
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the one hand let Paul, weighing them by their intrinsic excellence, deliver them as authoritative, and on the other let the Judge, forasmuch as they were delivered without caution, censure them in respect of the quality of the individual.
28. But, as we have said above that these same friends of blessed Job contain a figure of heretics, let us now search out how their words agree with heretics; for some of the opinions which they hold are very right, but in the midst of these they fall away to corrupt notions; for heretics have this especial peculiarity, that they mix good and evil, that so they may easily delude the sense of the hearer. For if they always said wrong, soon discovered in their wrongheadedness, they would be the less able to win a way for that, which they desire. Again, if they always thought right, then, surely, they would never have been heretics. But whilst with artfulness of deceiving they engage themselves with either, both by the evil they vitiate the good, and by the good they conceal the evil, to the end that it may be readily admitted; just as he that presents a cup of poison, touches the brim of the cup with honied sweets, and while this that has a sweet flavour is tasted at the first sip, that too which brings death is unhesitatingly swallowed. Thus heretics mix right with wrong, that by making a shew of good things, they may draw hearers to themselves, and by setting forth evil they may corrupt them with a secret pestilence. Yet it sometimes happens that being collected by the preaching and admonitions of Holy Church, they are healed from such a contradiction in views, and hence the friends of blessed Job offer the sacrifice of their reconciliation by the hands of the same holy man, and even under attainder they are restored to the favour of the Supreme Judge. Of whom we have a fitting representation in that cleansing of the ten lepers. [Luke 14, 15] For in leprosy both a portion of the skin is brought to a bright hue, and a portion remains of a healthy colour. Lepers therefore are a figure of heretics, for in that they blend evil with good, they cover the complexion of health with spots. And hence that they may be healed, they rightly cry out, Jesus, Master [Preceptor, Vulg. ]. For whereas they notify that they have gone wrong in His words, they humbly call Him Master when they are to be healed, and so soon as they return to acknowledge the Master, they are at once brought back to the right state of health. But as on the sayings of his friends we have carried the preface to our interpretation somewhat far, let us now consider minutely the very words themselves which they spake, The account goes on ;
C. iv. 1, 2. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?
[xii]
29. It has been a1ready declared above, what there is set forth in the interpretation of these names. Therefore, because we are in haste to reach the unexamined parts, we forbear to unfold again what has been already delivered. According1y this is to be heedfully observed, that they, that bear the semblance of heretics, begin to speak softly, saying, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou, be grieved? For heretics dread to incense their hearers at the outset of their communing with them, lest they be listened to with ears on the watch, and they carefully shun the paining of them, that they may catch their unguardedness, and what they put forward is almost always mild, while that is harsh which they cunningly introduce in going on. And hence at this time the friends of Job begin with the reverence of a gentle address, but they burst forth even to launching the darts of the bitterest invectives; for the roots of thorns themselves are soft, yet from that very softness of their own they put forth that whereby they pierce, It goes on;
But who can hold in [thus V. ] the discourse conceived?
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30. There be three kinds of men, which differ from one another by qualities carried forward in gradation. For there are some, who at the same time that they conceive evil sentiments to speak, restrain themselves in their speech by none of the graveness of silence; and there are others, who, whereas they conceive evil things, withhold themselves with a strong control of silence. And there are some, who being made strong by the exercise of virtue, are advanced even to so great a height, that, as to speaking, they do not even conceive any evil thoughts in the heart, which they should have to restrain by keeping silence. It is shewn then to which class Eliphaz belongs, who bears witness that he cannot ‘withhold his conceived discourse. ’ Wherein too he made known this, that he knew that he would give offence by speaking. For he would never be anxious to withhold words that he cannot, unless he were assured beforehand that he would be inflicting wounds by the same; for good men check precipitancy of speech with the reins of counsel, and they take heedful thought, lest, by giving a loose to the wantonness of the tongue, they should by heedlessness of speech pierce their hearer’s spirits [conscientiam]; hence it is well said by Solomon, He that letteth out water is a head of strife. [Prov. 17, 14] For ‘the water is let out,’ when the flowing of the tongue is let loose. And he that ‘letteth out water,’ is made the ‘beginning of strife,’ in that by the incontinency of the lips, the commencement of discord is afforded. Thus, as the wicked are light in mind, so they are precipitate in speech, and neglect to keep silence, thoroughly considering what they should say. And what a light spirit [conscientia] conceives, a lighter tongue delivers apace. Hence on this occasion Eliphaz infers from his own experience a thing, which in a feeling of hopelessness he believes concerning all men; saying, But who can withhold his conceived discourse? It proceeds;
