For what is
changeableness
but a kind of death?
St Gregory - Moralia - Job
[1 John 3, 2] Then therefore we shall truly ‘answer God,’ Who ‘calleth,’ when at the bidding of the Supreme Incorruption we shall arise incorruptible; and because the creature is not able to earn this by itself, but it is brought to pass by the gift of Almighty God alone, that it should be changed to that exceeding glory of incorruption, it is rightly subjoined;
Thou wilt stretch forth Thy right hand to the work of Thine hands.
[xv]
19. As if he said in plain words; ‘For this reason Thy corruptible creature is able to hold fast unto incorruption, because he is lifted up by the hands of Thy power, and is kept by the grace of Thy
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regard, that he should hold fast. ’ For the human creature by this alone, that it is a creature, has it inherent in itself to sink down below itself, but man has obtained it from his Creator, that he should both be caught above himself by contemplation, and held fast in himself by incorruption. And so that the creature may not fall away beneath himself, but hold on in incorruption, he is lifted to the stedfastness of immutability by the right hand of His Maker. Moreover it may be that by the title of ‘the Right Hand’ the Son may be designated; in that, All things were made by Him. [John 1, 3] Thus Almighty God ‘stretched out His Right Hand to the work of His hands,’ because, that He might lift on high the human race, become refuse and grovelling in the lowest things, He sent the Only-Begotten One, made Incarnate for this end. By Whose Incarnation it has been vouchsafed to us that we, who fall into incorruption of our own will, should one time be enabled to answer God when He calls us in the glory of incorruption. Wherein who can estimate the bountifulness of Divine Mercy, that He should bring man after sin to such a height of glory? God takes account of the bad things we do, yet by the grace of His lovingkindness He remits them to us in mercy. And hence it is added;
Ver. 16. For now Thou numberest my steps, but Thou sparest my sins.
[xvi]
20. God ‘numbers our steps,’ when He marks each one of our several deeds for the recompensing them. For what is denoted by the steps, but each particular act of ours? Thus Almighty God both ‘numbers our steps’ and ‘spares our sins,’ in that He at once surveys our actions with exactness, and yet remits them in mercy to those that repent, Who both sees obduracy in those that sin, and yet softens it into penitence by preventing grace. Thus He ‘numbers sins,’ in that He turns us ourselves to bewail the several things which we have done. And He remits them in mercy, in that whilst we our own selves punish them, He Himself never judges them in the last reckoning, as Paul testifies, who saith, For if we should judge ourselves, we should not be judged. [1 Cor. 11, 31] Hence it is further added;
Ver. 17. Thou hast sealed up as it were in a bag my transgressions; but Thou hast healed mine iniquity.
[xvii]
21. Our ‘transgressions are sealed up as it were in a bag,’ in that that thing which we ourselves do in outward act, except we wash away by penance in the mean while, is kept in the secresy of God’s judgments under a kind of hiding, that one day it may also come forth out of the bag of secresy into the publicity of the Judgment. Hence it is said by Moses too; Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? In the day of vengeance I will repay them. [Deut. 32, 34] But when for the evil things that we have done, we are bruised with the stroke of discipline, and lament the same by penance, He ‘sealeth up,’ and ‘healeth’ our iniquity, in that He neither leaves things unpunished here, nor reserves them to be punished in the Judgment. Thus He ‘seals transgressions,’ in that He marks them with exactness here, to chastise them with the rod, but He ‘heals’ them, in that He wholly remits them in the stroke. Hence the iniquity of that persecutor of Him, whom He laid prostrate on the ground, He did also by sealing heal, seeing that He said concerning him to Ananias; He is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake. [Acts 9, 15] For to that man, whom on account of past transgressions He still
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threatens with future sufferings, what he had done wrong, surely He kept sealed in the heart; but as surely in so sealing He had healed his transgressions, in that He called him ‘a chosen vessel. ’ Or, surely, ‘our transgressions are sealed in a bag,’ when the evil things we have been guilty of, we reflect on continually with a heedful heart. For what is the heart of man, but God’s ‘bag? ’ wherein whilst we earnestly look to see how much we transgress, we carry our sins as it were ‘sealed up in God’s bag. ’ Did not David keep his sin ‘sealed up in a bag,’ when he said, For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. [Ps. 51, 3] And because the faults, which we are made acquainted with in reviewing and repeating, the pitiful Creator remits to us, after the ‘transgressions being sealed in a bag,’ it is rightly subjoined, But Thou hast healed mine iniquity: as if he said in plain speech, ‘What things Thou dost now seal, so that I in repenting should see, doubtless Thou doest it, that in the retribution they should never be seen. ’ It follows;
Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like way destroy man.
[xviii] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
22. This is very often the case, that upon rocks falling, a piece of rock is removed to other places; that waters wear stones, and little by little the ground is wasted by the washings of the flood: but we have need to make out with great diligence that which is brought in; and man Thou wilt in a like way destroy. For what is that, that to a mountain falling, a rock removed, a stone worn hollow, and ground consumed by the washing of the flood, the ruin of man is likened, but this, which we are plainly given to understand, that there are two sorts of temptations, one sort, which passes in the mind even of the good man by sudden accident, that he should be so tempted of a sudden, that by the unexpectedness of the event it should make him reel, and bring him to the ground, and that he does not see his falling, until after he has fallen; while there is another which comes by little and little into the mind, and by gentle suggestions corrupts the resisting soul, and not by its excessiveness but by its importunity wastes all the powers of righteousness therein? And so, whereas there is one sort of temptation, which by a sudden assault very often brings the good down to the ground, let it be said, And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place, i. e. the holy mind, whose place was righteousness, is by a sudden impulse removed into sin. Again, because there is another sort of temptation, which infuses itself gently into the heart of man, and wears and wastes all the hardness of its resolution, let it be said, The waters wear the stones; in this way, viz. that the unremitted and soft flatteries of lust suck away the hardness of the soul, and the slow and penetrating evil habit corrodes the hard and forcible purpose of the mind. Hence it is added, And by washing the ground is consumed little by little. For as when water flows in, ‘the ground is consumed little by little,’ so when bad habit creeps on [n] by gentle degrees, even the strong mind is engulphed. Hence it is well added, And Thou wilt in a like way destroy man, i. e. in this way, that when Thou by a righteous appointment sufferest temptation of a sudden to get the dominion over the mind of him, who is seen to have his stand on high, Thou causes; ‘the mountain to fall and slip away,’ and when the will is changed to evil, it is as if ‘the rock were removed to a new place,’ but whilst Thou lettest a gentle and fine yet unremitting temptation prevail over the minds of those, who are accounted strong, ‘the waters in a manner wear the stones, and by washing, the ground is consumed little by little,’ in that the hardness of the mind being subdued by gentle suggesting is made soft.
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23. Let us see how that David was a ‘high mountain,’ who was enabled to contemplate such great mysteries of God by the Spirit of prophecy; but let us mark how he ‘slipped down,’ by a sudden fall, who whilst walking on the solar, lusted after and carried off another man’s wife, and killed her husband with loss to his own army. Then ‘fell a mountain with a sudden fall,’ when that mind which was used to dwell with heavenly mysteries, was overcome by sudden temptation, and brought under to such most monstrous pollution. And so ‘the rock was removed from its place,’ when the mind of the prophet being shut out from the mysteries of prophecy came to imagine filthy things. Let us see moreover how ‘the waters wear the stones, and by washing the ground is consumed little by little,’ in that Solomon by an immoderate intercourse and frequency with women was brought to this pass, that he built a temple to idols: and he who had before erected a temple to God, by frequency of lust, being even bowed down under misbelief, was not afraid to erect idol temples. And so it came to pass, that by unremitting wantonness of the flesh, he was brought even to misbelief of the spirit. What else then, but that the ‘waters did wear away the stone, and by washing the ground was consumed little by little,’ in that by the encroaching [surripiente] of sin as it flowed in little by little, the ground of his heart crumbled away unto wasting? Thus let blessed Job consider both sorts of temptation, whether the sudden and excessive, or the gentle and prolonged sort, let him contemplate the falls of his fellow-creatures, and from those things which take place outwardly let him catch the keynote of his contemplation within, saying, And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place: the waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is wasted; and Thou wilt in like manner destroy men; i. e. ‘as these things without sense at one time are brought to the ground suddenly, at one time are worn little by little by the softness of water being let in; so likewise him, whom Thou hast created a reasoning creature, Thou dost either overthrow by sudden temptation, or permittest to be worn and wasted by a long and gentle one;’ and that reasoning creature he directly describes in the following words, saying,
Ver. 20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little space, that the might pass by for ever. [xix] [LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
24. Man has been ‘strengthened here for a little space,’ in that he has received here powers of living for a while, that he should for ever pass away thither, where no end should bound and shut in his life, but in this moment’s space where he has been ‘strengthened,’ he extracts that wherefrom in the everlasting world he may either find how always to have joy, or not ever escape the punishments he has entered upon. And for this reason, that ‘he has been strengthened for a little space,’ to ‘pass away for everlasting,’ it is fitly added immediately;
Thou wilt change his countenance, and send him away.
[xx]
25. ‘The face of man is changed,’ when his form is wasted by death; but ‘he is sent away,’ in that from those things which he kept willingly he is necessitated to pass away to the eternal world against his will, and while he is brought thereunto, these things which he held long and thought on, how it will be with them now left behind him he knows nothing. Hence it is added;
Ver. 21. Whether his sons be in honour or dishonour, he perceiveth not. [xxi]
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26. For as they, who are still living, know nothing of the souls of the dead, in what place they are held; so the dead, concerning the life of those living after them in the flesh, know not at all how it is ordered; in that both the life of the spirit is far from the life of the flesh, and as the corporeal and incorporeal are things different in kind, so are they parted in knowledge. Which however is not to be imagined concerning holy souls, in that they which behold the brightness of Almighty God within, we cannot for a moment suppose that there is any thing without that they know not [b]. But because carnal persons bestow their chief affection on their children, blessed Job declares that they are hereafter ignorant of that, which they loved here with all their heart, so that ‘whether their sons be in honour or dishonour they know not,’ whereas their care for these was always preying upon their minds.
