Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

let not his name be repeated in the streets.

xxi. 25. It is deserving of our notice, that Bildad the Shuhil

^"°*""- so expresses himself of each one of the wicked, that his wore are secretly directed against the head of all the wicked; f( the head of the wicked is the devil. And he in his ow person having in the last times entered into that vessel ( perdition, shall be called ' Antichrist,' who will endeavour 1 spread his name far and wide, which same every individui now likens himself to, when, by the memorial of an earthl name, he strives to extend the gloriousness of his praise, an exults in transitory reputation. Therefore let these wore be so understood of each one of the wicked, that they t referred in a particular manner to the head of the wicke himself. Therefore let him say, Let his remembrance peris from the earth, and let not his name be repeated in tl

' piatca's/ reels'. For' streets are called by a Greek term from widtJ

*^'''''", and so Antichrist aims to settle the remembrance of himse

'broad.' upon earth, when he longs, if it were possible, to remain f( ever in temporal glory. He delights to have ' his nan celebrated in the street,' whilst he spreads the working of h wickedness far and wide. But whereas this wickedness of h is not permitted to be reared to a height for a long time, 1 it be said. Let his remembrance perisli from the earth, ah let not his name be repeated in the street; i. e. that 1 should both quickly part with the fame of his earthly pow€ and lose all the pleasures of his name, which he had spre< far and wide in the shortlived prosperity of time. It goes oi

Ver. 18. He shall drive him from light into darkness.

xxiii. 26. lie is led ' from light to darkness,' when for honour the present life, he is condemned to eternal punishment

And hence it is more plainly added.

And translate him out of the world.

For he is ' translated out of the world,' when upon tl

.Judge above appearing, he is taken away from this worl in which he wickedly glories; and for this, that when the ei of the world breaks in upon him, he is condemned with i his followers, it is rightly subjoined;

with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy him with the ' brightness of His coming. And so, then, whereas his wickedness is ended together with the settled constitution of the world, there shall be * no offspring of him left in his people,' in that both he himself and his people along with him are equally forced to punishment; and all the wicked, who by his evil advising were born in bad courses, by the brightness of the Lord's coming are struck with eternal destruction together with that head of theirs. And there is 'no offspring of him remaining in the world,' in that the strict Judge ends the iniquities of that one simultaneously with the end of the world. Now that these words are to be understood expressly of Antichrist is shewn, when it is added;

Ver. 20. In his days the last shall be astonied, and horror shall seize on the first.

27. For he will then let himself loose against the righteous xxiii. with such a measure of iniquity, that even the hearts of the very Elect shall be struckwith no small consternation. Whence it is written, Insomuch that if it loere possible, they shall de- Mat.24, ceive the very Elect. Which, clearly, is said, not because the '^^' Elect shall fall, but because they shall tremble with terrible alarms. Now at that time both the latest Elect and the first Elect are described as maintaining the conflict for righteousness against him, in that both they that shall be found among the Elect at the end of the world, are destined to be laid low in the death of the flesh, and they too who proceeded from the former divisions of the world, i. e. Enoch and Elijah, shall be brought back amongst men, and shall be exposed to the savageness of his cruelty stiJl in their mortal flesh. This one's forces let loose in such terrible power, ' the latest are astonied at, and the first do dread,' in that, though in respect of this, viz, that he is lifted up by a spirit of pride, they despise all his temporal power, yet in respect of this, that they are themselves still in mortal flesh, wherein they are liable to suffer tem])oral anguish, they dread the very punishments, which they bear with resolution; so that there is in them at one and the same time both constancy

Job 18, derived from virtue, and alarm proceeding from the flesh; in ■ ^'' that thouLdi thev be of the number of the Elect, so that they cannot be overcome by torments, yet h'om this only that they are men, they fear the very torments, that they overcome. So let it be said, In his days the last shall be astonied^ and terror shall seize on thejirst. In that he shall then shew forth such signs, and do things so cruel and hard hearted, as to force them to astonishment, whom he shall find at the end of the world, and to pierce with the pang of carnal death the first fathers, who are reserved for his extirpation. Therefore whereas he has described many particulars relating to all the wicked, or to the head of the wicked himself, he immediately atlds with a general description,

Ver. 21. Surely, such are the duellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God. xxiv. 28. For he had said above; He shall drive him from liyht into darkness, and translate him out of the world; and upon subjoining his miseries, he added; Surely, such are the dicellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knotveth not God. In that he who is now lifted up from not knowing God, is then brought to his own ' dwellings,' when his own wickedness plunges him into woes; and one day he finds ' darkness his place,' who, while he made himself glad here in the counterfeit light of righteousness, was occupying the place of another. For bad men in all that they do in dissimulation, are striving to possess themselves of the righteous man's name of credit, as of another's place. Bui they are then brought to their own place, when they are tormented with everlasting fire, as the desert of their iniquity For here in all that they do they are ministering to then desire of winning praise, and by the semblance of gooc works, they are opening uHder the bosom of the mind tf avarice. So let the wicked man go now, and full blown witl complete equipments, let him build his habitations hen below, let him spread a name of glory, let him multiply estates, and delight himself in abundant stores, but when h( shall be brought to everlasting punishments, then surely h( shall know that ' such are the dwellings of the wicked, an( this is the place of him that knoweth not God.' Now Bilda( said this rightly, but he did not know who it was that h was saying it to. But the heart of a good man is seriouslv Book afflicted, when sentences are pronounced against him upon - an unfair estimate. Whence blessed Job directly answered, saying;

How long icill ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words '^

29. The sayings of the holy man, as we have already often xxv. said, are to be understood as spoken sometimes in his own ^'^'^• person, sometimes in the voice of the Head, and sometimes in a figure of the Church Universal. Now the soul of the righteous is deeply distressed, when those persons launch severe sentences against the good, who have not learned to lead good lives, and by the words of the mouth claim righteousness to themselves, to which in practice they are enemies. Whence to the Iriends of blessed Job, who, as we have already often said, bear a type of heretics, himself rightly answers, Hoto long will ye vex my soul, and wear me with ivords? For good men are ' worn' with the words of the wicked, when those swell out against them in words of the lips, who lie low either in a corrupt faith, or in bad habits. It goes on;

Lo, these ten times ye confound me.

30. On enumerating the successive times of the speeches xxvi. of Job's friends, we learn that as yet they had spoken but five times. But for this reason, that he had five times heard rebukes from them, and five times himself replied to their rebukes, he says that he had been ten times confounded; because both herein, viz. that he had been causelessly reproached, he suffered deeply, and in this, that he uttered words of instruction to those that gave no ear, he miderwent confusion. And so, while in heaving he held his peace, and in speaking was not heard, that person had trouble put upon him, who both in holding his peace submissively, and in speaking to them fruitlessly, experienced pain within his heart; and hence he says above, What shall I do? Iff speak, my grief is not assuaged; and though 1 forbear, it will not depart from me. But if we make these words refer Alleg, to a type of Holy Church, it is well known that it is her great delight to keep the precepts of the Ten Conunandments; and the wicked ' confound her ten times,' in that by all that

.loB 19, ihcy do wrong- in their wicked principles, they ibrsake the — precepts of the Ten Commandments, and cause confusion to

AlLEO. r r the good as often as they set themselves against the words of God in their doings. It goes on;