Ver. 3, 4. Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
[xiv]
31. If the text of the historical account be regarded in itself, it is of great service to the reader, that in blessed Job, instead of the ripping up of vices, proclaim is made of his virtues by his reviling friends; for the testimony to our manner of life is never so strong, as when commendable things are told by him, who aims to fasten guilt upon our head. But let us consider of what a lofty height that man was, who by instructing the ignorant, strengthening the weak, upholding the faltering, amid the cares of his household, amidst the charge of countless concerns, amidst anxious feelings for his children, amidst the pursuit of so many laborious occupations, devoted himself to putting others in the right way. And being busied indeed, he executed these offices, yet being free, he did service in the master's office of instruction. By exercising superintendence, he disposed of temporal things, by preaching, he announced eternal truths; uprightness of life, both by practice he shewed to all beholders, and by speech he conveyed to all that heard him. But all that are either heretics or bad men, in recording the excellencies of the good, turn them into grounds of accusation. Hence Eliphaz deduces occasion of reviling against blessed Job from the same quarter, whence he related commendable things of him; for it goes on,
Ver. 5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. [xv]
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32. All men of froward mind assail the life of the righteous in two ways; for either they assert that what they say is wrong, or that what they say aright they never observe; and hence blessed Job is reproved by his friends further on for his mode of speech, whereas now he is torn in pieces for having spoken right things, but not having observed them. And so at one time the speech, and at another time the practice of the good meets with the disapproval of the wicked, in order that either the tongue being rebuked may hold its peace, or the life, being convicted by the testimony of that same tongue of theirs, may give way under the charge. And mark that first they bring forward commendations of the tongue, and afterwards complain of the weakness of the life. For the wicked, that they may not openly shew themselves to be evil, sometimes say such good things of the just, as they know to be already received concerning them by others also. But as we have said above, these very points they forthwith strain to the increase of guilt, and from hence, that they spoke favourable things also, they point out that credit is to be given them in the reverse, and with more seeming truth they intimate evil things, in proportion as they commended the good with seeming zeal. Thus they wrest words of favourable import to the service of accusation, in that they afterwards more deeply wound the life of the righteous from the same source, whence a little before in semblance they vindicated it. But it often happens that their good qualities, which they first condemn when possessed, they afterwards admire, as if departed. And hence Eliphaz, as he declares them to be departed, subjoins the virtues of the holy man, enumerating them, and saying, Ver. 6. Where is thy fear, thy strength, thy patience, and the perfectness of thy ways? [thus V. ]
[xvi]
33. All which same he makes to succeed that sentence which he set before, saying, But now a stroke is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Thus he declares that they were brought to nought all of them together, in this, that he blames blessed Job's being troubled by the scourge. Yet it is to be well taken notice of, that though he chides unbefittingly, yet the ranks of virtues he fitly describes; for in enumerating the virtues of blessed Job, he marked out his life in four stages, in that he both added strength to fear, and patience to strength, and to patience, perfection. Since one sets out in the way of the Lord with fear, that he may go on to strength; for as in the world boldness begets strength, so in the way of God boldness engenders weakness; and as in the way of the world fear gives rise to weakness, so in the way of God fear produces strength; as Solomon witnesses, who says, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. [Prov. 14, 26] For ‘strong confidence’ is said ‘to be in the fear of the Lord,’ in that, in truth, our mind so much the more valorously sets at nought all the tenors of temporal vicissitudes, the more thoroughly that it submits itself in fear to the Author of those same temporal things. And being stablished in the fear of the Lord, it encounters nothing without to fill it with alarm, in that whereas it is united to the Creator of all things by a righteous fear, it is by a certain powerful influence raised high above them all. For strength is never shewn saving in adversity, and hence patience is immediately made to succeed to strength. For every man proves himself in a much truer sense to have advanced in ‘strength,’ in proportion as he bears with the bolder heart the wrongs of other men. For he was little strong in himself, who is brought to the ground by the wickedness of another. He, in that he cannot bear to face opposition, lies pierced with the sword of his cowardice. But forasmuch as perfection springs out of patience, immediately after patience we have the perfectness of his ways introduced. For he is really perfect, who feels no impatience towards the imperfection of his neighbour; since he that goes off, not being able to bear the imperfection of another, is his own witness against himself, that he is not yet perfectly advanced.