[MORAL INTERPRETATION]
Which however if it is to be understood in a spiritual sense, with no unfitness by the title of sons we have works denoted, as Paul saith of woman, Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing. [1 Tim. 2, 15] Not that a woman, who being devoted to continency never bears children, shall not be saved, but she is said to be ‘saved by childbearing,’ because by the operation of good works she is united to everlasting salvation. Thus the children in honour are good deeds, and the children in dishonour are bad deeds. And often man strives to do things with a good intention, yet by reason of the many occasions that creep upon him, how his actions are accounted of in the sight of Almighty God is a thing uncertain. And so ‘whether his sons be in honour or dishonour he perceiveth not,’ in that his works being sifted with a searching scrutiny, whether they be approved or condemned he cannot tell. Thus here man is placed in the painfulness of labour, and thither he is brought in the fearfulness of misgiving. Hence it is yet further subjoined concerning the labour of the present life itself,
Ver. 22. But his flesh while he liveth shall have pain, and His soul shall mourn over himself. [xxii]
27. Concerning the married Paul saith, Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh. [1 Cor. 7, 28] But they may ‘have trouble in the flesh here,’ who are even now leading spiritual lives. Wherefore then is it said as it were in a special sense, that there is ‘trouble of the flesh’ to married persons, seeing that it is not far removed even from the life of the spiritual; excepting that those commonly meet with worse troubles from the flesh, who delight themselves with the pleasures of the flesh? And it is well said, And his soul within him shall mourn over himself; in that whosoever desires to rejoice in himself, by this alone is henceforth in woe, viz. that he has gone far from the true joy. For the true joy of the soul is the Creator. Therefore it is meet that man should ever find in himself sorrow, who, forsaking His Creator, sought joy in himself. It proceeds;
Chap. xv. 1. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind, and fill his belly with burning?
[xxiii] [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
28. We have already said frequently that blessed Job bears a type of the Holy Church universal, and that his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who as it were on the plea of defence of the Lord
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find occasion of foolish talking, and let loose insulting words against good men; to whom all is displeasing that is thought by the faithful, as though it were uttered to the wind. Whence it is said now, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind? Nor do they account the words of the good as the sayings of reason, but as the stingings of madness. Whence it is added, And shall he fill his belly with burning? in that those things even which they know themselves to say by way of insult, they are ever bent to palliate, as has been said, on the ground of defending the Lord.
Whence Eliphaz adds;
Thou reprovest with words him that is not equal to thee, and thou speakest what is not expedient for thee.
[xxiv]
29. Now they suppose that no one has the fear of the Lord, saving him whom they can draw into the foolishness of their own confession. Hence he adds, Yea, thou castest off fear, and hast taken, prayer before God. ‘Taken’ means ‘taken away;’ as if he said in plain terms, ‘Presuming on Thine own righteousness, thou scornest to implore the grace of Thy Creator. ’ For when heretics do not find real evils to urge against the good, they feign things to reproach them with, that they may seem righteous, and it very often happens, that they come to open words of insult. Whence it is still further added,
For thine iniquity teacheth, thy mouth, and thou followest the tongue of the crafty.
30. ‘Iniquity teaches the mouth,’ when there is conceived by a bad life somewhat to be spoken of a worse kind. Now because blessed Job was free in speech in proportion as he was holy in action, by his friends, who hold the type of heretics, he is found fault with at once on the grounds of a wicked life and of a bold mouth, so that it should be said, Thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth. As if it were said to him in plain words, ‘What thou speakest wickedly, thou hast learnt of a more wicked life. ’ But it often happens that heretics, whilst in seeming they venerate God, oppose His mysteries, and they think it humility if they deny the truth. For there are some, who imagine that they are bringing injury upon God, if they confess that He took true flesh, or if they should think that He was capable of really dying for us in the flesh. And whilst they endeavour as it were to bestow upon God a greater degree of honour, they are enforced to deny the real praises of His goodness. For in praise of His charity what is there more efficacious, than that in our behalf He should make those things meet to Himself for the undertaking them, which seem for Him unworthy. But Holy Church confesses His very and true Flesh, His very and true Death, but in declaring these things she is thought by Heretics to put an indignity upon God. Whence it is said now, And thou followest the tongue of them that blaspheme. And if any piece of adversity befall her in this world, they say that it was brought upon her by this very injuriousness of her confession. Hence it is yet further added; Ver. 6. Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips shall answer thee.
[xxvi]
31. For because they suppose that the evils of adversity break out in consequence of the erroneousness of confession; that say that ‘her own lips shall answer her,’ so that fault of utterances should be the cause of the scourge. But sometime they desire to repress it as if by reasoning; whence Eliphaz sets himself to reprove blessed Job as it were on principles of reason, saying,
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Ver. 7, 8. Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Hast thou
heard the secret of God? and shall His wisdom be inferior to thee?
[xxvii]
32. As if He said in plainer words, ‘Thou, who speakest of the Eternal One, consider that thou art a creature of time. Thou that arguest concerning His wisdom, remember that Thou knowest not His counsel. ’ But that Heretics for this take up the words of the defence of the Lord, that they may appear to be learned, and whilst they seem to defend the glory of God, are making known their knowledge to men, the very words of Eliphaz subjoined bear witness, who began indeed to speak of the wisdom of God, but immediately fell into self-elation, saying,
Ver. 9. What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us?
Which same sentences plainly shew in what exaltation of mind all that comes forth, which sounds as if it were for defence of the Lord. It goes on;
Ver. 10. With us are both the gray headed and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
33. That all Heretics are gone out of the Holy Church Universal, John testifies, when he says, They went out from us, but they were not of us. [1 John 2, 19] But that those things which they maintain they may recommend to the weak minds of their fellow-creatures as on the grounds of antiquity, they testify that they have ancient fathers, and the very Doctors of the Church themselves they declare are the masters of their school; and whilst they look down upon present preachers, they pride themselves with unfounded presumption on the tutorage of the ancient fathers, so that they avouch that the things they themselves assert the old fathers held as well, in order that what they are not able to build up in truth and right, they may strengthen as by the authority of those. But because it is written, Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth, oftentimes Holy Church travails with countless adversities in this life, and the life of the children of perdition is let to go free of the scourge, in proportion as it is not reserved for any rewards. But Heretics seeing the tribulations of Holy Church, look down upon her, and fancy that she is bruised by such a multitude of strokes, in due of a false creed [professionis]. Hence it is yet further added;
Ver. 11. Is it a great thing that God should console thee? But thine evil words prevent this. [xxix]
34. As if he said to him in plain words; ‘If thou wouldest amend thy profession of faith, thou mightest long ago have had consolation in thy scourges. ’ It goes on;
Ver. 12. Why does thine heart lift thee up, and hast thou thine eyes astonished as thinking of great things?
[xxx]
35. Often the mind of the righteous is so suspended in contemplating things on high, that outwardly their face seems to have been struck with stupefaction. But because Heretics are not taught to enforce the power of contemplation in secret, they think that it is done by the just, and those that are imbued with a right understanding, more in hypocrisy than in truth, in that what they
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cannot themselves obtain the possession of, they do not suppose exists in others in a genuine way. It goes on;
Ver. 13. Why dost thy spirit swell against God, that thou lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
[xxxi]
36. Very often when the righteous are afflicted with any woes, they are forced to confess their works, as blessed Job had done, who after just living was pressed down by the strokes of the rod; but when the unrighteous hear their sayings, they think that they are uttered in self-exaltation rather than in truth. For they weigh the words of the righteous by their own feelings, and do not think that good words can be said in a humble spirit. For as it is a great sin, for a man to ascribe to himself what there is not, so it is commonly no sin at all if he speaks with humility the good that there is. Hence it often happens that the just and unjust have words that are like, but always a heart that is widely unlike, and the same sayings for which the Lord is offended by the unrighteous, He is even propitiated by the righteous. Thus the Pharisee when he entered the temple said, I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. [Luke 18, 12] But the publican went out justified more than he. Hezekiah too, the king, when he was afflicted with sickness of the body, and brought to the last point of life, said with his heart pierced in prayer, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, Nor yet did the Lord disregard this confession of his perfectness, or refuse him, whom He immediately heard effectually in his prayers. See, the Pharisee justified himself in act, and Hezekiah maintained himself to be just in thought as well, and by the same act by which the one offended, the other propitiated God. Wherefore then was this, but that Almighty God estimates the words of each by the thoughts within, and in His ear those are not high, which are uttered with a lowly heart? Hence blessed Job, where he put forward his deeds, did not in the least degree swell out against God, in that those things which he had really done, he spoke with a humble spirit. Now Heretics are accustomed to mix some true points with the statements of their erroneous persuasions. And the friends of blessed Job, though in the reproving of him they are altogether deceived, may yet even say some things true, which they learnt by frequent communication with him, whose words were they all to be contradicted, the Apostle Paul would never have brought forward the sentence of Eliphaz saying, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. [1 Cor. 3, 19] And so, because those things which they say right, they do not rightly say against blessed Job, let us in their sayings at once tread under our feet the mischief of indiscretion, and sift the marrow of rightness. It goes on;
Ver. 14. What is man, that he should be clean?
[xxxii] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
37. For hereby alone that he is called ‘man’ he is described as earthly and weak; for man is so named [‘homo’ from ‘humus,’ as Hebrew ‘Adam’] from the earth. And how is it possible for him to be free from stain, who being made of earth of his own will fell into infirmity? where it is added; And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? For the first piece of unrighteousness the woman proffered to the man in Paradise. And so how shall he appear righteous, who was born of her that proved the bidder of unrighteousness? It goes on;
Ver. 15. Behold, among His saints there is no one that is unchangeable; the heavens are not clean in His sight.