And ye arc not ashamed that ye oppress me. xxvii. 21. There are some persons, whom bad principle suddenly springing up invites to the commission of wickedness, yet respect for their fellow-creatures recalls again. And very often from this, viz. that they are made ashamed outwardly, they are brought back into their own interior heart, and pass an inward judgment upon themselves; in that if they are afraid to do what is evil on man's account, how much more ought they not even to have longed after what is evil, on God's account, Who sees all things? And in the case of these persons it is brought to pass, that they correct greater evil by inferior good, i. e. interior sin by exterior shame. Again, there are some, who, when once they have brought themselves to contemn God in their hearts, despise the judgments of their fellow-creatures much more, and all the evil that they long after, they do not blush to execute boldly, which persons secret wickedness invites to the commission of sin, and outward shame holds not back; as it is said also of a Luke certain wicked judge, IVhich feared not God, neither re- ' ■ yarded man. Hence too it is said of certain persons sin- Is. 3,9. ning with shameless effrontery; And they have declared their sin as Sodom. Thus very often there are such persons enemies of Holy Church, persons who are not withheld from committing wicked things, either by the fear of God, or regard of man; and it is well said to these by blessed Job, And ye are not ashamed that ye oppress me; seeing that though it was wrong to have wished bad things, it is worse not to be ashamed of things wrongly desired. It goes on;

Vcr. 4. And be it indeed that I have been ignorant, my ignorance reniaineth with myself. xxvni. 32. Heretics have this about them, that they are swoln by the empty ]n-etensions of their knowledge, and often turn to ridicule the simplicity of those that believe rightly, and account the life of the humble to be of no worth. On the other hand Holy Church, in all that she has really wise in her, keeps low the level of her view in humility, that she be not puffed up by knowledge, nor be inade to swell high on Book the seeking out of things hidden, and venture to dive into - points, that are above her powers. For with more profit to herself she is anxious not to know things she is unable to fathom, rather than boldly to define things she does not know. As it is written: It is not good to eat much honey: Prov.

25 27# so he that is a searcher of majesty, shall he overwhelmed by '

glory. For if the sweetness of honey be taken in greater measure than there is occasion for, from the same source whence the palate is gratified, the life of the eater is destroyed. The ' searching into majesty' is also sweet; but he, that seeks to dive into it deeper than the cognizance of human nature admits, finds the mere gloriousness thereof by itself oppress him, in that, like honey taken in excess, it bursts the sense of the searcher which is not capable of holding it. Now that is said to be ' with' us, which is for us; and on the other hand that is said not to be with us, that is against us; and so, because his own knowledge puff's out the heart of the heretic, while his perception of his own ignorance abases the faithful, let blessed Job say in his own voice, let him say also in the confession of the Church Universal, And he it indeed that I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me. As if it were said in express words to Heretics; ' All your knowledge is not with you, since it is against you, so long as it uplifts you in foolish pride; but my ignorance is with me, because it is for me; since, whereas I do not dare to search into any thing relating to God in pride of heart, I keep myself in the truth in a spirit of humility/ And because these very same things that heretics seek to know, they apply perforce to the furtherance of selfelation only, that they may seem learned in contrast to the faithful and humble, it is rightly added; But ye are set up against me.

33. But perhaps we shall consider these words more xxix. thoroughly, if we point out how they apply to the friends of blessed Job personally in a special sense. For they, when they saw the righteous man smitten, ought to have turned back into their own deepest interior, and not to have persecuted blessed Job with words of upbraiding, but to have bewailed their own case; seeing that, if he was so stricken,

Job lit, „'i,o served as lie did, with what vengeance did they deserve „^' to be smitten, who had not served like him? And it is rightly said to them, Ye are set up against me; as if it were said to them in plainer terms; ' Ye who ought by occasion of my being smitten to have been set up against your own selves,' this being the order of such setting up on the side of goodness, viz. that we be first set up against ourselves, and afterwards against the wicked. For he that is set up against the good, is blown out in pride. Thus we are set up against ourselves, when, reviewing our own evil deeds, we smite ourselves with the severe avenging of penance, when we do not spare ourselves at all in our sins, and are not biassed by any fond thoughts towards ourselves, who, if we first rigidly follow up our evil things in ourselves, it is likewise fair, that we should be set up against the evil in others too for their good, and that the evil which we punish in ourselves, we should subdue in others too, by charging it home to them.

34. But this sort of setting up the wicked know nothing of, because they leave themselves, and attack the good; they incline themselves towards themselves, in their secret heart, by the softness of fond flattering, and they are.set up against the lives of good men by the severity of harshness, whence it is now rightly said to the friends of blessed Job swelling against him under his scourge. Ye are set up against me: i. e. ' Your own selves, that deserve to be rebuked, ye leave, and me ye rebuke with severe sentences.' For he that does not judge himself first, is ignorant what to judge right in another; and if perchance he did know by the hearing what to judge right, yet he is not able to judge rightly the merits of another, who has no rule of judging supplied him by the consciousness of his own innocence. Hence it is that it is said to certain persons dealing deceitfully, when they brought John 8, an adulteress to receive punishment; He that is without sin among yon, let hinijirst cast a stone at her. For they went lor the punishing of others' sins, and they had left their own behind; and so they are called back to their conscience within them, that they should first correct their own faults, and then reprove those of others. It is hence that, when

Judges j^jjy j^.j|jy qJ- Benjamin was deep sunk in the guilt of carnal

The Proud reproach the Righteous with their troubles. 139 sin, all Israel banded together would have avensred that Book wickedness, yet was once and again itself smitten down in - the conflict of war; but on the Lord being consulted whether they should go to take vengeance, it was commanded them. The People, that went according to the bidding of God's voice, fell both once and again, and then at length effectually smiting the sinning tribe, almost wholly extirpated it. How is it that it is first kindled to the revenge of sin, and yet afterwards itself brought down; but that those are to be chastised first themselves, by whose means the sins of others are chastised; that they may themselves now come cleansed through vengeance, who are forward to chastise the evil of others? Whence it follows that when the vengeance of God's inquest is at rest towards us, our own conscience should reprove its own self, and by its own act lift itself up against self, to sorrows of penance, neither being set up towards the good, and humble towards itself, but unbending towards itself, and bowed low towards all the good. Thus to proud men administering reproof, it is rightly said; Ye are set up against me^ and ye charge me icith my reproaches. All persons that are set up, account temporal afflictions to be a grievous reproach, and they think everj- individual to be the more despised by God, in proportion as they see him scourged with the rod of afiliction. For they look for nothing in principles, they look for nothing in practices; but whomsoever they see to be stricken in this life, they imagine to be already condemned by God's sentence; whence it is well said on this occasion by the voice of blessed Job;

And ye charge me with my reproaches.