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Hence Truth says in the Gospel, In your patience possess ye your souls. [Luke 21, 19] For what is it to possess our souls, but to live by the rule of perfection in all things, to command all the motions of the mind from the citadel of virtue? He then that maintains patience possesses his soul, in that from hence he is endued with strength to encounter all adversities, whence even by overcoming himself he is made master of himself; and as he quells himself in a manner worthy of all praise, he comes forth unquelled with dauntless front, because by conquering himself in his pleasures, he makes himself invincible to reverses. But as Eliphaz rebuked him with reviling, so now he adds a few words, as if in exhortation, saying,
Ver. 7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
[xvii]
34. Whether it be heretics, of whom we have said that the friends of blessed Job bore an image, or whether any of the froward ones, they are as blameable in their admonitions, as they are immoderate in their condemnation. For he says, Who ever perished being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Since it often happens that in this life both ‘the innocent perish,’ and ‘the righteous are ‘utterly cut off,’ yet in perishing they are reserved to glory eternal. For if none that is innocent perished, the Prophet would not say, The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. [Is. 51, 1] If God in His providential dealings did not carry off the righteous, Wisdom would never have said of the righteous man, Yea, speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding. [Wisd. 4, 11] If no visitation ever smote the righteous, Peter would never foretell it, saying, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. [1 Pet. 4, 17] They then are really righteous, who are furnished forth by the love of the Country above to meet all the ills of the present life. For all that fear to endure ills here, for the sake of eternal blessings, clearly are not righteous men. But Eliphaz does not take account either that the righteous are cut off, or that the innocent perish here, in that oftentimes they that serve God, not in the hope of heavenly glory, but for an earthly recompense, make a fiction in their own head of that which they are seeking after, and, taking upon themselves to be instructors, in preaching earthly immunity, they shew by all their pains what is the thing they love. It goes on ;
Ver. 8, 9. Even, as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and [V. so] sow sorrows, and reap the same, by the blast of God do they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed.
[xviii]
35. To ‘sow griefs’ is to utter deceits, but to ‘reap griefs’ is to prevail by so speaking. Or, surely, they ‘sow griefs,’ who do froward actions, they ‘reap griefs,’ when they ate punished for this forwardness. For the harvest of grief is the recompense of condemnation, and whereas it is immediately introduced that they that ‘sow and reap griefs,’ ‘perish by the blast of God,’ and are ‘consumed by the breath of His nostrils,’ in this passage the ‘reaping of grief’ is shewn to be not punishment as yet, but the still further perfecting of wickedness, for in ‘the breath of His nostrils’ the punishment of that ‘reaping’ is made to follow. Here then they ‘sow and reap griefs,’ in that all that they do is wicked, and they thrive in that very wickedness, as is said of the wicked man by the Psalmist, His ways are always grievous; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. [Ps. 10, 5] And it is soon after added concerning him, under his tongue is labour and grief. So then he ‘sows griefs,’ when he does wicked things, he ‘reaps griefs,’ when
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from the same wickednesses he grows to temporal greatness. How then is it that they ‘perish by the blast of God,’ who are for the most part permitted to abide long here below, and in greater prosperity than the righteous? For hence it is said of them again by the Psalmist, They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other folk. [Ps. 73, 5] Hence Jeremiah saith, Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [Jer. 12, 1] For because, as it is written, For the Lord is [Vulg. ] a long-suffering rewarder [Ecclus. 5, 4], He oftentimes for long bears with those, whom He condemns for all eternity. Yet sometimes He strikes quickly, in that He hastens to the succour of the pusillanimity of the innocent. Therefore Almighty God sometimes permits the wicked to have their own way for long, that the ways of the righteous may be more purely cleansed. Yet sometimes He slays the unrighteous with speedy destruction, and by their ruin He strengthens the hearts of the innocent. For if He were now to smite all that do evil, on whom would He yet have to shew forth the final Judgment? And if He never at any time smote any man, who would ever have believed that God regarded human affairs? Sometimes then He strikes the bad, that He may shew that He does not leave wickedness unpunished. But sometimes He bears with the wicked for long, that He may teach the heedful what judgment they are reserved for.
36. Thus this sentence of the cutting off of the wicked, if it be not spoken of all men in general at the end of this present state of being, is undoubtedly to a great degree made void of the force of truth; but it will then be true, when iniquity shall no longer have reprieve. And perchance it may be more lightly taken in this sense, since neither ‘the innocent perishes’ nor ‘the upright is cut off,’ in that though here he is worn out in the flesh, yet in the sight of the eternal Judge he is renewed with true health. And they that ‘sow and reap griefs,’ ‘perish by the blast of God,’ in that in proportion as they go on here deeper in doing wickedly, they are the more severely stricken with the damnation to follow. But whereas he premises this sentence with the word, Remember, it is clearly evident that something past is recalled to mind, and not any thing future proclaimed. Then therefore Eliphaz would have spoken more truly, if he had believed that these things were wrought on the head of the wicked in general by final vengeance.