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[xxxiii] [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION]
38. He repeated that with the title of ‘the heavens,’ which he before denoted by the appellation of the ‘Saints. ’ For it is written concerning those very Saints; The heavens are telling the glory of God [Ps. 19, 1]; all of whom have by nature in themselves changeableness proper to them, but while they earnestly desire to attach themselves always to the unchangeable ‘Truth,’ in attaching themselves they bring it to pass that they become unchangeable; and whilst they keep themselves fixed thereto with a full affection, they one day obtain that being carried above themselves, they get the better of this, that in themselves they were changeable.
For what is changeableness but a kind of death? which while it changes one thing into another, as it were kills that which was, that that should begin to be which was not. And it is written concerning the Author of all things, Who only hath unchangeableness [1 Tim. 6, 16], in that He only is unchangeable in Himself. Concerning whom it is written by James; With Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of changing [Jam. 1, 17]. For changeableness itself is a shadow, which if it altered the light by any changes, would as it were obscure it. But because in God changeableness entereth not, ‘no shadow of changing’ intercepts His Light. Now it is well said, the heavens are not clean in His sight, in that by themselves before the strict cognizance of God not even they can be clean to perfection, who are preachers of cleanness, as John testifies, who saith, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. [1 John 1, 8] If then ‘among His Saints there is no one unchangeable, and the heavens are not clean in His sight,’ who may presume in himself upon the practice of righteousness? Hence it is further added;
Ver. 16. How much more abominable and useless is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? [xxxiv]
39. He who first said it was impossible that man should of himself be clean from sin, and righteous, calls him ‘abominable’ and ‘useless;’ ‘abominable’ on account of the uncleanness of his stain, but ‘useless’ on account of the unrighteousness of an imperfect life; who however may be understood as ‘abominable and useless’ in another sense. For often a bad man seems to do some things rightly, but by those things which are wrong, even those which are right belonging to him are brought to nought; and because the evil ones are very displeasing to God, neither are those pleasing which seem to be good. And so he, that is ‘abominable’ before God in his evil things, is ‘useless’ in the good; in that whilst he shews himself an object of execration to God by wicked deeds, neither is that which seems right proceeding from him well-pleasing. And it is well said, Which drinketh iniquity like water. For what is eaten is swallowed not without delay, seeing that it is chewed in order to be swallowed; but what is drunk has no hindrance to be swallowed, in proportion as it hath again no need to be chewed. And so because sin is committed by the foolish man without any drawing back, iniquity is drunk like water. For because he does unlawful things without fear, he swallows the draught of iniquity without let or hindrance. It goes on;
Ver. 17. I will shew it thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare to thee.
[xxxv]
40. All arrogant persons have this proper to them, that when they have a right notion, though the thing be little, they wrest it to serve the turn of pride, and by the same act whereby from understanding they might to themselves be raised higher, from swoln pride they only fall into the
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pit of self exalting, account themselves better instructed than the learned, and they exact respect for themselves from their betters, and stand upon it to teach as with authority those that are holier men. Hence it is now said, I will shew thee, hear me. And because he teaches with less authority who tells things that he has heard, than he who tells those things which he has seen, in order that Eliphaz may claim to himself the stronger kind of authority, he says, And that which I have seen I will declare. But because Heretics are sometimes confounded by their fathers being condemned, and yet bring forward as it were with authority the sentences of those, by whose folly they are deservedly rejected; the very audacity of Heretics is itself rightly introduced, when it is said,
Ver. 18. Wise men confess, and do not hide their fathers.
[xxxvi]
41. And at once they leap out in praise of them, and boast that they had been as it were the only rulers of the Church. Hence it is yet further added, Unto whom alone the earth was given, and the stranger passed not among them. They think that ‘the earth was given to their fathers alone,’ in that the masters of their erroneous teaching alone really had rule in the Church. And who is termed ‘the stranger,’ but the Apostate Angel? Whence too it is said by the Psalmist concerning all the wicked spirits together; For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. [Ps. 54, 3] And so Heretics, because they think that the hearts of their doctors were not subject to the Apostate Angel, say that ‘the stranger passed not among them. ’ For which same stranger to pass through each individual, is his putting wicked thoughts into his heart. And hence it is said by the voice of the Prophet of the evil spirits arrayed against the soul standing erect, Which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over. [Is. 51, 23] But whereas Eliphaz the Temanite, when going to tell some things, wishes to be heard, though he knows many things which were proper to be said, and yet does not know that they were not proper to be said to blessed Job, let us hear the sentences which he uttered against blessed Job. For neither ought we to consider the person to whom, but only what it was that he said. It goes on;
Ver. 20. The wicked man feels proud all his days. [xxxvii]
42. The Elect also are apt to feel pride in some of their thoughts and actions. But because they are Elect persons, they cannot feel pride all their days, because before they end their lives, they turn their hearts from self-exaltation to the fearing of humility. But ‘the wicked man feels pride all his days,’ in that he so brings his life to an end, that he never departs from self-exalting. He looks round him on all that is flourishing in time, and he neglects to consider whither he is being carried for ever. He puts his trust in the life of the flesh, and thinks that those things continue for long, which he holds at the moment. His mind is set firm in self-exaltation, every one of his kin is brought into contempt, how suddenly death creeps upon him he never takes thought, how certain his happiness he never reflects; whereas if he did but turn his eyes to the uncertainty of fleeting life, he would never keep for a certainty things uncertain. And hence it is well added;
And the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
[xxxviii]
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43. For he ought not to have felt pride at all, even if he might have had the number of his years assured, so that knowing how long he should live, he might know beforehand when to withdraw himself from self-exaltation. But since the present life is always uncertain, death’s creeping upon him ought always to be apprehended the more, insomuch as it can never be foreseen. And he rightly calls the pride of the wicked, ‘tyranny. ’ For he is justly styled a tyrant, who in the commonwealth takes the lead without right. And be it known that every proud man, according to his several measure, exercises tyranny. For what sometimes one person practises in the commonwealth, in this case, by power of high office accorded to him, another in a province, another in a city, another in his own family, this same another by concealed wickedness practises to himself in the thought of his own heart. Nor does the Lord regard what amount of evil each person may be able to do, but what amount he may have the mind to do. And when the power is wanting without, he is, a tyrant within himself, whom iniquity lords it over within; for though he does not oppress his neighbours outwardly, yet inwardly he seeks to possess power, in order to oppress them; and because Almighty God considers the hearts of men, the wicked man has already done in his eyes the thing that he conceived. Now our Creator willed that our end should be hidden from us with this view, that whereas we are uncertain when we may die, we may always be found ready for death. Hence after it has been said, All his days the wicked man feels proud, he rightly adds, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain. As if it were said in plain words, ‘Wherefore is he lifted up as if on the grounds of a certainty, the tenure of whose life is held under the penalty of uncertainty? ’ But Almighty God not only reserves future punishments for those that live wickedly, but even here, where they go wrong, he besets their hearts with punishments, that by this alone, viz. that they sin, they should be smiting themselves, and that always trembling, always full of suspicion, they should be afraid of meeting with those mischiefs from others, which they remember themselves to have done to others. Whence it is yet further added of this wicked one;
Ver. 21. A dreadful sound is alway in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspecteth plots. [xxxix]
44. But there is nothing more happy than simplicity of heart, in that in proportion as it shews forth innocency towards others, there is nothing it dreads to meet with from others. For it has its simplicity as a kind of citadel of strength, nor is it suspicious of undergoing what it has no remembrance of having itself done. Whence it is well said by Solomon, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. Who also says again, A secure mind is like a perpetual feast. For the mere repose of security is like the continuance of refreshment. Whereas, on the other hand, the evil mind is always set in pains and labours, since it is either contriving mischiefs that it may bring down, or fearing lest these be brought down upon it by others; and whatever plot it hatches against neighbours, it is afraid of being hatched by neighbours against itself. It is on every side full of suspicions, on every side full of alarms. Everyone that occurs to mind is supposed to be making out things hostile to him, and so he, to whom the repose of security is wanting, has surely ‘a dreadful sound in his ears’ always. And it often happens that his neighbour, whoever he be, speaks to him with a single intention, and designs nothing hostile, but ‘when there is peace, he suspecteth plots;’ in that he, who is always dealing craftily, calculates that there is not single dealing towards himself. And whereas it is written, When the wicked man cometh into the pit of sinners, he contemneth, he being encompassed with the darkness of his iniquity henceforth despairs of light. Hence too it follows;
Ver. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
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[xl]
45. For because he believes himself to be on all sides stricken from ambush, despairing of salvation, he is ever growing on in wickedness. Now there are times too when this ungodly man turns his eyes to judgments from above as well, and dreads their coming upon him. But whilst he seeks the wages of the present life, these same judgments which he had begun to fear, being conquered by the madness of avarice, he sets at nought. And be thinks indeed that it is possible he may die in sin, but yet he does not cease from sin. Hence it is subjoined;
Ver. 28. When he has stirred himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready in his hand.