35. In that they, who knew him to be righteous before xxx. his strokes, were now judging him to be unrighteous by the mere fact of his being stricken, and hence it very often happens that Heretics, because they see persons within the bosom of Holy Church suffering aflfliction; (for it is written of God, And scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;) fancy Heb. that the sorrows of the faithful arise from nothing but sin, ' and themselves they for this reason conclude to be righteous, because being left in the thoughts of their evil ways, lacking the rod, they have become hardened. It proceeds;

Job 11), \'cr. (). Knoiv now at leant that God hath afflicted me

: — icith no Just Jitdijmen t.

xxxi. 30. O, how hard does the voice of the righteous man sound, snflbring under the infliction of the rod! which same, however, not pride, but grief gave vent to! Now he is not righteous, who gives up righteousness under sorrow; and blessed Job, because he had a meek spirit, did not sin even by a hard word. For, if we say that he did err by this voice, we make out that tlie devil accomplished what he

Job 2, 5. purposed, when he said. Touch his bone and his flesh, and see if he have not blessed Thee to Thy face. Therefore a serious question arises; for if he did not sin in that he says, Knoio now at least that God has not afflicted me with a just judrpnent; we agree to God's having done something unjustly, which it is profane to say; but if he did sin, then the devil made appear concerning him the thing that he promised. And so it must be asserted both that God acted rightly in His dealings with blessed Job, and yet that blessed Job herein, viz. that he says that he ' was not afflicted by a just judgment of God,' did not speak an untruth, and that our old enemy in respect of that which he jtromised of sin in the blessed man did speak an untruth. For sometimes the words of the good are for this reason supposed wrong, because they are not ever considered in their interior signification. Thus blessed Job had turned his eyes to his own life, and he estimated the strokes which he was undergoing, and saw that it was not just that upon such a life such strokes should be dealt. And when he says that he was not afflicted by a just judgment, he spoke that with unreserved voice, which God in His own secresy had said concerning him to his adversary, thou movedst Me afjainst him, to afflict him loithout cause. For what God expresses, that He ' had afflicted blessed Job without cause,' this blessed Job asserts again in the words that he was not 'ninicted of the Lord by a just judgment?' Wherein then did he sin, who was in nothing at odds with the sentence of his Maker?

37. ]iut perhaps some one will say, that for us to speak that good concerning ourselves, which the Judge may have said in secret concerning us, cannot be done without sin.

For he whom the Judge praises, it cannot be doubted, is ^^^ justly praiseworthy; but if he in his own person praises — himself, his righteousness is henceforth supposed to be no longer deserving of praise; and this is said rightly, if what the just Judge delivers in impartial sentence, the person in question should venture to say afterwards concerning himself in pride of heart. For if he himself too continuing in a humble frame, when the occasion or his grief brings it out, has uttered good that is true in his own praise, he has not departed from the line of righteousness, in so far as he was not at all at variance with truth.

38. Whence Paul the Apostle also related many brave things of himself for the edification of his disciples, but he did not commit sin by relating these things, in that both by an undeniable attestation, and a humble mind, he did not depart from the pathway of truth; and so let blessed Job, conscious of his own life being just, say that he is not afflicted by a just judgment; neither yet does he sin by that voice, wherein he is not at variance with His Maker, in that he whom God ' smote without cause,' himself also asserts that he was not ' afflicted by a just judgment.' But again there arises another question, which I remember has been already solved in the beginning of this work, viz. whereas Almighty God does nothing without cause, why does He bear witness that He had afflicted blessed Job without cause? For our just Creator by those many strokes inflicted upon blessed Job did not aim to do away with evil qualities in him, but to increase his merits; and so that was just, which He did in the heightening of his good deserts; but it did not seem equitable, because it was thought to be the punishing of instances of sin. Now blessed Job believed that sins of his doing were obliterated by those scourges, not that his merits were added to, and therefore he calls it ' not a just judgment,' because he tests his life side by side with the scourges: thus, if the life and the scourges be weighed in the scales, that was not equal dealing, which blessed Job, as I have said, supposed to be done to him in the wrathfulness of severity; but if the mercifulness of the Judge be looked to, seeing that by the punishment of the just man the merits of his life are heightened, it was an equal or rather a merciful judgment:

14'2 God's final senlence proves that Job did not hlaspheine.

Job 19, tluTefori' at once Job spoke what was true, so long as he _J!: balanced his life with the stroke; and God did not afflict Job with an unjust judgment, in that he heightened his merits by the stroke; and the devil did not achieve what he promised; seeing that blessed Job, amidst words which sound hard, was neither removed from a true sentence nor a humble mind. But perhaps we shall understand these words of blessed Job less well, if we are not acquainted with the sentence of the Judge; Who, when He was delivering sentence between the two parties, says to the friends of Job; Job 42, Ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is rights as My \\^Q,^servant Job hath. Wlio then is there so' foolish in mind as ' tarn.' to own that blessed Job had been guilty in his way of s])eaking, when he is declared to have spoken rightly by the very voice of the Judge itself? Which same voice, indeed, if we refer to the person of Holy Church, wc not unsuitably ap])ly it to her weak members, which while, in the season of her persecution, they weigh both her merits and her scourges, forasmuch as they see that the unjust thrive, and the just perish, have no notion that this is just. Now it is well added by the voice of the blessed man, And compassed me with his scourges. xxxii. 39. For it is one thing to be smitten, and another thing to be ' compassed with scourges.' Thus, we are smitten with scourges, when even in our sorrows we have a consolation derived from other sources; for when affliction lies so heavy on us that the spirit can no longer take breath by consolation from any one thing; we are now no longer smitten only, but even ' compassed with scourges,' in that we are every way surrounded by the rod of affliction. Thus Paul had 2 Cor. 7, been compassed with scourges, when he said. Without were ^' fightings., within were fears. He had been compassed with 2 Cor. scourges, when he said. In perils by mine own countrymen., ^^'^ ' in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, with the other particulars, which he so enumerates, as to shew that he no where had rest. But when Holy Church is ' compassed with the scourges' of her tribulation, all the weak in her are brought down in the fall of littleness of mind, so that they now suppose themselves disregarded, in proportion as they see that they are the more slowly heard with effect. And it is rightly added yet further Book likewise in a figure of them by the voice of the holy man, — — ^

Ver. 7, Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no one to Judge.

40. Almighty God, knowing what has in it efficacy to prove xxxiii. our good, shuts His ears to hear the voice of persons mourning, that He may add to their advantage, that their life may be purified by punishment, that the tranquillity of rest which can no where be found here, may be sought for elsewhere. But there are some of the faithful even that know nothing of this grace of Providential ordering, in whoso person too it is now said; Behold, I cry out of ivrong,hut I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no one to judge; for it is said, ' there is no one to judge,' when He veils His eyes to judge, in that beside Him ' there is not any to judge' our cause against our adversary. Nor yet is this very thing void of judgment, viz. that judgment is delayed; seeing that at the very time that blessed Job said this, both the merits of the holy man and the punishment of his adversary were increased: so then this very defen'ing of judgment is the act of a judge. But what God settles justly within is one thing, and what the soul bruised by scourges without seeks after is another. Whence he still further adds of that sinking under scourges,

Ver. 8. He hath fenced up my way, that I cannot pass: and He hath set darkness in my paths.