37. But this point, that God is said to ‘breathe,’ claims to be more particularly made out. For we, when we ‘breathe,’ draw the air from the outside within us, and, thus drawn within, we give it forth without. God then is said to ‘breathe’ in recompensing vengeance, in that from occasions without He conceives the purpose of judgment within Him, and from the internal purpose sends forth the sentence without. When God ‘breathes’ as it were, somewhat is drawn in from things without, when He sees our evil ways without, and ordains judgment within. And again as if by God ‘breathing,’ the breath is sent forth from within, when from the internal conception of the purpose, the outward decree of condemnation is delivered. And so it is rightly said that they, that ‘sow griefs,’ perish ‘by the breath of God,’ for wherein they execute wicked deeds outwardly, they are deservedly stricken from within. Or, surely, when God is said to ‘breathe,’ in that the breath of His wrath is immediately introduced, by the designation of His ‘breathing’ may be denoted that very visitation of His. For when we are wroth, we kindle [d] with the breath of rage. To shew the Lord then meditating vengeance, He is said to ‘breathe’ in His indignation, not that in His own Nature He is capable of turning or change, but that after long endurance, when He executes vengeance upon the sinner, He, Who continueth tranquil in Himself, seems in commotion to them that perish. For whereas the condemned soul sees the Judge arrayed against its doings, He is exhibited to it as troubled, in that it is itself troubled by its own guiltiness before His eyes. But
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after he had in appearance exhorted him with clemency, he openly subjoins language of reproach, saying,
Ver. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
[xix]
38. For what does he call the roaring of the lion but, as we have said a little above, the severe character of that man? what the voice of the lioness, but his wife's loquacity? what the teeth of the young lions, but the greediness of his children? For because his sons had perished when feasting, they are denoted by the term of ‘teeth;’ and while unsparing Eliphaz rejoices that they are all ‘broken,’ he denounces them as deservedly condemned. And he yet further doubles the cruelty of his reproaches, when he adds;
Ver. 11. The tiger perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lions' whelps are scattered abroad. [Vulg. thus]
[xx]
39. For whom does he denote by the name of ‘tiger’ but blessed Job, marked with the stamp of changeableness or covered with the spots of dissimulation? For every dissembler, in that he desires to appear righteous, can never shew himself pure in all things; for while he assumes some virtues in hypocrisy, and secretly gives way to vicious habits, some concealed vices speedily break out upon the surface, and exhibit the hide of overlaid hypocrisy, like a coat for sight, varied with their admixture, so that it is very often a marvel how one, who is seen to be master of such great virtues, should be at the same time stained with such damnable deeds. But truly every hypocrite is a tiger, in that while he derives a pure colour from pretence, it is striped with the intermediate blackness of vicious habits. For it often happens that while he is extolled for pureness of chastity, he renders himself foul by the stain of avarice. Often while he makes a fair shew by the good quality of bountifulness, he is stained with spots of lust. Often while he is clad in the bright array of bountifulness and chastity, he is blackened by ferociousness in cruelty, as if from a zealous sense of justice. Often he is arrayed in bounty, chastity, pitifulness, in a fair outside, but is marked with the interspersed darkness of pride. And thus it comes to pass, that whereas by the intermixture of vicious habits, the hypocrite does not present an unstained appearance in himself, the tiger, as it were, cannot be of one colour. And this same ‘tiger’ seizes the prey, in that he usurps to himself the glory of human applause. For he, that is lifted up by usurped praise, is as it were glutted with the prey. And it is well that the applause that hypocrites have is called ‘prey. ’ For it is nought else than a prey, when the things of another are taken away by violence. Now every hypocrite, in that by counterfeiting the life of righteousness he seizes for himself the praise that belongs to the righteous, does in truth carry off what is another's. Thus Eliphaz, who knew that blessed Job had walked in ways worthy to be praised in the period of his wellbeing, concluded from the stroke that came after that he had maintained these in hypocrisy, saying, The tiger perisheth for lack of prey. As if he had said plainly, ‘The shifting of thine hypocrisy is at end, because the homage of applause is also taken from thee, and thine hypocrisy is in ‘lack of prey,’ in that being stricken by the hand of God, it lacks the favourable regards of man. ’
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40. But in the translation of the Septuagint, it is not said ‘the tiger,’ but ‘the Myrmicoleon perisheth for lack of prey. ’ For the Myrmicoleon is a very little creature, a foe to ants, which hides itself under the dust, and kills the ants laden with grains, and devours them thus destroyed. Now ‘Myrmicoleon’ is rendered in the Latin tongue either ‘the ants' lion,’ or indeed more exactly ‘an ant and lion at once.
’ Now it is lightly called ‘an ant and lion;’ in that with reference to winged creatures, or to any other small-sized animals, it is an ant, but with reference to the ants themselves it is a lion. For it devours these like a lion, yet by the other sort it is devoured like an ant. When then Eliphaz says, the Ant-lion perisheth, what does he censure in blessed Job under the title of ‘Ant-lion’ but his fearfulness and audacity? As if he said to him in plain words, ‘Thou art not unjustly stricken, in that thou hast shewn thyself a coward towards the lofty, a bully towards those beneath thee. ’ As though he had said in plain terms, ‘Fear made thee crouch towards the crafty sort, hardihood swelled thee full towards the simple folk, but ‘the Ant-lion’ no longer hath prey,’ in that thy cowardly self elation, being beaten down with blows, is stayed from doing injury to others. ’ But forasmuch as we have said that the friends of blessed Job contain a figure of Heretics, there is a pressing necessity to shew how these same words of Eliphaz are to be understood in a typical sense likewise.
[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
Ver. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the young lions, are
broken.