[xli]
46. For ‘bread’ is the wages of the present life, and ‘the day of darkness’ is taken for the time of vengeance. And so in the course of his conduct, the wicked man at times weighs well the present wrath of the Judge Above, but he is not diverted from wickedness, so that it too should be itself diverted from his destruction. But his conscience accusing him, he fears to be smitten, yet be is ever increasing that whereby he should be smitten. He makes slight of his return, he despairs of pardon, he carries himself high in sin, yet he has fear within, a witness of his wickedness. And though he seem outwardly to be doing wicked things with a bold front, yet for these in his own heart he is untrained to tremble. Whence it is written; For whereas wickedness is timorous, she gives witness to condemnation. [Wisd. 17, 11] For when a man does unlawful things, he is in dread of the thing that he does; and the open witness for his condemning is the very fearfulness of wickedness itself, in that both the thing that is done is feared, and yet the evil that is feared is not overcome. Of which it is yet further added,
Ver. 24. Trouble shall make him afraid, straits shall besiege him, as a king ready to the battle. [xlii]
47. In all that the wicked man does, he is hedged in with anguish, and tribulation, and straits; in that his soul is confounded with anxiety and misgiving. One man secretly longs to seize another’s goods by force, and he toils and strains in the thoughts of his heart, that he may not be found out. Another man, forsaking truth, makes up his mind to tell a lie, that he may deceive the mind of those that hear him; but what great labour it is to guard with sufficient heed, that his deceit itself may not be found out! For he sets before his eyes what answer may be made to him by those that know the truth, and with great effort of thought he makes out how by the appliances of falsehood he may surpass the evidences of truth. He cloaks himself about on this side and on that, and against that wherein he might have been found out, he looks about for an answer resembling truth, whereas if he had been minded to tell the truth, assuredly he might have done it without pains. For the path of truth is smooth, and the road of falsehood grievous. And hence it is said by the Prophet, They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and wearied themselves to commit iniquity. [Jer. 9, 5] Therefore it is well said, Trouble shall make him afraid, and straits besiege him; in that in himself he is undone in the toilsomeness of fear, who forsakes the way of truth, which is the companion of security. And he is rightly compared to a king prepared for battle, seeing that in that very evil that he does he is at once alarmed and presses on; at once made to tremble by conscience, and to pant
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from desire; fears, and swells high; is scared with misgivings, and lifts up his spirit in audacity. Moreover, we are to know that ‘a king who is prepared for battle’ is so apprehensive against the enemy, that he also fears for that very army which he is leading, lest it should be seduced, lest by the desertion of his soldiers he be laid open to the darts of the enemy. And so ‘the wicked man is besieged with straits, like a king ready to the battle;’ in that whilst practising false things and uttering false words, he dreads lest he should lose his own soldiers; i. e. the appliances of falsehoods; and lie exposed to the darts of truth, if it chance that that be lacking to him, which he might have to oppose on the side of deceit. But though the Spirit trembles, though conscience accuses, yet the wicked man is mastered by his own passion; and forcing under fear, he assumes hardihood from his iniquities. And often when revenge is set before his mind, he lifts himself up against God; he determines to undergo any inflictions at His hands, so long as in this life, while he has the power, he may do all that he pleases. And hence it is added;
Ver. 25, 26. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty; He runneth upon Him with erected neck, and he is armed with a stout neck.
[xliii]
48. These things are more plainly understood of the head of the wicked himself, i. e. Antichrist, who, while lifting up his hand against God, is said to be ‘strengthened,’ in that for a little time he is permitted to be exalted; that in proportion as he is let to glory for a while, he may be punished the more pitilessly for everlasting; but seeing that all the wicked are his members, this, which he then in the end of the world shall do alone in a preeminent way, let us see how it is done now by each one of the wicked severally. Thus there are some who even if they do ever set themselves to do things in opposition to the judgment of Almighty God, disabled by the very impossibility of putting their will in execution, look to themselves, are made to turn themselves to Him Whom they were minded to despise, and they, who might have gone far from Him, if they had been able to execute what they were minded to do, are sometimes hereby saved, because they could not execute what they wickedly had the mind for; and hence being brought back to themselves, they see what condition they are of, and mourn that they had the mind to do things contrary to ‘Truth. ’ And there are some who by the just judgment of God are suffered to execute with worse wickedness that which they wickedly desire to do in opposition to God. And whilst an evil disposition inflames, and power strengthens them, they are henceforth unable to attain to know themselves in their erring course, in proportion as in the affluence of their fortunes they are by power ever being drawn out of themselves. Concerning the bent of whose mind it is here said, For he stretcheth forth his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty. For ‘to stretch forth the hand against God,’ is to persevere in evil doing, setting at nought the judgments of God. And because God is then more wroth, when He suffers that to be fulfilled, which thing ought not to have been conceived at all in thought, this wicked man is ‘strengthened against the Almighty,’ in that he is suffered to prosper in his wicked course of conduct, so that he should both do wicked things, and yet live in happiness, Of whom it is yet further added, He runneth upon Him with erected neck.
49. To ‘run against God with erected neck’ is to commit with shamelessness such things as are displeasing to the Creator. Of whom it is rightly said, He ran, i. e, in doing evil, he had no let or hindrance from adversity. Concerning whom it is yet further added; And he is armed with a stout neck [pingui cervice]. ‘A stout neck’ is wealthy pride, as being buttressed up with overflowing stores, as it were with a quantity of flesh. And so the bad man with power ‘is armed against God
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with a stout neck,’ in that swollen with temporal good things he is set up as by a great bulk of flesh against the precepts of truth. For what is poverty but a sort of leanness, and what is the abundance of stores but the fatness of the present life? And so he lifts himself up ‘with a stout neck against God,’ who takes temporal abundance to serve the end of pride. For the powerful and wicked have this thing proper to them, that being engrossed with deceitful riches they neglect the true riches of God, and in proportion as they investigate the less what is true, they are the more lifted up by false acquisitions. For the care and concern of earthly things, because it engrosses, utterly blinds the sight. Whence it is yet further added with justness,
Ver. 27. Fatness hath covered his face. [xliv]
50. For the sight is in the face, wherein too is the first more honourable part of the body. Therefore the best of the mind is not unjustly denoted by the face, which wherever we turn it, there we see. And so ‘fatness covers the face,’ in that the earnestly coveted abundance of earthly good things presses down the eyes of the mind, and that which should be honourable [A. B. C. D. more honorable] in them, it makes foul in the eyes of God, in that it weighs it to the earth with a multitude of concerns. Who do not however find it enough that they themselves should be full of pride, unless those too that are united to them, themselves also are made boastful by their fatness. For there are some who on being countenanced by the patronage of the greater ones, are set up with pride, and on the strength of their power uplifted against the destitute. Hence it is yet further subjoined;
And the fat hangs from his sides.
[xlv]
51. Because the fat is the richness of the flesh, and we are accustomed to call those persons the ‘sides’ [latera] of the rich, whom we see united to them, ‘the fat hangs down from his sides,’ in that every one that attaches himself to the powerful and wicked man is by his power himself also as it were swollen with the fatness of good things, so that following the wickedness of an evil patron he has no fear of God, he distresses the poor, whom he is able, and as much as he is able, and uplifts his heart on the strength of temporal glory. So when there is such an one who is attached to a powerful wicked man, ‘from his side,’ surely enough, ‘the fat hangs down. ’ Concerning whom it is yet further added;
Ver. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate communities, and in deserted houses, which are become heaps.
[xlvi]
52. For as a ‘community’ has its name from the intercourse of persons living together in common, ‘desolate communities’ are the actual throngs of wicked followers, by whose shouts this bad man is commended, when he is hurried away by his wickedness into evil deeds. Whence it is written; The sinner is commended in the desires of his soul, and he that doeth unrighteousness is blessed. [Ps. 10, 3] But ‘deserted houses’ are bad thoughts, which this wicked man inhabits, in that by all that he does he seeks to please the thoughts of the wicked. Which communities are rightly called ‘desolate,’ and houses ‘deserted,’ in that except Almighty God had abandoned the dealings and
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thoughts of such on account of their previous sins, they would never arrive at, the commission of worse ones. And it is well said, Which are reduced to heaps. For the ruined buildings of houses and cities make heaps; in that whilst the wicked severally are joined to one another for wicked deeds in confused courses of conduct, they shew without doubt, that they have fallen from the edifice of life. It goes on;
Ver. 29. He shall not be inhabited, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he send forth his root into the earth.
[xlvii]
53. That which is here expressed, He shall not be inhabited, I have found in some copies, He shall not be enriched; but the sense is not at variance, though the phraseology is at variance. For he is ‘enriched’ with virtuous attainments whose mind is ‘inhabited’ by Almighty God. But because the thought of the proud man is not ‘inhabited’ by the grace of his Maker, hereby surely he is not ‘enriched’ with virtues. On this account then that he is empty within, let it be said, He shall not be inhabited. But in respect to that which is swollen up without, being of a transitory nature, it is rightly added, Nor shall his substance continue. As though it were said in plain speech, ‘This which he seems to have outwardly passes away, and what was not capable of passing away, he has not within. ’ And hence it is fitly subjoined, Neither shall he send his root into the earth. Which if we take as spoken of this earth, doubtless it is plain, that the tree which has no root in the earth, is brought to the ground on being shaken by the very slightest gales of wind; and every proud man while he is ‘strengthened against the Almighty Lord,’ while he ‘runs with erected neck,’ and is ‘uplifted with a stout neck against his Maker,’ is seen to stand like a tree; but his standing is without root, in that as it were at a light breath, so at the stirring of the secret sentence, his life is rooted up. But if in this passage we take ‘the earth’ for the recompensing of the Eternal Country, concerning which the Prophet saith, My portion is in the land of the living [Ps. 142, 5], this wicked man does not ‘send forth his root in the earth,’ in that he never plants the thoughts of his heart into the desire of the eternal life. For what the root is to the tree, the same is the thought of his own heart to each one of mankind; for in the case of that which is seen outwardly, there is a holding by that which is not seen outwardly [al. ‘which (being) within is not seen. ’]. And hence it is said by the Prophet, Shall again take root downwardly, and bear fruit upwards. [Is. 37, 31] For when we stretch our thought in sympathizing with a poor neighbour; ‘we as it were send a root downwards, that we may bear the fruit of recompense above. ’ It follows;
Ver. 30. He shall not depart out of darkness. [xlviii]
54. If this proud man had been minded to turn back from sin to righteousness, he might ‘depart out of darkness. ’ But because he seeks not the light of righteousness, he does not depart out of darkness.