41. He saw his 'way fenced up' with strokes, whenxxxiv. anxiously desiring to pass into a state of security, he was not able to escape the scourges, and whereas he saw himself smitten, and yet did not find in himself a life worthy of sucli smiting, as it were ' in the paths' of the heart he met with ' the darkness' of his own ignorance, in that he could not fathom the cause wherefore he was so scourged. And this is not unfitly applied to the weak members of Holy Church too, when from this which they remember to have done wickedly, they are made backward in good practice as well, and, frightened by their own weakness, do not venture to attempt strong acts of goodness to match them. For they fear to begin great acts of goodness, who call to mind that they are infirm in their ways; and whereas they very often

Job 19, do iiol know the very good, wliich tliey should clioose, they, — - — as it were, shrink from the * darkness jilaced in their paths.* For the mind often becomes so doubtful of its own doings, as not to know at all which is the virtue and which the fault. Thus he ' finds darkness in his path,' who in those things which he desires to do, is ignorant what he ought to choose. Therefore seeing that there is sin often fi'om infirmity, and sometimes from ignorance, it is said in the person of the members that go weakly, He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pans. While in the person of those who see not clear as to the ver}^ good work itself which they should choose, it is added; and He hath set darkness in 7ny paths. For it is punishment of sin, to see the good which we ought to do, and yet not to have the power to fulfil it; and again it is in still worse punishment of sin, not even to see whal we ought to do; and hence against both of these it is said

P.'>.27,i.by the voice of the Psalmist, The Lord is my Liyht and my Saltation; icJtom then shall I fear? For against the darkness of ignorance the Lord is a ' Light;' against weakness ' Salvation,' whilst He both shews what ought to be desired for the doing it, and supplies the powers, that what He shews may be fulfilled. It goes on;

Ver. 9. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

XXXV. 42. That all this suits the person of the blessed man set in the midst of tribulation, there can be no doubt; but, since the words of the historical account are plain, they do not require explaining after the letter, therefore they have to be traced out in their mystical senses. Thus he says, He hath stripped me of my glory. For the glory of each individual is his righteousness. Now just as a garment protects from the cold, so does righteousness defend from death; henc€ righteousness is not improperly likened to a garment, where Ps. 132, it is said by the Prophet; Let Tliy priests he clothed tcith

^' righteousness. But seeing that in the season of her tribulation this garment of righteousness, which covers her in the sight of God, is lost to Holy Church in her members that go weakly, let it be rightly said; He hath stripped me of my glory ^ i. e. righteousness has been taken away from the weak whereas it could never possibly have been taken awav frou from them, because it was attached to them outwardly, like a garment. Wherein the question offers itself, how they could be called members of Holy Church, who were capable of losing the righteousness which they seemed to maintain. But it is necessary for us to know, that very often righteousness is lost for a while by her weakly members, but when they are afterwards brought back to penitence in the acknowledgment of their fault, they attach themselves to that very righteousness which they had lost more strongly than was supposed credible. And it is yet further added thereby, and taken the crown from my head. As the head is the first part of the body, so the leading part of the interior man is the mind. Now the crown is the reward of victory, which is set from Above, in order that he that has contended should be rewarded; and so because many persons, under the pressure of adversities, do not hold out in the contest, in these Holy Church as it were ' loses a crown from her head:' for ' a crown on the head' is the reward from Above in the mind; there are a great many who whilst they are pressed with adversities, neglect to take thought of the rewards above, and cannot reach to the completion of victory; in such, then, ' the crown is taken from the head,' in that the heavenly and spiritual reward is taken away fi'om the aim of the mind, that they should henceforth go after the externally peaceful, nor look out for the eternal rewards, which they used to have at heart.

43. Or otherwise, ' the head' of the faithful is not inappropriately taken to mean the priests, in that they are the first part of the Lord's members; and hence it is expressed by the Prophet, that ' the head and the tail' are rooted out, in which same place both by the title of the ' head' we have the priests denoted, and by the designation of the ' tail' the reprobate prophet. Therefore ' the crown is taken from the head,' when even they abandon the heavenly rewards, who seemed to have the lead in this body of the Churcli; and it generally happens that, when the leaders fall, the army, that followed, is the wider worsted j and hence directly after

JoBi9, ilie ills to the greater ones, going on about the manifold

^*'llL' undoing of the Church, he added;

gone; and He hath removed mine hope like as 7cith a tree

XXX vi. 44. The Church is, as it were, ' destroyed on every side,^ and undone in her weak members, when those very ones that seemed strong, are brought to ruin; when ' the crown is taken away from the head,' i. c. when the rewards of eternity are nefdectcd even by those set at the head; and it is well added concerning weak ones falling, And mine hope hath He removed like as with a tree torn away; for a tree is pnshed by the wind that it falls, and with him whom threats so terrify, as to make him go headlong into unrighteousness, what else is it, but that a tree met with a blast of the wind, and lost the standing of its uprightness? For he has, as it were, lost hope by the wind, who, subdued by the threats and persuasions of the wicked, has parted with those eternal rewards, which he looked forward to; and because it very often happens that a person, from fear of punishment, gives over righteousness, it is brought to pass by God's decreeing' it, that even in giving up righteousness he does not get quit of the punishments, whicli he was afraid of, and that he who did not fear at all the destruction of the soul, meets even with the ills of the flesh, which he apprehended. Hence it is yet further added;

Ver. 11. He hath also kindled His wrath against me, and He counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies.

1 Cor. attesting it, that 'God is faithful. Who will not suffer us to ' * be tcm])ted above that we are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to beai Jer. 30, it.' Moreover the Lord says by the Prophet, For I have wounded thee with the wonnd of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement. He then that is so stricken that his powers are overcome by that striking, the Lord no longer now smites him as a son in the course of discipline, but as an enemy in indignation. Thus when the strokes exceed the power ol onr ])atience, it is very much to be feared, lest, our sin?

. XIV. Father, but as enemies by the Lord; and whereas it very often comes to pass that evil spirits too press home many things to the hearts of the afflicted, and amidst the scourges which strike them outwardly, infuse bad thoughts into their hearts, after the wrath of the Lord it is rightly added;

Ver. 12. His robbers come together, and make themselves a way through me.

46. For ' his robbers' are evil spirits, who busy themselves xxxviii. in hunting out the deaths of men; and these ' make themselves a way' in the hearts of the afflicted, when, amidst the adversities that are undergone outwardly, they do not cease to infuse bad thoughts likewise; of whom it is yet further

And encamp round about my tabernacle.

For they ' encamp round about our tabernacle,' when they ^^^t. encircle the mind on every side with their temptings; which by most wicked prompting they persuade one while to mourn for things temporal, at another time to despair of things eternal, now to go headlong into impatience, and to cast words of blasphemy against God. Yet these words, as we have already said before, agi'ee with blessed Job even taken historically; who, Avhilst he heaped before his eyes the ills he was enduring, judged himself to be not like a son that must be corrected, but as an enemy stricken with affliction. Through whom even ' His robbers made themselves a way,' in that the evil spirits obtained against him the leave to smite. ' Round about whose tabernacle they encamped,' in that after his substance and his children were taken away, they bruised his whole body too with wounds. But it is very extraordinary, why, when he spoke of the ' robbers,' he added His. clearly with a view to shew that these same robbers belonged to God; on which point, if we make a distinction between the power and the will of evil spirits, it is made evident, why they are called ' God's robbers;' for evil spirits incessantly pant to do us mis-, chief; but while they have a bad will derived from themselves, they have not the power of doing mischief, except the Supreme Will vouchsafes them permission; and while of themselves indeed they long to hurt us unjustly, yet by

148./o/y, ilefterted by hi a own, a type of our Lord.