[xxi]
41. Forasmuch as the nature of every thing is compounded of different elements, in Holy Writ different things are allowably represented by anyone thing. For the lion has magnanimity, it has also ferocity: by its magnanimity then it represents the Lord, by its ferocity the devil. Hence it is declared of the Lord, Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David hath prevailed. [Rev. 5, 5] Hence it is written of the devil, Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. [1 Pet. 5, 8] But by the title of a ‘lioness’ sometimes Holy Church, sometimes Babylon is represented to us. For on this account, that she is bold to encounter all that withstand, the Church is called a ‘lioness,’ as is proved by the words of blessed Job, who in pointing out Judaea forsaken by the Church, says, The sons of the traders have not trodden, nor the lioness passed by it. [Job 28, 8. Vulg. ] And sometimes under the title of a lioness is set forth the city of this world, which is Babylon, which ravins against the life of the innocent with terribleness of ferocity, which being wedded to our old enemy like the fiercest lion, conceives the seeds of his froward counsel, and produces from her own body reprobate sons, as cruel whelps, after his likeness. But the ‘lion's whelps’ are reprobate persons, engendered to a life of sin by the misleading of evil spirits, who both all of them together constitute that great city of the world which we have declared before, even Babylon; and yet these same sons of Babylon severally are called not ‘a lioness’ but ‘a lioness's whelps. ’ For as the whole Church together is denominated Sion, but the several individual Saints the sons of Sion, so both the several individuals among the reprobate are called the children of Babylon, and all the reprobate together are designated the same Babylon.
42. But so long as good men remain in this life, they keep watch over themselves with anxious heed, lest the lion that goeth about surprise them by guile, i. e. lest our old enemy slay them under
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some shew of virtue; lest the voice of the lioness stun their ears, i. e. lest the glory of Babylon catch away their minds from the love of the heavenly country; lest ‘the teeth of the young lions’ bite them, i. e. lest the promptings of the reprobate gain power in their heart. But, on the other hand, heretics are already as if secured touching holiness, because they fancy that they have surmounted all obstacles by the preeminent merit of their life. And hence it is said here, The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth if the young lions are broken. As though it were expressed in plain words; ‘We for this reason are never beaten and bruised with any strokes, for that we tread under at once the might of the old enemy, and the lust of earthly glory, and the promptings of all the reprobate, overcoming them by the preeminence of our life. ’ Hence it is further added;
Ver. 11. The tiger perisheth for lack of prey, and the lions' whelps are scattered abroad. [xxii]
43. By the title of a ‘tiger’ he again represents him, whom he formerly designated by the name of a ‘lion. ’ For Satan both for his cruelty is called ‘a lion,’ and for the variousness of his manifold cunning he is not unsuitably designated ‘a tiger. ’ For one while he presents himself to man's senses lost as he is, one while he exhibits himself as an Angel of light, Now by caressing he works upon the minds of the foolish sort, now by striking terror he forces them to commit sin. At one time he labours to win men to evil ways without disguise, at another time he cloaks himself in his promptings under the garb of virtue. This beast, then, which is so variously spotted, is rightly called ‘a tiger,’ being with the LXX called an ‘Ant-lion,’ as we have said above. Which same creature, as we have before shewn, hiding itself in the dust kills the ants carrying their corn, in that the Apostate Angel, being cast out of heaven upon the earth, in the very pathway of their practice besets the minds of the righteous, providing for themselves the provender of good works, and whilst he overcomes them by his snares, he as it were kills by surprise the ants carrying their grains. And he is rightly called ‘Ant-lion,’ i. e. ‘a lion and ant. ’ For as we have said, to the ants he is ‘a lion,’ but to the birds of the air, ‘an ant,’ in that our old enemy, as he is strong to encounter those that yield to him, is weak against such as resist him. For if consent be yielded to his persuasions, like a lion he can never be sustained, but if resistance be offered, like an ant he is ground in the dust. Therefore to some he is ‘a lion,’ to others ‘an ant,’ in that carnal minds sustain his cruel assaults with difficulty, but spiritual minds trample upon his weakness with virtue's foot. Heretics then, because they are full of pride by pretension to sanctity, say as it were in exultation, The Ant- lion, or probably, the tiger perisheth for lack of prey. As though the words were plainly expressed, ‘The old foe has no prey in us, in that, as far as regards our purposes, he already lies defeated. ’ Now it is for this reason that he is again mentioned under the title of ‘an Ant lion,’ or of ‘a tiger,’ who had been already set forth by the ‘roaring of the lion broken,’ because whatever is said in joy, is repeated over and over. For when the mind is full of exultation, it redoubles the expressions. And hence the Psalmist, from true joy, frequently repeats this, that he was assured that he had been heard, saying, the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplications. The Lord hath received my prayer. [Ps. 6, 8. 9. ]
44. But when holy men are glad of heart that they have been rescued from some evil habits, they possess [Lit. ‘shake’] themselves with great fear even in that very gladness. For though they be now rescued from the commotion of any single storm, yet they call to mind that they are still tossing in the treacherous waves of an uncertain sea, and they so exult in hope that they tremble in
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fear, and so tremble in fear that they exult in confidence of hope. Whence it is said by the same Psalmist, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [Ps. 2, 11] But on the other hand, they, whom a specious shew of sanctity fills with big thoughts, when they get the better of any one evil habit, immediately erect their heart in pride, and as it were glory in the perfection of their lives, and for this, that perchance they have been once snatched from the perils of the storm, they already forget that they are still at sea, they look upon themselves as great in all things, and imagine that they have wholly overcome their old adversary; they regard all men below them, in that they believe that their wisdom places them above all. Whence it is added;
Now a secret word was spoken to me.