Thou wilt stretch forth Thy right hand to the work of Thine hands.
[xv]
19. As if he said in plain words; ‘For this reason Thy corruptible creature is able to hold fast unto incorruption, because he is lifted up by the hands of Thy power, and is kept by the grace of Thy
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regard, that he should hold fast. ’ For the human creature by this alone, that it is a creature, has it inherent in itself to sink down below itself, but man has obtained it from his Creator, that he should both be caught above himself by contemplation, and held fast in himself by incorruption. And so that the creature may not fall away beneath himself, but hold on in incorruption, he is lifted to the stedfastness of immutability by the right hand of His Maker. Moreover it may be that by the title of ‘the Right Hand’ the Son may be designated; in that, All things were made by Him. [John 1, 3] Thus Almighty God ‘stretched out His Right Hand to the work of His hands,’ because, that He might lift on high the human race, become refuse and grovelling in the lowest things, He sent the Only-Begotten One, made Incarnate for this end. By Whose Incarnation it has been vouchsafed to us that we, who fall into incorruption of our own will, should one time be enabled to answer God when He calls us in the glory of incorruption. Wherein who can estimate the bountifulness of Divine Mercy, that He should bring man after sin to such a height of glory? God takes account of the bad things we do, yet by the grace of His lovingkindness He remits them to us in mercy. And hence it is added;
Ver. 16. For now Thou numberest my steps, but Thou sparest my sins.
[xvi]
20. God ‘numbers our steps,’ when He marks each one of our several deeds for the recompensing them. For what is denoted by the steps, but each particular act of ours? Thus Almighty God both ‘numbers our steps’ and ‘spares our sins,’ in that He at once surveys our actions with exactness, and yet remits them in mercy to those that repent, Who both sees obduracy in those that sin, and yet softens it into penitence by preventing grace. Thus He ‘numbers sins,’ in that He turns us ourselves to bewail the several things which we have done. And He remits them in mercy, in that whilst we our own selves punish them, He Himself never judges them in the last reckoning, as Paul testifies, who saith, For if we should judge ourselves, we should not be judged. [1 Cor. 11, 31] Hence it is further added;
Ver. 17. Thou hast sealed up as it were in a bag my transgressions; but Thou hast healed mine iniquity.
[xvii]
21. Our ‘transgressions are sealed up as it were in a bag,’ in that that thing which we ourselves do in outward act, except we wash away by penance in the mean while, is kept in the secresy of God’s judgments under a kind of hiding, that one day it may also come forth out of the bag of secresy into the publicity of the Judgment. Hence it is said by Moses too; Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? In the day of vengeance I will repay them. [Deut. 32, 34] But when for the evil things that we have done, we are bruised with the stroke of discipline, and lament the same by penance, He ‘sealeth up,’ and ‘healeth’ our iniquity, in that He neither leaves things unpunished here, nor reserves them to be punished in the Judgment. Thus He ‘seals transgressions,’ in that He marks them with exactness here, to chastise them with the rod, but He ‘heals’ them, in that He wholly remits them in the stroke. Hence the iniquity of that persecutor of Him, whom He laid prostrate on the ground, He did also by sealing heal, seeing that He said concerning him to Ananias; He is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake. [Acts 9, 15] For to that man, whom on account of past transgressions He still
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threatens with future sufferings, what he had done wrong, surely He kept sealed in the heart; but as surely in so sealing He had healed his transgressions, in that He called him ‘a chosen vessel. ’ Or, surely, ‘our transgressions are sealed in a bag,’ when the evil things we have been guilty of, we reflect on continually with a heedful heart. For what is the heart of man, but God’s ‘bag? ’ wherein whilst we earnestly look to see how much we transgress, we carry our sins as it were ‘sealed up in God’s bag. ’ Did not David keep his sin ‘sealed up in a bag,’ when he said, For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. [Ps. 51, 3] And because the faults, which we are made acquainted with in reviewing and repeating, the pitiful Creator remits to us, after the ‘transgressions being sealed in a bag,’ it is rightly subjoined, But Thou hast healed mine iniquity: as if he said in plain speech, ‘What things Thou dost now seal, so that I in repenting should see, doubtless Thou doest it, that in the retribution they should never be seen. ’ It follows;
Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like way destroy man.
[xviii] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
22. This is very often the case, that upon rocks falling, a piece of rock is removed to other places; that waters wear stones, and little by little the ground is wasted by the washings of the flood: but we have need to make out with great diligence that which is brought in; and man Thou wilt in a like way destroy. For what is that, that to a mountain falling, a rock removed, a stone worn hollow, and ground consumed by the washing of the flood, the ruin of man is likened, but this, which we are plainly given to understand, that there are two sorts of temptations, one sort, which passes in the mind even of the good man by sudden accident, that he should be so tempted of a sudden, that by the unexpectedness of the event it should make him reel, and bring him to the ground, and that he does not see his falling, until after he has fallen; while there is another which comes by little and little into the mind, and by gentle suggestions corrupts the resisting soul, and not by its excessiveness but by its importunity wastes all the powers of righteousness therein? And so, whereas there is one sort of temptation, which by a sudden assault very often brings the good down to the ground, let it be said, And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place, i. e. the holy mind, whose place was righteousness, is by a sudden impulse removed into sin. Again, because there is another sort of temptation, which infuses itself gently into the heart of man, and wears and wastes all the hardness of its resolution, let it be said, The waters wear the stones; in this way, viz. that the unremitted and soft flatteries of lust suck away the hardness of the soul, and the slow and penetrating evil habit corrodes the hard and forcible purpose of the mind. Hence it is added, And by washing the ground is consumed little by little. For as when water flows in, ‘the ground is consumed little by little,’ so when bad habit creeps on [n] by gentle degrees, even the strong mind is engulphed. Hence it is well added, And Thou wilt in a like way destroy man, i. e. in this way, that when Thou by a righteous appointment sufferest temptation of a sudden to get the dominion over the mind of him, who is seen to have his stand on high, Thou causes; ‘the mountain to fall and slip away,’ and when the will is changed to evil, it is as if ‘the rock were removed to a new place,’ but whilst Thou lettest a gentle and fine yet unremitting temptation prevail over the minds of those, who are accounted strong, ‘the waters in a manner wear the stones, and by washing, the ground is consumed little by little,’ in that the hardness of the mind being subdued by gentle suggesting is made soft.
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23. Let us see how that David was a ‘high mountain,’ who was enabled to contemplate such great mysteries of God by the Spirit of prophecy; but let us mark how he ‘slipped down,’ by a sudden fall, who whilst walking on the solar, lusted after and carried off another man’s wife, and killed her husband with loss to his own army. Then ‘fell a mountain with a sudden fall,’ when that mind which was used to dwell with heavenly mysteries, was overcome by sudden temptation, and brought under to such most monstrous pollution. And so ‘the rock was removed from its place,’ when the mind of the prophet being shut out from the mysteries of prophecy came to imagine filthy things. Let us see moreover how ‘the waters wear the stones, and by washing the ground is consumed little by little,’ in that Solomon by an immoderate intercourse and frequency with women was brought to this pass, that he built a temple to idols: and he who had before erected a temple to God, by frequency of lust, being even bowed down under misbelief, was not afraid to erect idol temples. And so it came to pass, that by unremitting wantonness of the flesh, he was brought even to misbelief of the spirit. What else then, but that the ‘waters did wear away the stone, and by washing the ground was consumed little by little,’ in that by the encroaching [surripiente] of sin as it flowed in little by little, the ground of his heart crumbled away unto wasting? Thus let blessed Job consider both sorts of temptation, whether the sudden and excessive, or the gentle and prolonged sort, let him contemplate the falls of his fellow-creatures, and from those things which take place outwardly let him catch the keynote of his contemplation within, saying, And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place: the waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is wasted; and Thou wilt in like manner destroy men; i. e. ‘as these things without sense at one time are brought to the ground suddenly, at one time are worn little by little by the softness of water being let in; so likewise him, whom Thou hast created a reasoning creature, Thou dost either overthrow by sudden temptation, or permittest to be worn and wasted by a long and gentle one;’ and that reasoning creature he directly describes in the following words, saying,
Ver. 20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little space, that the might pass by for ever. [xix] [LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
24. Man has been ‘strengthened here for a little space,’ in that he has received here powers of living for a while, that he should for ever pass away thither, where no end should bound and shut in his life, but in this moment’s space where he has been ‘strengthened,’ he extracts that wherefrom in the everlasting world he may either find how always to have joy, or not ever escape the punishments he has entered upon. And for this reason, that ‘he has been strengthened for a little space,’ to ‘pass away for everlasting,’ it is fitly added immediately;
Thou wilt change his countenance, and send him away.
[xx]
25. ‘The face of man is changed,’ when his form is wasted by death; but ‘he is sent away,’ in that from those things which he kept willingly he is necessitated to pass away to the eternal world against his will, and while he is brought thereunto, these things which he held long and thought on, how it will be with them now left behind him he knows nothing. Hence it is added;
Ver. 21. Whether his sons be in honour or dishonour, he perceiveth not. [xxi]
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26. For as they, who are still living, know nothing of the souls of the dead, in what place they are held; so the dead, concerning the life of those living after them in the flesh, know not at all how it is ordered; in that both the life of the spirit is far from the life of the flesh, and as the corporeal and incorporeal are things different in kind, so are they parted in knowledge. Which however is not to be imagined concerning holy souls, in that they which behold the brightness of Almighty God within, we cannot for a moment suppose that there is any thing without that they know not [b]. But because carnal persons bestow their chief affection on their children, blessed Job declares that they are hereafter ignorant of that, which they loved here with all their heart, so that ‘whether their sons be in honour or dishonour they know not,’ whereas their care for these was always preying upon their minds.