joB.i9,^Mi"iglity God they are not suffered to hurt any one saving 13— 16^'jygtly. and so whereas the will is unjust in them and the power just, they are at once called ' robbers,' and ' God'.^ robbers,' that it should come from themselves, that they aiu to bring down evil things unjustly, and from God that the tilings so desired they do not consummate saving justly; bu\ because, as we have often said already, the holy man set ii. the midst of the pain of punishment, one while speaks in his own accents, at another time in the accents of the Church, at another time of our Redeemer, and very frequently so describes his own circumstances, that in a figure he delivers those that belong to the Holy Church and to our Redeemer, concern for historical fact being for a little space put aside, let us shew in these things, which he subjoins, how he accords with the accents of our Redeemer. It goes on; Alleg. Ver. 13, 14. He hath put my hrethren far from me: ana mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. 3Iy kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me xxxix. 47. We shall shew this the better, if we bring forward the John 1, testiuiony of John, who says, He came unto His own, anc> ^^' His own received Him not; for His ' brethren were put fai from Him,' and His ' acquaintance were estranged' fronc Him, Whom the Hebrews that held the Law were taught tc prophesy, and never knew to acknowledge when present whence it is rightly said. My kinsfolk have failed me, anc my familiar friends have forgotten me. For the Jews ' kinsfolk' in the flesh, ' acquaintance' by the teaching of th« Law, as it were forgot Him, Whom they had foretold, in tha Him they both sung of in the words of the Law, as destine( to be made Incarnate, and when made Incarnate deniec Him by the words of unbelief. It proceeds;

Ver. 15. They that dwell in my house, and my maids count me for a stranger. xl. 48. The inmates of God's house were the Priests, whosi. • origo j.j^py 1 Q^^QQ g(.t apart in the service of God, was hencefortl by office continued in that state. But the ' maids' are no improperly taken for the souls of the Levites, servants to th hidden parts of the tabernacle as it were by a more familial service to the interior of the bedchamber. Therefore le liim say of the Priests, serving with sedulous care, let hin' counted me for a stranger; iu that the Incarnate Lord, Whom they had for long foretold in the words of the Law, they refused to acknowledge and to reverence. And he yet more plainly shews that He was not known by their wicked will, when he adds;

49. For our Redeemer whereas He was not recognised xli. by the Synagogue, was rendered ' as it were an alien' in His own house. Which the Prophet plainly witnesses, saying, Wherefore shall thou be as a settler in the land, and as « Jer. 14, wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry? For whereas

He was not heard as the Lord, He was taken not as the owner but for ' a settler of the land;' and He only ' turned aside to tarry as a wayfaring man,' in that He carried off but few out of Judsea, and going on to the calling of the Gentiles finished the journey He had begun; and so ' He was an alien' in their sight, in that while they thought only of the things they could see, they were unable to perceive in the Lord the things they could not see; for whilst they contemn the flesh that was to be seen, they never reached to the unseen Majesty; therefore let it be rightly said; And I icas as it were an alien in their sight. Concerning which people it is yet further fitly added;

50. For what was the Jewish people but a ' servant,' which xlii. never obeyed the Lord with the love of a son, but the fear of a slave? Contrariwise it is said to us by Paul, For ye Rom. 8, have not received the spirit of bondage again; but ye have^'*- received the spirit of adoption, icherehy we cry Abba, Father. And so this ' servant' the Lord ' called,' in that by benefits vouchsafed, as by voices given out. He strove to bring it to Himself; but it ' answered not,' iu that it was indifferent to render back deeds corresponding to His gifts. For God ' calls' us, when He presents us with His gifts; and we ' answer' to this calling, when we serve Him worthily according to the benefits we have been vouchsafed; therefore because He prevented the people witli so many benefits, let him say, / called my servant, and because even after sucli

Job 19, numberless benefits, it contemned Him, let him add; and -lii— he gave vie no ansirer. It goes on;

/ entreated him with mg own month. xiiii. 51. As thoiigli lie said more plainly; ' I, the Same that before My Incarnation had given it in charge so many precepts to be ])ractised, by the mouths of the Prophets, coming to it Incarnate, entreated it with my own mouth.' And hence INIatthew, when he was telling of precepts being Matt. 5, delivered by Him on the Mount, says, And He opened His ^- mouth, and taught. As if he said in plain speech; ' Then

He opened His own mouth. Who before had opened the mouths of the Prophets;' it is hence too that it is said of Cant. i,Him by the Spouse longing for His presence, Let Him kiss ^' me icith the kisses of His montli; since for all the precepts which she learnt by His preaching, Holy Church, as it wei'e, received so many ' kisses of his mouth.' Now it is well said, I entreated; in that being exhibited in the flesh, whilst He spoke the precepts of life with humility. He, as it were, besought His servant filled with pride that he would come; and hence it is fitly added;

3Ig ivife shuddered at my breath. xliv. 52. What does the ' wife' of the Lord mean save the Synagogue, subject to Him in the Covenant of the Law witln a carnal percej^tion.'' Now tlie breath is from the flesh, and! the unbelieving people understood the incarnation of the Lord in a carnal manner; in that it look Him for mere man;, and so His ' wife shuddered at His breath,' in that the Synagogue was afraid to take Him for God, Whom it saw to be man; and when it heard the words from His mouth by. bodily utterance, it refused to perceive in Him the mysteries of the Divine Nature, and would not believe Him to be Creator, Whom it saw to be created; and so the carnal 'wife shuddered at the breath' of the carnal body, in that being, given over to carnal senses, it did not take knowledge of thet mystery of the Incarnation. It goes on; / entreated the children of mine own womb. xlv. 53. In God, Who is not circumscribed by the figure of body, the members of the body, i. e. the hand, the eye, thJ womb, are named in such a way, that by the designation 0! the members, the effects of His Power are represented. As

He is said lo have eyes, in that He sees all things; He is Book described as having hands, in that He works all things. -

Now in the womb the offspring is conceived, which is brought forth in this life; what then are we to take the ' womb' of God for, but His counsel, wherein before time we were conceived by predestination, that being created in time we might be brought into the world? And so God, Who abides before time, ' besought the children of His womb;' in that those, whom He created with power by His Divine nature, coming Incarnate He besought with humility; but because in that same flesh, wherein He appeared, He was contemned in their estimation, it is subjoined;

54. The wise falling away from faith in the truth, there is xlvi. an addition rightly made concerning ' fools' as well; in that when the Pharisees and the Lawyers despised the Lord, the rabble of the people too followed the example of their incredulousness, which herein, that it saw Him a man, slighted the announcements of the Redeemer of the world. For often by the title of fools, are denoted those who are poor among the common people; whence too it is said by Jeremiah, There-JeT.5, fore I said, perchance these are poor, and foolish ones, that^' know not the ivay of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. But leaving the rich and wise of the world, our Redeemer came to seek the poor and foolish, whence it is now said, as if for the heightening of grief. The foolish despAsed me. As if it were expressed in plain speech; ' Even those very persons despised Me, for whose healing I took to Me the foolishness of preaching.' As it is written, For after thai i Cor. i, in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God,^^' it pleased God hij the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the ' Word' is ' the Wisdom of God,' but ' the foolishness' of this * Wisdom,' the Flesh of the Word is called; that whereas the carnal severally could not by craft of the flesh attain to the wisdom of God, by the foolishness of preaching, i- e. by the incarnation oftlie Word, they might be healed. Therefore he says, The foolish too despised me. As if it were expressed in plain words; ' Even by those very persons I was despised, for whose sake I was not afraid to be counted foolish.' And whereas the Jewish inultitudCi

15-2 Our Lord abhorred by the Counsellor h of His people.