[xxiii]
45. ‘A secret word,’ heretics pretend to hear, that they may bring a certain reverence for their preaching over their hearers' minds. And hence they preach with a secret meaning, that their preaching may seem to be holy, in proportion as it is at the same time hidden. Now they are loath to have a common sort of knowledge, lest they should be placed on a par with the rest of their fellow-creatures, and they are ever making out new things, which whilst others know nothing of, they plume their own selves on the preeminence of their knowledge before inexperienced minds. And this knowledge, as we have said, they teach is occult; for, that they may be able to shew it to be wonderful, they affirm that they obtained it by secret means. Hence with Solomon the woman, bearing the semblance of heretics, says, Stolen waters are [Vulg. ] sweeter, and bread eaten in secret is more pleasant. [Prov. 9, 17] Whence in this place too it is added;
And mine ear as it were by stealth received the veins [Vulg. ] of the whispering thereof.
They ‘receive the veins of whispers by stealth,’ in that abandoning the grace of knowledge in fellowship, they do not enter thereinto by the door, as the Lord witnesses, Who saith, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [John 10, 1. 2. ] Therefore he ‘receives the veins of divine whispers by stealth,’ who, whilst the door of public preaching for receiving the knowledge of His excellency is forsaken, searches out the gaps and chinks of a froward understanding. But because the thief and robber, who enters by another way, both loves the darkness, and abhors the clearness of the light, it is properly added;
Ver. 13. In the horror of a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men. [xxiv]
46. It often happens, that while heretics are bent to discourse of things above them, they become their own witnesses against themselves, that what they deliver is not true. For in a vision of the night the sight is uncertain. Therefore they declare that they received ‘the inklings [rimas] of whispers’ in ‘the tenor of a vision of the night,’ for, that the things, which they teach, may be made to appear sublime to others, they declare that they themselves can scarcely comprehend them. But it may be inferred from hence how far that can be rendered certain to their hearers, which they themselves beheld but dubiously. And so is it marvellously ordered, that while they run on speaking of sublime things, in the exposure of folly, they are entangled in the very words of their sublimity. Now to what height they rear themselves for singularity of wisdom, is shewn, when he adds in the same breath, when deep sleep falleth upon men. As if it were openly said by heretics,
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‘When men are asleep beneath, we wake to receive heavenly truths, in that to us all that is known, to the knowledge whereof the dull hearts of men cannot arise. ’ As if they said in plain words, ‘In things, wherein our understanding rises erect, the faculties of the rest of the world lie asleep. ’ But sometimes, when they see that this is disregarded by the hearer, they feign that they are themselves in fear of what they say. Whence it is added;
Ver. 14. Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
[xxvi]
47. For because they desire to appear objects of wonder for the loftiness of their instructions, they affect to be awed at the accounts which they make up. And whilst it is a less difficulty to hear than to speak, they are bold enough to put forth that, which, forsooth, they feign that they the very same persons were scarcely able to hear. Whence it is added yet further;
Ver. 15, 16. And when a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up. There stood one, but I knew not the face of him.
48. That they may shew that they have been made acquainted with incomprehensible mysteries, they relate, not that ‘a spirit’ stood still, but that it ‘passed by before their face. ’ And they pretend that they beheld a countenance they knew not, that they may prove themselves to be known to Him, Whom the human mind is not equal to know. And here it is further added;
An image was before mine eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a light breath of air.