[MORAL INTERPRETATION]
Which however if it is to be understood in a spiritual sense, with no unfitness by the title of sons we have works denoted, as Paul saith of woman, Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing. [1 Tim. 2, 15] Not that a woman, who being devoted to continency never bears children, shall not be saved, but she is said to be ‘saved by childbearing,’ because by the operation of good works she is united to everlasting salvation. Thus the children in honour are good deeds, and the children in dishonour are bad deeds. And often man strives to do things with a good intention, yet by reason of the many occasions that creep upon him, how his actions are accounted of in the sight of Almighty God is a thing uncertain. And so ‘whether his sons be in honour or dishonour he perceiveth not,’ in that his works being sifted with a searching scrutiny, whether they be approved or condemned he cannot tell. Thus here man is placed in the painfulness of labour, and thither he is brought in the fearfulness of misgiving. Hence it is yet further subjoined concerning the labour of the present life itself,
Ver. 22. But his flesh while he liveth shall have pain, and His soul shall mourn over himself. [xxii]
27. Concerning the married Paul saith, Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh. [1 Cor. 7, 28] But they may ‘have trouble in the flesh here,’ who are even now leading spiritual lives. Wherefore then is it said as it were in a special sense, that there is ‘trouble of the flesh’ to married persons, seeing that it is not far removed even from the life of the spiritual; excepting that those commonly meet with worse troubles from the flesh, who delight themselves with the pleasures of the flesh? And it is well said, And his soul within him shall mourn over himself; in that whosoever desires to rejoice in himself, by this alone is henceforth in woe, viz. that he has gone far from the true joy. For the true joy of the soul is the Creator. Therefore it is meet that man should ever find in himself sorrow, who, forsaking His Creator, sought joy in himself. It proceeds;
Chap. xv. 1. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind, and fill his belly with burning?
[xxiii] [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
28. We have already said frequently that blessed Job bears a type of the Holy Church universal, and that his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who as it were on the plea of defence of the Lord
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find occasion of foolish talking, and let loose insulting words against good men; to whom all is displeasing that is thought by the faithful, as though it were uttered to the wind. Whence it is said now, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind? Nor do they account the words of the good as the sayings of reason, but as the stingings of madness. Whence it is added, And shall he fill his belly with burning? in that those things even which they know themselves to say by way of insult, they are ever bent to palliate, as has been said, on the ground of defending the Lord.
Whence Eliphaz adds;
Thou reprovest with words him that is not equal to thee, and thou speakest what is not expedient for thee.
[xxiv]
29. Now they suppose that no one has the fear of the Lord, saving him whom they can draw into the foolishness of their own confession. Hence he adds, Yea, thou castest off fear, and hast taken, prayer before God. ‘Taken’ means ‘taken away;’ as if he said in plain terms, ‘Presuming on Thine own righteousness, thou scornest to implore the grace of Thy Creator. ’ For when heretics do not find real evils to urge against the good, they feign things to reproach them with, that they may seem righteous, and it very often happens, that they come to open words of insult. Whence it is still further added,
For thine iniquity teacheth, thy mouth, and thou followest the tongue of the crafty.
30. ‘Iniquity teaches the mouth,’ when there is conceived by a bad life somewhat to be spoken of a worse kind. Now because blessed Job was free in speech in proportion as he was holy in action, by his friends, who hold the type of heretics, he is found fault with at once on the grounds of a wicked life and of a bold mouth, so that it should be said, Thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth. As if it were said to him in plain words, ‘What thou speakest wickedly, thou hast learnt of a more wicked life. ’ But it often happens that heretics, whilst in seeming they venerate God, oppose His mysteries, and they think it humility if they deny the truth. For there are some, who imagine that they are bringing injury upon God, if they confess that He took true flesh, or if they should think that He was capable of really dying for us in the flesh. And whilst they endeavour as it were to bestow upon God a greater degree of honour, they are enforced to deny the real praises of His goodness. For in praise of His charity what is there more efficacious, than that in our behalf He should make those things meet to Himself for the undertaking them, which seem for Him unworthy. But Holy Church confesses His very and true Flesh, His very and true Death, but in declaring these things she is thought by Heretics to put an indignity upon God. Whence it is said now, And thou followest the tongue of them that blaspheme. And if any piece of adversity befall her in this world, they say that it was brought upon her by this very injuriousness of her confession. Hence it is yet further added; Ver. 6. Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips shall answer thee.
[xxvi]
31. For because they suppose that the evils of adversity break out in consequence of the erroneousness of confession; that say that ‘her own lips shall answer her,’ so that fault of utterances should be the cause of the scourge. But sometime they desire to repress it as if by reasoning; whence Eliphaz sets himself to reprove blessed Job as it were on principles of reason, saying,
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Ver. 7, 8. Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Hast thou
heard the secret of God? and shall His wisdom be inferior to thee?
[xxvii]
32. As if He said in plainer words, ‘Thou, who speakest of the Eternal One, consider that thou art a creature of time. Thou that arguest concerning His wisdom, remember that Thou knowest not His counsel. ’ But that Heretics for this take up the words of the defence of the Lord, that they may appear to be learned, and whilst they seem to defend the glory of God, are making known their knowledge to men, the very words of Eliphaz subjoined bear witness, who began indeed to speak of the wisdom of God, but immediately fell into self-elation, saying,
Ver. 9. What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us?
Which same sentences plainly shew in what exaltation of mind all that comes forth, which sounds as if it were for defence of the Lord. It goes on;
Ver. 10. With us are both the gray headed and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
33. That all Heretics are gone out of the Holy Church Universal, John testifies, when he says, They went out from us, but they were not of us. [1 John 2, 19] But that those things which they maintain they may recommend to the weak minds of their fellow-creatures as on the grounds of antiquity, they testify that they have ancient fathers, and the very Doctors of the Church themselves they declare are the masters of their school; and whilst they look down upon present preachers, they pride themselves with unfounded presumption on the tutorage of the ancient fathers, so that they avouch that the things they themselves assert the old fathers held as well, in order that what they are not able to build up in truth and right, they may strengthen as by the authority of those. But because it is written, Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth, oftentimes Holy Church travails with countless adversities in this life, and the life of the children of perdition is let to go free of the scourge, in proportion as it is not reserved for any rewards. But Heretics seeing the tribulations of Holy Church, look down upon her, and fancy that she is bruised by such a multitude of strokes, in due of a false creed [professionis]. Hence it is yet further added;
Ver. 11. Is it a great thing that God should console thee? But thine evil words prevent this. [xxix]
34. As if he said to him in plain words; ‘If thou wouldest amend thy profession of faith, thou mightest long ago have had consolation in thy scourges. ’ It goes on;
Ver. 12. Why does thine heart lift thee up, and hast thou thine eyes astonished as thinking of great things?
[xxx]
35. Often the mind of the righteous is so suspended in contemplating things on high, that outwardly their face seems to have been struck with stupefaction. But because Heretics are not taught to enforce the power of contemplation in secret, they think that it is done by the just, and those that are imbued with a right understanding, more in hypocrisy than in truth, in that what they
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cannot themselves obtain the possession of, they do not suppose exists in others in a genuine way. It goes on;
Ver. 13. Why dost thy spirit swell against God, that thou lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
[xxxi]
36. Very often when the righteous are afflicted with any woes, they are forced to confess their works, as blessed Job had done, who after just living was pressed down by the strokes of the rod; but when the unrighteous hear their sayings, they think that they are uttered in self-exaltation rather than in truth. For they weigh the words of the righteous by their own feelings, and do not think that good words can be said in a humble spirit. For as it is a great sin, for a man to ascribe to himself what there is not, so it is commonly no sin at all if he speaks with humility the good that there is. Hence it often happens that the just and unjust have words that are like, but always a heart that is widely unlike, and the same sayings for which the Lord is offended by the unrighteous, He is even propitiated by the righteous. Thus the Pharisee when he entered the temple said, I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess. [Luke 18, 12] But the publican went out justified more than he. Hezekiah too, the king, when he was afflicted with sickness of the body, and brought to the last point of life, said with his heart pierced in prayer, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, Nor yet did the Lord disregard this confession of his perfectness, or refuse him, whom He immediately heard effectually in his prayers. See, the Pharisee justified himself in act, and Hezekiah maintained himself to be just in thought as well, and by the same act by which the one offended, the other propitiated God. Wherefore then was this, but that Almighty God estimates the words of each by the thoughts within, and in His ear those are not high, which are uttered with a lowly heart? Hence blessed Job, where he put forward his deeds, did not in the least degree swell out against God, in that those things which he had really done, he spoke with a humble spirit. Now Heretics are accustomed to mix some true points with the statements of their erroneous persuasions. And the friends of blessed Job, though in the reproving of him they are altogether deceived, may yet even say some things true, which they learnt by frequent communication with him, whose words were they all to be contradicted, the Apostle Paul would never have brought forward the sentence of Eliphaz saying, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. [1 Cor. 3, 19] And so, because those things which they say right, they do not rightly say against blessed Job, let us in their sayings at once tread under our feet the mischief of indiscretion, and sift the marrow of rightness. It goes on;
Ver. 14. What is man, that he should be clean?
[xxxii] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
37. For hereby alone that he is called ‘man’ he is described as earthly and weak; for man is so named [‘homo’ from ‘humus,’ as Hebrew ‘Adam’] from the earth. And how is it possible for him to be free from stain, who being made of earth of his own will fell into infirmity? where it is added; And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? For the first piece of unrighteousness the woman proffered to the man in Paradise. And so how shall he appear righteous, who was born of her that proved the bidder of unrighteousness? It goes on;
Ver. 15. Behold, among His saints there is no one that is unchangeable; the heavens are not clean in His sight.