Job 19, when it saw the miracles of our Redeemer, honoured Him

^'^- for His miracles, saying. This is the Christ; but when it fo'j,^^^ • beht'ld the infirmities of His human nature, it disdained to

41. 12. account Him the Creator, saying, Nay^ but He deceiveth the people; it is rightly subjoined;

And when I departed from them, they spake against me. xlvii. 55. For the Lord as it were drew near to the hearts of people, when He displayed miracles to them; and He as it were ' departed from them,' when He shewed them no signs; but they spake against the Lord so ' departing,' when they refused to yield their faith to Him thus resting from miracles; but what wonder that He met with such treatment from the common folk, when those very persons, who appeared to be teachers of the Law, who gave it out that He was to be made Incarnate in the words of Prophecy, both beheld Him made Incarnate, and yet were parted from Him by the disjoining of unbelief? Concerning whom it is added;

Ver. 19, They that uere once my counsellors abhorred me, and he whom I loved, most turned away from me. xlviii. 56. It is plain to all people, that God does not stand in need of counsellors. Who to man's very counsellors them- Hom.xi. selves too vouchsafes the counsel of wisdom. Of whom jg'^"!^™ moreover it is written, Who hath known the mind of the 13. Lord, or who hath been His counsellor'^ but as when bread or clothing is bestowed on one that lacks them, the Lord bears witness that He Himself has received them; so when right counsel is given to one that is ignorant of it,, He Himself receives it, of Whom that man is a member, who is so instructed; for all we, that are of the number of the faithful, are members of our Redeemer; and as He Himselft is fed in our persons' by the pitying of liberality, so He is Himself aided in our persons by the counselling of instruction; and so the scribes and doctors of the Law who used to in.struct the people with respect to life, what else were they but ' counsellors' of the Redeemer, Who was to come? Who, nevertheless, when they beheld the Lord become Incarnate, separated numbers from faith in Him by their counsels, though before they had seemed to teach numbers by the words of the Prophets to believe the mystery of His Incarnation; and because with God he is more in His love.

who draws the greatest number to the love of Him, it is Book further added of that same order of the doctors of the Law_-£_ and the Pharisees; and he whom J loved most, turned away from me. For that very order, through the prompting of unbelief, was turned aside from faith in the truth, which before, while serving in the labours of preaching, was most beloved, which same not only to the extent of not believing the Lord, but even of persecuting Him as well, the rabble of the common people followed, and was kindled with the firebrands of cruelty to the very deed of His Passion; in which very Passion too the hearts of the disciples were troubled; whence also it is here added;

/ Ver. 20. 3Iy hone cleaveth to my skin, through my jiesh

57. By ' bone' we have strength, and by flesh weakness xlix.

of the body denoted; therefore, whereas Christ and the

Church are one person, what is signified by the ' bone' but the Lord Himself.? what by the ' flesh' save the disciples, who in the hour of His Passion were weakly disposed? but by the ' skin,' which in the body remains more outward than the flesh, what is represented but those holy women, who with the view to furnish the stays of the body, served the

Lord by outward offices of ministration? for when His disciples, though not yet firm, were preaching faith to the people, the flesh kept close to its bone; and when the holy women prepared the outward things that were necessary, they

\ as it were like ' a skin' remained on the body outwards; but when it came to the hour of the Cross, exceeding great fear, caused by the persecution of the Jews, took possession of

Ij His disciples: they severally fled, the women ' stuck close,' i| and so, the ' flesh,' as it were, ' being consumed,' ' the bone of

'I the Lord clave to its skin,' in that His strength, when the

Ij disciples fled in the hour of the Passion, had the women

* close beside it. Peter indeed stood for some time, but yet afterwards being aff"righted he denied Him. John too stood, to whom at the very time of the Cross it was said, /Jeho/dJohnl9, thy mother. But he could not persevere; since it is also written concerning him\ And there followed Him a certain Mnrk

154 ^Lipsleft to teeth^ when they despaired, yet spake of Him.

Job i9,yomig man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body,

—^ — and the young men laid hold of liim. And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked; who although afterwards, to hear the words of his Redeemer, he returned at tlie hour of the Cross, yet first he was affrighted and fled; but the women are related not only not to have been afraid nor to have fled, but even to have stood fast even to the sepulchre; and so let him say, My bone cleaveth to my skin, tlirough the flesh being wasted; i. e. ' they that ought to have attached themselves closer to My strength, in the season of My Passion were consumed with dread; and those whom I set to external ministrations, in My Passion I found attached themselves faithfully to Me without fear.' And here it is plainly implied that these words are delivered in mystery, in that it follows;

And the lips only are left about my teeth. 1- 58. For what do we have ' about our teeth,' but ' lips,' even if we suffer no scourges of affliction? but what is signified by ' the lips' but talk, what by ' teeth' but the holy Apostles? who are with this intention set in this body of the Church, that they may bite at the life of the carnal by correction, and break it in pieces from the hardness of its obstinacy; and hence it is said to that first of the

Acts 10, ^pQgjjgg^ as being set as a tooth in His Body, Kill, and eat. But because, at the time of His Passion, these ' teeth' from fear of death lost the biting of correction, lost the assurance of strength, lost the efficiency of practice of every sort, so that two of them as they walked, after His death

Lute24, ^^^(^1 resurrection, talked by the way and said. But we trusted that it should have been he which should have redeemed Israel; it is rightly said here, And the lips only are left about my teeth. They were still conversing about Him, but now they no longer at all believed in Him; and so ' the lips only remained about His teeth,' in that they had parted with the efficiency of good practice, and only retained words of converse about Him. They had lost the bite of correction, and possessed the mooting of speech. Therefore, ' the lips only were left about the teeth,' in that to talk about Him indeed they knew still, but to preach Him now, or to bite the bad ways of unbelievers, they were afraid. Therefore these particulars being finished, which he spoke in the voice of the Head, blessed Job is brought back Book to his own words, saying; IL

Hist Ver. 21. Have iniy upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

59. The mind of godly men is used to have this peculiar lito itself, that when it suffers unjust treatment at the hands of enemies, it is not so much moved to wrath as to prayer; that if the wickedness of those persons could be made to subside to a calm, they would choose rather to beseech than to be wroth; whence it is rightly said in this place, Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. Observe, those by whom he sees that he is ever being treated with insults, he calls ' friends,' in that to godly minds the very things that seem contrary are made favourable; for any that are wicked are either converted by the sweetness of the good so as to turn back, and by this alone they are friends, viz. that they are made good, or they persevere in their wickedness, and herein also even against their will they are ' friends,' in that, if there be any transgressions of the good, by their persecutions they purge them away even unknowingly; Observe too, that with these things which are done with God in secret, the words of the blessed man openly spoken are quite of a piece. Thus he had been smitten by Satan, yet he did not ascribe his being smitten to Satan, but he calls himself ' touched by the hand of God,' as Satan himself too had said; But put forth ^' 2,5. thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and see if he bless Thee not to Thy face. For the holy man knew that in that very thing which Satan had done towards him with an evil will, he derived his power not from himself, but from the Lord. It goes on;

Ver. 22. Why do ye persecute me as God; and are filled uith my flesh?