[xxvii]
49. Heretics often picture God to themselves by a sensible form [imaginaliter], seeing that they are unable to behold Him spiritually. And they tell that they hear His ‘voice as of a light breath of air,’ in that for the obtaining the knowledge of His secret things, they delight to have as if a particular freedom of intercourse with Him. For they never teach the things, which God reveals openly, but such as are breathed into their ears in a secret manner. All this, then, we have said, to indicate what we are to look for in the words of Eliphaz, as he bears the semblance of heretics. But forasmuch as the friends of blessed Job would never have been the friends of one so great, unless they had evidently learned something of truth, which same, while they go wrong in uttering sentences of rebuke, yet do not altogether totter in the knowledge of the truth, let us return upon these same words a little way back, that we may make out more exactly how the things which are said concerning the perception of truth, may be delivered in a true sense by persons viewing things aright. Now sometimes heretics utter things both true and lofty, not that they themselves receive them from above, but because they have learnt them in the controversy of Holy Church, nor do they apply them to the furtherance of conscientious living, but to the display of scientific skill. Whence it very commonly happens, that by knowing they tell high truths, yet in living they know nothing what they tell. Therefore, whether as they represent heretics, who hold, not the life, but the words of knowledge, or whether in the person of the friends of blessed Job, who, doubtless, with regard to their knowledge of the truth, might in seeing realize what they aimed in teaching to give utterance to, let us more minutely examine these sayings which we have gone through, that, while the words of Eliphaz are carefully gone into, it may be shewn what knowledge he possessed, though in that knowledge he failed to retain humility, who appropriated to himself peculiarly a benefit common to all. For he says,
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Ver. 12. Now a hidden word was spoken to me. [xxviii]
50. For the invisible Son is called ‘the hidden Word,’ concerning Whom John saith, In the beginning was the Word. [John 1, 1] Which he the same person teaches to be ‘hidden’ in that he adds, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. But this ‘hidden Word’ is delivered to the minds of the Elect, when the power of the Only-Begotten Son is made manifest to believers.
By ‘the hidden word’ we may also understand the communication of inward Inspiration, concerning which it is said by John, His anointing teacheth you of all things. [1 John 2, 27] Which same inspiration on being communicated to the mind of man lifts it up, and putting down all temporal interests inflames it with eternal desires, that nothing may any longer yield it satisfaction but the things that are above, and that it may look down upon all, that, from human corruption, is in a state of uproar below. And so to hear ‘the hidden word’ is to receive in the heart the utterance of the Holy Spirit. Which same indeed can never be known save by him, by whom it may be possessed. And hence it is said by the voice of Truth concerning this hidden utterance, And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with, you for ever; even The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive. [John 14, 16. 17. ] For as that ‘Comforter,’ after the Ascension of the Mediator, being another Consoler of mankind, is in Himself invisible, so He inflames each one that He has filled to long after the invisible things. And because worldly hearts are set upon the things that are seen alone, the world receiveth Him not, because it doth not rise up to the love of the things that are unseen. For worldly minds, in proportion as they spread themselves out in interests without, contract the bosom of the heart against the admission of Him. And because out of mankind there are few indeed, who, being purified from the pollution of earthly desires, are opened by that purification to the receiving of the Holy Spirit, this word is called ‘a hidden word,’ since, surely, there are particular persons that receive that in the heart, which the generality of men know nothing of. Or truly this same inspiration of the Holy Spirit is ‘a hidden word,’ in that it may be felt, but cannot be expressed by the noise of speech. When, then, the inspiration of God lifts up the soul without noise, ‘a hidden word’ is heard, in that the utterance of the Spirit sounds silently in the ear of the heart. And hence it is added;
And mine ear as it were stealthily received the veins of the whispering thereof.
[xxix]
51. The ear of the heart ‘receives stealthily the veins of heavenly whispering,’ in that both in a moment and in secret the inspired soul is made to know the subtle quality of the inward utterance. For except it bury itself from external objects of desire, it fails to enter into the internal things. It is both hidden that it may hear, and it hears that it may be hidden; in that at one and the same time being withdrawn from the visible world its eyes are upon the invisible, and being replenished with the unseen, it entertains a perfect contempt for what is visible. But it is to be observed that he does not say, Mine ear received as it were by stealth the whispering thereof; but the veins of the whispering thereof; for ‘the whispering of the hidden word’ is the very utterance of inward Inspiration itself; but ‘the veins of the whispering’ is the name for the sources of the occasions whereby that inspiration itself is conveyed to the mind. For it is as if It opened ‘the veins of its whispering,’ when God secretly communicates to us in what ways He enters into the ear of our understandings. Thus at one time He pierces us with love, at another time with terror. Sometimes
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He shews us how little the present scene of things is, and lifts up our hearts to desire the eternal world, sometimes He first points to the things of eternity, that these of time may after that grow worthless in our eyes. Sometimes He discloses to us our own evil deeds, and thence draws us on even to the point of feeling sorrow for the evil deeds of others also. Sometimes He presents to our eyes the evil deeds of others, and reforms us from our own wickedness, pierced with a wonderful feeling of compunction. And so to ‘hear the veins of Divine whispering by stealth,’ is to be made to know the secret methods of divine Inspiration, at once gently and secretly.