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[xxxiii] [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION]
38. He repeated that with the title of ‘the heavens,’ which he before denoted by the appellation of the ‘Saints. ’ For it is written concerning those very Saints; The heavens are telling the glory of God [Ps. 19, 1]; all of whom have by nature in themselves changeableness proper to them, but while they earnestly desire to attach themselves always to the unchangeable ‘Truth,’ in attaching themselves they bring it to pass that they become unchangeable; and whilst they keep themselves fixed thereto with a full affection, they one day obtain that being carried above themselves, they get the better of this, that in themselves they were changeable.
For what is changeableness but a kind of death? which while it changes one thing into another, as it were kills that which was, that that should begin to be which was not. And it is written concerning the Author of all things, Who only hath unchangeableness [1 Tim. 6, 16], in that He only is unchangeable in Himself. Concerning whom it is written by James; With Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of changing [Jam. 1, 17]. For changeableness itself is a shadow, which if it altered the light by any changes, would as it were obscure it. But because in God changeableness entereth not, ‘no shadow of changing’ intercepts His Light. Now it is well said, the heavens are not clean in His sight, in that by themselves before the strict cognizance of God not even they can be clean to perfection, who are preachers of cleanness, as John testifies, who saith, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. [1 John 1, 8] If then ‘among His Saints there is no one unchangeable, and the heavens are not clean in His sight,’ who may presume in himself upon the practice of righteousness? Hence it is further added;
Ver. 16. How much more abominable and useless is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? [xxxiv]
39. He who first said it was impossible that man should of himself be clean from sin, and righteous, calls him ‘abominable’ and ‘useless;’ ‘abominable’ on account of the uncleanness of his stain, but ‘useless’ on account of the unrighteousness of an imperfect life; who however may be understood as ‘abominable and useless’ in another sense. For often a bad man seems to do some things rightly, but by those things which are wrong, even those which are right belonging to him are brought to nought; and because the evil ones are very displeasing to God, neither are those pleasing which seem to be good. And so he, that is ‘abominable’ before God in his evil things, is ‘useless’ in the good; in that whilst he shews himself an object of execration to God by wicked deeds, neither is that which seems right proceeding from him well-pleasing. And it is well said, Which drinketh iniquity like water. For what is eaten is swallowed not without delay, seeing that it is chewed in order to be swallowed; but what is drunk has no hindrance to be swallowed, in proportion as it hath again no need to be chewed. And so because sin is committed by the foolish man without any drawing back, iniquity is drunk like water. For because he does unlawful things without fear, he swallows the draught of iniquity without let or hindrance. It goes on;
Ver. 17. I will shew it thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare to thee.
[xxxv]
40. All arrogant persons have this proper to them, that when they have a right notion, though the thing be little, they wrest it to serve the turn of pride, and by the same act whereby from understanding they might to themselves be raised higher, from swoln pride they only fall into the
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pit of self exalting, account themselves better instructed than the learned, and they exact respect for themselves from their betters, and stand upon it to teach as with authority those that are holier men. Hence it is now said, I will shew thee, hear me. And because he teaches with less authority who tells things that he has heard, than he who tells those things which he has seen, in order that Eliphaz may claim to himself the stronger kind of authority, he says, And that which I have seen I will declare. But because Heretics are sometimes confounded by their fathers being condemned, and yet bring forward as it were with authority the sentences of those, by whose folly they are deservedly rejected; the very audacity of Heretics is itself rightly introduced, when it is said,
Ver. 18. Wise men confess, and do not hide their fathers.
[xxxvi]
41. And at once they leap out in praise of them, and boast that they had been as it were the only rulers of the Church. Hence it is yet further added, Unto whom alone the earth was given, and the stranger passed not among them. They think that ‘the earth was given to their fathers alone,’ in that the masters of their erroneous teaching alone really had rule in the Church. And who is termed ‘the stranger,’ but the Apostate Angel? Whence too it is said by the Psalmist concerning all the wicked spirits together; For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. [Ps. 54, 3] And so Heretics, because they think that the hearts of their doctors were not subject to the Apostate Angel, say that ‘the stranger passed not among them. ’ For which same stranger to pass through each individual, is his putting wicked thoughts into his heart. And hence it is said by the voice of the Prophet of the evil spirits arrayed against the soul standing erect, Which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over. [Is. 51, 23] But whereas Eliphaz the Temanite, when going to tell some things, wishes to be heard, though he knows many things which were proper to be said, and yet does not know that they were not proper to be said to blessed Job, let us hear the sentences which he uttered against blessed Job. For neither ought we to consider the person to whom, but only what it was that he said. It goes on;
Ver. 20. The wicked man feels proud all his days. [xxxvii]
42. The Elect also are apt to feel pride in some of their thoughts and actions. But because they are Elect persons, they cannot feel pride all their days, because before they end their lives, they turn their hearts from self-exaltation to the fearing of humility. But ‘the wicked man feels pride all his days,’ in that he so brings his life to an end, that he never departs from self-exalting. He looks round him on all that is flourishing in time, and he neglects to consider whither he is being carried for ever. He puts his trust in the life of the flesh, and thinks that those things continue for long, which he holds at the moment. His mind is set firm in self-exaltation, every one of his kin is brought into contempt, how suddenly death creeps upon him he never takes thought, how certain his happiness he never reflects; whereas if he did but turn his eyes to the uncertainty of fleeting life, he would never keep for a certainty things uncertain. And hence it is well added;
And the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
[xxxviii]
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43. For he ought not to have felt pride at all, even if he might have had the number of his years assured, so that knowing how long he should live, he might know beforehand when to withdraw himself from self-exaltation. But since the present life is always uncertain, death’s creeping upon him ought always to be apprehended the more, insomuch as it can never be foreseen. And he rightly calls the pride of the wicked, ‘tyranny. ’ For he is justly styled a tyrant, who in the commonwealth takes the lead without right. And be it known that every proud man, according to his several measure, exercises tyranny. For what sometimes one person practises in the commonwealth, in this case, by power of high office accorded to him, another in a province, another in a city, another in his own family, this same another by concealed wickedness practises to himself in the thought of his own heart. Nor does the Lord regard what amount of evil each person may be able to do, but what amount he may have the mind to do. And when the power is wanting without, he is, a tyrant within himself, whom iniquity lords it over within; for though he does not oppress his neighbours outwardly, yet inwardly he seeks to possess power, in order to oppress them; and because Almighty God considers the hearts of men, the wicked man has already done in his eyes the thing that he conceived. Now our Creator willed that our end should be hidden from us with this view, that whereas we are uncertain when we may die, we may always be found ready for death. Hence after it has been said, All his days the wicked man feels proud, he rightly adds, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain. As if it were said in plain words, ‘Wherefore is he lifted up as if on the grounds of a certainty, the tenure of whose life is held under the penalty of uncertainty? ’ But Almighty God not only reserves future punishments for those that live wickedly, but even here, where they go wrong, he besets their hearts with punishments, that by this alone, viz. that they sin, they should be smiting themselves, and that always trembling, always full of suspicion, they should be afraid of meeting with those mischiefs from others, which they remember themselves to have done to others. Whence it is yet further added of this wicked one;
Ver. 21. A dreadful sound is alway in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspecteth plots. [xxxix]
44. But there is nothing more happy than simplicity of heart, in that in proportion as it shews forth innocency towards others, there is nothing it dreads to meet with from others. For it has its simplicity as a kind of citadel of strength, nor is it suspicious of undergoing what it has no remembrance of having itself done. Whence it is well said by Solomon, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. Who also says again, A secure mind is like a perpetual feast. For the mere repose of security is like the continuance of refreshment. Whereas, on the other hand, the evil mind is always set in pains and labours, since it is either contriving mischiefs that it may bring down, or fearing lest these be brought down upon it by others; and whatever plot it hatches against neighbours, it is afraid of being hatched by neighbours against itself. It is on every side full of suspicions, on every side full of alarms. Everyone that occurs to mind is supposed to be making out things hostile to him, and so he, to whom the repose of security is wanting, has surely ‘a dreadful sound in his ears’ always. And it often happens that his neighbour, whoever he be, speaks to him with a single intention, and designs nothing hostile, but ‘when there is peace, he suspecteth plots;’ in that he, who is always dealing craftily, calculates that there is not single dealing towards himself. And whereas it is written, When the wicked man cometh into the pit of sinners, he contemneth, he being encompassed with the darkness of his iniquity henceforth despairs of light. Hence too it follows;
Ver. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
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[xl]
45. For because he believes himself to be on all sides stricken from ambush, despairing of salvation, he is ever growing on in wickedness. Now there are times too when this ungodly man turns his eyes to judgments from above as well, and dreads their coming upon him. But whilst he seeks the wages of the present life, these same judgments which he had begun to fear, being conquered by the madness of avarice, he sets at nought. And be thinks indeed that it is possible he may die in sin, but yet he does not cease from sin. Hence it is subjoined;
Ver. 28. When he has stirred himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready in his hand.
[xli]
46. For ‘bread’ is the wages of the present life, and ‘the day of darkness’ is taken for the time of vengeance. And so in the course of his conduct, the wicked man at times weighs well the present wrath of the Judge Above, but he is not diverted from wickedness, so that it too should be itself diverted from his destruction. But his conscience accusing him, he fears to be smitten, yet be is ever increasing that whereby he should be smitten. He makes slight of his return, he despairs of pardon, he carries himself high in sin, yet he has fear within, a witness of his wickedness. And though he seem outwardly to be doing wicked things with a bold front, yet for these in his own heart he is untrained to tremble. Whence it is written; For whereas wickedness is timorous, she gives witness to condemnation. [Wisd. 17, 11] For when a man does unlawful things, he is in dread of the thing that he does; and the open witness for his condemning is the very fearfulness of wickedness itself, in that both the thing that is done is feared, and yet the evil that is feared is not overcome. Of which it is yet further added,
Ver. 24. Trouble shall make him afraid, straits shall besiege him, as a king ready to the battle. [xlii]
47. In all that the wicked man does, he is hedged in with anguish, and tribulation, and straits; in that his soul is confounded with anxiety and misgiving. One man secretly longs to seize another’s goods by force, and he toils and strains in the thoughts of his heart, that he may not be found out. Another man, forsaking truth, makes up his mind to tell a lie, that he may deceive the mind of those that hear him; but what great labour it is to guard with sufficient heed, that his deceit itself may not be found out! For he sets before his eyes what answer may be made to him by those that know the truth, and with great effort of thought he makes out how by the appliances of falsehood he may surpass the evidences of truth. He cloaks himself about on this side and on that, and against that wherein he might have been found out, he looks about for an answer resembling truth, whereas if he had been minded to tell the truth, assuredly he might have done it without pains. For the path of truth is smooth, and the road of falsehood grievous. And hence it is said by the Prophet, They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and wearied themselves to commit iniquity. [Jer. 9, 5] Therefore it is well said, Trouble shall make him afraid, and straits besiege him; in that in himself he is undone in the toilsomeness of fear, who forsakes the way of truth, which is the companion of security. And he is rightly compared to a king prepared for battle, seeing that in that very evil that he does he is at once alarmed and presses on; at once made to tremble by conscience, and to pant
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from desire; fears, and swells high; is scared with misgivings, and lifts up his spirit in audacity. Moreover, we are to know that ‘a king who is prepared for battle’ is so apprehensive against the enemy, that he also fears for that very army which he is leading, lest it should be seduced, lest by the desertion of his soldiers he be laid open to the darts of the enemy. And so ‘the wicked man is besieged with straits, like a king ready to the battle;’ in that whilst practising false things and uttering false words, he dreads lest he should lose his own soldiers; i. e. the appliances of falsehoods; and lie exposed to the darts of truth, if it chance that that be lacking to him, which he might have to oppose on the side of deceit. But though the Spirit trembles, though conscience accuses, yet the wicked man is mastered by his own passion; and forcing under fear, he assumes hardihood from his iniquities. And often when revenge is set before his mind, he lifts himself up against God; he determines to undergo any inflictions at His hands, so long as in this life, while he has the power, he may do all that he pleases. And hence it is added;
Ver. 25, 26. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty; He runneth upon Him with erected neck, and he is armed with a stout neck.
[xliii]
48. These things are more plainly understood of the head of the wicked himself, i. e. Antichrist, who, while lifting up his hand against God, is said to be ‘strengthened,’ in that for a little time he is permitted to be exalted; that in proportion as he is let to glory for a while, he may be punished the more pitilessly for everlasting; but seeing that all the wicked are his members, this, which he then in the end of the world shall do alone in a preeminent way, let us see how it is done now by each one of the wicked severally. Thus there are some who even if they do ever set themselves to do things in opposition to the judgment of Almighty God, disabled by the very impossibility of putting their will in execution, look to themselves, are made to turn themselves to Him Whom they were minded to despise, and they, who might have gone far from Him, if they had been able to execute what they were minded to do, are sometimes hereby saved, because they could not execute what they wickedly had the mind for; and hence being brought back to themselves, they see what condition they are of, and mourn that they had the mind to do things contrary to ‘Truth. ’ And there are some who by the just judgment of God are suffered to execute with worse wickedness that which they wickedly desire to do in opposition to God. And whilst an evil disposition inflames, and power strengthens them, they are henceforth unable to attain to know themselves in their erring course, in proportion as in the affluence of their fortunes they are by power ever being drawn out of themselves. Concerning the bent of whose mind it is here said, For he stretcheth forth his hand against God, and is strengthened against the Almighty. For ‘to stretch forth the hand against God,’ is to persevere in evil doing, setting at nought the judgments of God. And because God is then more wroth, when He suffers that to be fulfilled, which thing ought not to have been conceived at all in thought, this wicked man is ‘strengthened against the Almighty,’ in that he is suffered to prosper in his wicked course of conduct, so that he should both do wicked things, and yet live in happiness, Of whom it is yet further added, He runneth upon Him with erected neck.
49. To ‘run against God with erected neck’ is to commit with shamelessness such things as are displeasing to the Creator. Of whom it is rightly said, He ran, i. e, in doing evil, he had no let or hindrance from adversity. Concerning whom it is yet further added; And he is armed with a stout neck [pingui cervice]. ‘A stout neck’ is wealthy pride, as being buttressed up with overflowing stores, as it were with a quantity of flesh. And so the bad man with power ‘is armed against God
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with a stout neck,’ in that swollen with temporal good things he is set up as by a great bulk of flesh against the precepts of truth. For what is poverty but a sort of leanness, and what is the abundance of stores but the fatness of the present life? And so he lifts himself up ‘with a stout neck against God,’ who takes temporal abundance to serve the end of pride. For the powerful and wicked have this thing proper to them, that being engrossed with deceitful riches they neglect the true riches of God, and in proportion as they investigate the less what is true, they are the more lifted up by false acquisitions. For the care and concern of earthly things, because it engrosses, utterly blinds the sight. Whence it is yet further added with justness,
Ver. 27. Fatness hath covered his face. [xliv]
50. For the sight is in the face, wherein too is the first more honourable part of the body. Therefore the best of the mind is not unjustly denoted by the face, which wherever we turn it, there we see. And so ‘fatness covers the face,’ in that the earnestly coveted abundance of earthly good things presses down the eyes of the mind, and that which should be honourable [A. B. C. D. more honorable] in them, it makes foul in the eyes of God, in that it weighs it to the earth with a multitude of concerns. Who do not however find it enough that they themselves should be full of pride, unless those too that are united to them, themselves also are made boastful by their fatness. For there are some who on being countenanced by the patronage of the greater ones, are set up with pride, and on the strength of their power uplifted against the destitute. Hence it is yet further subjoined;
And the fat hangs from his sides.
[xlv]
51. Because the fat is the richness of the flesh, and we are accustomed to call those persons the ‘sides’ [latera] of the rich, whom we see united to them, ‘the fat hangs down from his sides,’ in that every one that attaches himself to the powerful and wicked man is by his power himself also as it were swollen with the fatness of good things, so that following the wickedness of an evil patron he has no fear of God, he distresses the poor, whom he is able, and as much as he is able, and uplifts his heart on the strength of temporal glory. So when there is such an one who is attached to a powerful wicked man, ‘from his side,’ surely enough, ‘the fat hangs down. ’ Concerning whom it is yet further added;
Ver. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate communities, and in deserted houses, which are become heaps.
[xlvi]
52. For as a ‘community’ has its name from the intercourse of persons living together in common, ‘desolate communities’ are the actual throngs of wicked followers, by whose shouts this bad man is commended, when he is hurried away by his wickedness into evil deeds. Whence it is written; The sinner is commended in the desires of his soul, and he that doeth unrighteousness is blessed. [Ps. 10, 3] But ‘deserted houses’ are bad thoughts, which this wicked man inhabits, in that by all that he does he seeks to please the thoughts of the wicked. Which communities are rightly called ‘desolate,’ and houses ‘deserted,’ in that except Almighty God had abandoned the dealings and
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thoughts of such on account of their previous sins, they would never arrive at, the commission of worse ones. And it is well said, Which are reduced to heaps. For the ruined buildings of houses and cities make heaps; in that whilst the wicked severally are joined to one another for wicked deeds in confused courses of conduct, they shew without doubt, that they have fallen from the edifice of life. It goes on;
Ver. 29. He shall not be inhabited, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he send forth his root into the earth.
[xlvii]
53. That which is here expressed, He shall not be inhabited, I have found in some copies, He shall not be enriched; but the sense is not at variance, though the phraseology is at variance. For he is ‘enriched’ with virtuous attainments whose mind is ‘inhabited’ by Almighty God. But because the thought of the proud man is not ‘inhabited’ by the grace of his Maker, hereby surely he is not ‘enriched’ with virtues. On this account then that he is empty within, let it be said, He shall not be inhabited. But in respect to that which is swollen up without, being of a transitory nature, it is rightly added, Nor shall his substance continue. As though it were said in plain speech, ‘This which he seems to have outwardly passes away, and what was not capable of passing away, he has not within. ’ And hence it is fitly subjoined, Neither shall he send his root into the earth. Which if we take as spoken of this earth, doubtless it is plain, that the tree which has no root in the earth, is brought to the ground on being shaken by the very slightest gales of wind; and every proud man while he is ‘strengthened against the Almighty Lord,’ while he ‘runs with erected neck,’ and is ‘uplifted with a stout neck against his Maker,’ is seen to stand like a tree; but his standing is without root, in that as it were at a light breath, so at the stirring of the secret sentence, his life is rooted up. But if in this passage we take ‘the earth’ for the recompensing of the Eternal Country, concerning which the Prophet saith, My portion is in the land of the living [Ps. 142, 5], this wicked man does not ‘send forth his root in the earth,’ in that he never plants the thoughts of his heart into the desire of the eternal life. For what the root is to the tree, the same is the thought of his own heart to each one of mankind; for in the case of that which is seen outwardly, there is a holding by that which is not seen outwardly [al. ‘which (being) within is not seen. ’]. And hence it is said by the Prophet, Shall again take root downwardly, and bear fruit upwards. [Is. 37, 31] For when we stretch our thought in sympathizing with a poor neighbour; ‘we as it were send a root downwards, that we may bear the fruit of recompense above. ’ It follows;
Ver. 30. He shall not depart out of darkness. [xlviii]
54. If this proud man had been minded to turn back from sin to righteousness, he might ‘depart out of darkness. ’ But because he seeks not the light of righteousness, he does not depart out of darkness.