52. Though we may interpret whether ‘the whispering’ or ‘the veins of whispering’ in another way yet. For he that ‘whispers’ is speaking in secret, and he does not give out, but imitates a voice. We, therefore, so long as we are beset by the corruptions of the flesh, in no wise behold the brightness of the Divine Power, as it abides unchangeable in itself, in that the eye of our weakness cannot endure that which shines above us with intolerable lustre from the ray of His Eternal Being. And so when the Almighty shews Himself to us by the chinks of contemplation, He does not speak to us, but whispers, in that though He does not fully develope Himself, yet something of Himself He does reveal to the mind of man. But then He no longer whispers at all, but speaks, when His appearance is manifested to us in certainty. It is hence that Truth saith in the Gospel, I shall shew you plainly of the Father. [John 16, 25] Hence John saith, For we shall see Him as He is. [1 John 3, 2] Hence Paul saith, Then shall I know even as also I am known. [1 Cor. 13, 12. ] Now in this present time, the Divine whispering has as many veins for our ears as the works of creation, which the Divine Being Himself is Lord of; for while we view all things that are created, we are lifted up in admiration of the Creator. For as water that flows in a slender stream is sought by being bored for through veins, with a view to increase it, and as it pours forth the more copiously, in proportion as it finds the veins more open, so we, whilst we heedfully gather the knowledge of the Divine Being from the contemplation of His creation, as it were open to ourselves the ‘veins of His whispering,’ in that by the things that we see have been made, we are led to marvel at the excellency of the Maker, and by the objects that are in public view, that issues forth to us, which is hidden in concealment. For He bursts out to us in a kind of sound as it were, whilst He displays His works to be considered by us, wherein He betokens Himself in a measure, in that He shews how Incomprehensible He is. Therefore, because we cannot take thought of Him as He deserves, we hear not His voice, yea, scarcely His whispering. For because we are not equal to form a full and perfect estimate of the very things that are created, it is rightly said, Mine ear as it were by stealth received the veins of whispering; in that being cast forth from the delights of paradise, and visited with the punishment of blindness, we scarcely take in ‘the veins of whispering;’ since His very marvellous works themselves we consider but hastily and slightly. But we must bear in mind, that in proportion as the soul being lifted up contemplates His excellency, so being held back it shrinks from His righteous perfectness [rectitudinem]. And hence it is rightly added;
Ver. 13. In the horror of a vision of the night. [xxx]
53. The horror of a vision of the night is the shuddering of secret contemplation. For the higher the elevation, whereat the mind of man contemplates the things that are eternal, so much the more, terror-struck at her temporal deeds, she shrinks with dread, in that she thoroughly discovers herself guilty, in proportion as she sees herself to have been out of harmony with that light, which shines in the midst of darkness [intermicat] above her, and then it happens that the mind being enlightened
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entertains the greater fear, as it more clearly sees by how much it is at variance with the rule of truth. And she, that before seemed as it were more secure in seeing nothing, trembles with sore affright from her very own proficiency itself. Though, whatever her progress in virtue, she does not as yet compass any clear insight into eternity, but still sees with the indistinctness of a certain shadowy imagining. And hence this same is called a vision of the night. For as we have also said above, in the night we see doubtfully, but in the day we see steadily. Therefore because, as regards the contemplating the ray of the interior Sun, the cloud of our corruption interposes itself, nor does the unchangeable Light burst forth such as It is to the weak eyes of our mind, we as it were still behold God ‘in a vision of the night,’ since most surely we go darkling under a doubtful sight. Yet though the mind may have conceived but a distant idea concerning Him, yet in contemplation of His Greatness, she recoils with dread, and is filled with a greater awe, in that she feels herself unequal even to the very skirts of the view of Him. And falling back upon herself, she is drawn to Him with closer bonds of love, Whose marvellous sweetness, being unable to bear, she has but just tasted of under an indistinct vision. But, because she never attains to such an height of elevation, unless the importunate and clamorous throng of carnal desires be first brought under governance, it is rightly added,
When deep sleep falleth upon men.
[xxxi]
54. Whoever is bent to do the things which are of the world, is, as it were, awake, but he, that seeking inward rest eschews the riot of this world, sleeps as it were. But first we must know that, in holy Scripture, sleep, when put figuratively, is understood in three senses. For sometimes we have expressed by sleep the death of the flesh, sometimes the stupefaction of neglect, and sometimes tranquillity of life, upon the earthly desires being trodden underfoot. Thus, by the designation of sleep or slumbering the death of the flesh is implied; as when Paul says, And I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. [1 Thess. 4, 13] And soon after, Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. [ver. 14] Again, by sleep is designated the stupefaction of neglect; as where it is said by that same Paul, Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. [Rom. 13, 11] And again, Awake, ye righteous [Vulg. ], and sin not. [1 Cor. 15, 34] By sleep too is represented tranquillity of life, when the carnal desires are trodden down; as where these words are uttered by the voice of the spouse in the Song of Songs, I sleep, but my heart waketh. [Cant. 5, 2] For, in truth, in proportion as the holy mind withholds itself from the turmoil of temporal desire, the more thoroughly it attains to know the things of the interior, and is the more quick and awake to inward concerns, the more it withdraws itself out of sight from external disquietude. And this is well represented by Jacob sleeping on his journey. He put a stone to his head and slept. He beheld a ladder from the earth fixed in heaven, the Lord resting upon the ladder, Angels also ascending and descending. For to ‘sleep on a journey’ is, in the passage of this present life, to rest from the love of things temporal.