60. It is not at variance with the style of piety that he liii. tells that he is persecuted by God. For there is a good persecutor; as when the Lord says of Himself by the lips of the Prophet, Him that privily slandereth his neighbour, Ps. loi, him did I persecute. But when any Saint is suffered to be^" stricken, he knows that he is undergoing persecution, sent against evil he has been guilty of, from the interior ordering.

Job 19, Now the savage minds of the persecutors, when they desire

^ the power to smite, are inflamed against the life of the good not with the ardour of j)urifying, but with the firebrands of envy; and they do that indeed, which Ahuighty God allows to be done J in that while there is one cause with God transacted too by their agency, yet there is not one will maintained in that cause, since whilst Almighty God, in loving, is enforcing purification, the wickedness of the unjust is exercising malice in raging. This then that is said. Why do ye persecute me as God? he spoke with reference to the external smiting, not to the interior intention, in that though they execute that externally which God ordained to be done, yet in their doing it they do not seek that which God '>does, viz. that good men should be purified by means oi affliction. Which too may likewise be understood in another sense also. For Almighty God chastens the evil qualities ol others so much the more justly in proportion as He has no whit of evil qualities in Himself; but men when they strike others in the course of discipline, ought so to chasten the frailty of another, that they should at the same time have learnt the habit to recall their eyes to their own frailty, so as to consider from themselves how they ought to spare in smiting others, seeing that they are not unaware that they themselves too are worthy of stripes. And so it is said in this case, Why do ye persecute me as God? As if it were expressed in plain words; ' Ye do so afliict me on the grounds of my frailties, as if ye yourselves after the mannei of God owned nought of infirmity:' whence it is to be considered, that if perchance there be persons that need sharpness of correction, hard correction is then to be used tc them by us, when the hand of God ceases from using tht rod; but when strokes from above are upon them, from m there is now due no longer correction but consolation, lest while in their grief we join our reproach, we put smiting tc smiting.

61. Now it is well added, And are filled with my flesh? The mind which hungers for the punishing of a neighbour surely seeks to be ' filled with the flesh' of another. Moreover it is necessary to be known, that those also who feed or the slander of another's fife, are as surely ' filled with the

Slander is the devouring of others' Jiesh. l57 flesh' of another. Whence it is said by Solomon; Be not Book in the f eastings of winebibbers; nor eat with those, who.

bring together jiesh to eat. For to ' bring together flesh to 23, 20.

eat,' is, in the parlance of disparagement to tell by turns the bad qualities of neighbours; concerning whose punishment it is directly added there, they that are given to cups, and\h. 21.

that give a contribution, shall be consumed, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. They are ' given to cups' who make themselves drunk' with slander of another's lifei'se'le- but to ' give a contribution % is m the same way that eachasymboindividual is used to contribute provisions for his share to be '^""• eaten, so in the parlance of slander to contribute words. But ' they that are given to cups and that give a contribution shall be consumed,' in that as it is written, EveryBen.^A. slanderer shall be rooted out; but ' drowsiness shall cover ap^^^^ *° man with rags,' in that his death finds him an object of con- is, 5. tempt and empty of all good works, whom the sickly habit ^^^J^,fo^^^ of detraction took possession of here for the raking out the J^-^^ ^^^ misdemeanours of another man's life. But all those hardships which blessed Job undergoes it is not meet should be let pass in silence, and that the obscurity of ignorance should cover them from man's knowledge; for so many may be 1 edified for the preserving of patience, as they who, by grace from above replenishing them, may be made acquainted with the achievements of his patience. And hence the same blessed Job would have the strokes which he feels carried into an example, in that he immediately adds, Ver. 23, 24. 0 that my ivords were now written! 0 that they were graven in a book with an iron pen, and a plate of lead, or surely that they were hewed in the flint!

62. Whereas all that blessed Job underwent, that heavy liij. Jewish people, being instructed by the strong declaration of the Fathers, was brought to know, they were written with ' an iron pen' and ' a plate of lead;' but whereas the hard hearts of the Gentiles also were made acquainted with them, what is this but that we see them ' hewn in the flint?' And observe, that what is written on lead, by the mere softness of the metal, is quickly obliterated; but upon the flint letters may be more slowly stamped indeed, but more hardly obli-

Job 19, teiated. Therefore it is not unsuitably that by ' the plate of ~ — -lead' Judffia is represented, which at once received the pre cepts of God without labour, and lost them with speed; and rightly by ' the flint' the Gentile world is represented, which could with difficulty receive the words of sacred revelation to keep, but kept them when received fixedly. Now by the ' iron pen' vvhat else is denoted save the strong sentence of Jer. 17, God? Whence too it is said by the Prophet, The sin oj i^'ungue Judah is written with a pen of iron on a diamond nail The end of the body is in the nail, and a diamond is so hard a stone, that it cannot be cut with iron. Now by ' an iron pen' there is denoted a strong sentence, but by a ' diamond nail' the eternal end; so the sin of Judah is said to be written with a ' pen of iron upon a diamond nail,' in that the guilt of the Jews is reserved by the strong sentence of God for an end that is endless.

63. Rightly too by ' a plate of lead' we understand those, whom the load of avarice weighs down, to whom it is said by the Prophet with upbraiding, 0 ye sons of men, how lone, heavy in heart! For by lead, the nature whereof is of s heavy weight, the sin of avarice is in a special mannei denoted, which renders the mind it has infected so heavy that it can never be raised to aim at things on high. Henc€

Zech. 5, it is written in Zechariah, Lift up now thine eyes, and set

^~^- v:hat is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? Anc

2 Lat. he said, This is an ephah^ that goeth forth. He said moreya over. This is their eye throughout all the earth. And beholt there was lifted up a talent of lead, and, lo, one woman sit ting in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This i wickedness; and he cast her into the midst of the ephah

^ or into and he cast the weight of lead on her face^. And witl mouth reference to this vision of ' the ephah,' and ' the woman,

V. 9-11. y^QQYi made to know, he yet further added going on, The) lifted I up 7ni?ie eyes, and looked, and behold there cami out two women, and a spirit was in their wings, for the'i had wings like the wings of a kite, and they lifted up th ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I U the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear th ephah? And he said. To build it an house in the land o

Shinar. Which testimony of the Prophet we have brought Book forward as a proof of the lead to no purpose, if we do not ~ - also explain it going over it again. Thus he says, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth; and I said, What is this? And he said, It is an ephah that goeth forth. God desiring to shew to the Prophet, by what sin above all others the human race fell away from Him, by the figure of an ephah as it were denoted the wide-opened mouth of avarice. For avarice is like an ephah, in that it keeps the mouth of the heart open and agape on the stretch \ "in am- And he said. This is their eye through all the world. We '*" see many men of dull sense, and yet we see fhem sharp in bad practices, as the Prophet too testifies, who saith, They Jer. 4, are wise to do evil; but to do good they have no knowledge. "' And so these are dull in sense, but in those things which they desire, they arc urged on by the goads of avarice; and they that are blind to see good, under the incitements of rewards are quick-eyed to the doing evil things. Hence it is rightly said of this same avarice. This is their eye in all the u'orld. And behold there was lifted up a talent of lead. What is ' a talent of lead' but the weight of sin from that very avarice. And, lo, one ivoman sitting in the midst of the ephah. Which same woman, lest perchance we should doubt who she was, the Angel thereupon made known; for it follows there immediately, A}id he said, TJds is impiety; and he cast her into the midst of the ephah. Impiety is ' cast into the midst of the ephah,' in that in avarice there is always impiety taken in. And he cast the weight of lead on her face. The mass of lead is cast on the woman's face, in that the impiety of avarice is borne down by the very weight of its own sin; for if it did not reach after things that are below, it would never prove impious towards God and our neighbour.

64. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold there came out two women, and a spirit was in their wings. What do we understand by these ' two women' but the two principal vices, i. e. pride and vain glory, which are without any doubt imited to impiety? Which two are described as,, having ' a spirit in their wings;' in that they are subservient, to the will of Satan in their actions; for the Prophet calls

160 Pride find vain (/lor!) hear men ojf earth and below heaven Job 19, that one ' a spirit,' concerning whom Solomon saith, If th ' spirit of him that hath power rise above thee, leave not th

]0, 4. place; and of whom the Lord saith in the Gospel; Whei Mat.i2, ^^^ unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh througi dry places. ' A spirit is in their wings,' in that in whatsoeve they do, pride and vain glory render obedience to the will o Satan. And they had icings like the wings of a kite. No\ the kite is always busied in plotting against the chicken kinci So these women have ' wings like the wings of a kite,' in tha surely their doings are like the devil, who is always plottin against the life of the little ones. And they lifted up th ephah between the earth and the heaven. Pride and vai glory have this peculiar to them, that whosoever is infected b them, they lift up in his own conceit above the rest of hi fellow creatures: at one time by pursuit of the gifts of fortunt at another time by the desire of dignities, the man whom the have once gotten captiv^e, they, as it were, lift up into th height of honour. And he that is between the earth and th heaven, at once leaves things below, and fails altogether t attain the things on high.

65. These women, then, ' lift up the ephah between th earth and the heaven,' in that pride and vain glory so exa the mind taken captive through greediness of honour, thj looking down upon all their neighbours, men do, as it wer* leave things below, and in proud boasting seek high thing But all such persons, vvliile they give themselves up to prid( at once in imagination mount above those, with whom the are placed, and are far from ever being united to the citizei above. Thus the ephah is said to be ' lifted up betwee earth and heaven,' in that all covetous persons through pric and vain glory at once despise their neighbours at their sid and never lay hold of the things above, which are beyor them; and so they are carried ' between the earth ar the heaven,' in that they neither keep equality of brothe hood in this lower world by charity, nor yet are able attain the world above by setting themselves up. And said to the Angel that talked ivith me, Whither do the bear the ephah f and lie mid. To build it an house in the lat of Shinar. That same ephah has a ' house built it in tl land of Shinar,' for ' Shinar' is rendered * their ill savour

Trutli u ritlen as on lead and Jlint. Job's clear prophecy. \Q\ and as there is a sweet savour froui virtue, as Paul bears Book witness, who saith; and maketh manifest the savour of His knowled()e by us in every place; For we are unto God an. sweet savour of Christ; so reversely there is an ill savour from vice. For covetousness is the root of all evil. And iTim.6, whereas every thing evil is engendered by avarice, it is meet that the house of avarice should be erected in ' ill savour.' Moreover it is necessary to be known that ' Shinar' is a very wide valley, wherein the tower was begun to be built by men giving themselves to pride, which, when the diversity of tongues was brought to pass, came to destruction; which same lower was called Babylon, forsooth on account of that very confusion of minds and tongues: nor is it inappropriately that the ' ephah' of avarice is placed there, where ' Babylon,' i. e. ' confusion,' is building, in that whereas it is certain that from avarice and imjnety all things bad have their origin, this same avarice and impiety are rightly described as dw^elling in confusion.

66. We have said these things in few words out of course, that we might shew that the weight of sin is set forth by the ' plate of lead.' Yet these very words of blessed Job are also applicable to Holy Church, who while keeping the two testaments of sacred revelation, as it were begs a second time that her words should be written, saying. Oh! that my words were now written! Oh! that they were printed in a hook! Which same, in that she speaks with a strong sentence at one time to hearts heavy from the weight of avarice, at another time to hardened hearts, ' writes with a pen of iron upon a plate of lead,' or, surely, ' upon the flint.' Now we say with justice that blessed Job uses the accents of our Redeemer and His Church, if we find any thing that he says explicitly of that same Redeemer of us men; for how is it to be believed that he teaches us any thing connected with Him in a figure, if he does not point Him out to us in express words? But now let him disclose to us what he is sensible of concerning Him, and let him take away from us all misgivings in our thoughts. It goes on;

67. For he who does not say, ' Creator,' but ' Redeemer,' liv. expressly tells of Him, Who after He created all things,

Job 19, appeared Incarnate amongst us, that He might redeem us, - ^^' from a state of bondage, and by His Passion set us free from death everlasting; and mark with what sure faith he makes himself secure in the power of His Divine Nature, of Whorr 2 Cor. it is said by Paul, For ihough He was crucijied througl ' ' weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. For he says For I know that my Redeemer liveth. As if he said ir express terms; ' The unbelievers may know that He wa: scourged, mocked, struck with the palms of the hand covered with a crown of thorns, besmeared with spittings crucified, dead: I, with sure faith, believe Him to live afte death; I confess with unreserved voice, ' that my Redeeme liveth,' Who died by the hands of wicked men.' And how O blessed Job, through His Resurrection, thou trustest to th resurrection of thine own flesh, declare, I pray, in opei speech. It goes on;

And that I shall rise at the last day from the earth. Iv. 68. That is, because the resurrection which He manifestei in His own Person, He will one day bring to pass in our selves as well; for the resurrection, which He exhibited i Himself, He pledged to us; seeing that the members folloi the glory of their Head. Thus our Redeemer underwer death, that we might not fear to die; He manifested th resun-eclion, that we might have a sure hope that we at capable of rising again. And hence He would not have th{ death to be of more than three days' duration, lest if th resurrection were deferred irt Him, it should be altogeth< despaired of in ourselves; and this is rightly said of Him b Ps. 110, the Prophet; He shall drink of the brook in the way; theri fore shall he lift up the head. For He in a manner cond scended to drink of that current as it were of our sufTerin not in an abiding place, but ' in the way,' in that He rai death in a transitory way, i. e. for three days, and in th death which He met He did not, like ourselves, remain un the end of the world. And so, whereas He rose again on tl third day, what then is to come after in His body, i. e. in tl Church, He makes appear; for He shewed in example, wh He promised in reward, that as believers knew and own. that He had Himself risen again, so they might hope for 1 1 rewards of the resurrection in themselves at the end of t • world. Lo, we, through the death of the flesh, remain in the Book dust until the end of the world, but He on the third day - budded into life from the dryness of death, that by the very renewal of His flesh by itself He might shew the power of His Divine Natui'e. Which is well shewn in Moses by the twelve rods placed in the Tabernacle: for when the priesthood of Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, was despised, and the tribe was not accounted worthy to offer up burnt-offerings, twelve rods according to the twelve tribes were ordered to be put in the Tabernacle, and, lo, the rod of Levi budded, Num.i7, and shewed what efficacy Aaron had in the office. By^" which same sign what is conveyed, but that all we who lie in the arms of death until the very end of the world, remain like the rest of the rods in a state of barrenness? But when all the rods remained in a state of dryness, the rod of Levi returned to flowering, in that the body of our Lord, i. e. our true Priest, being set in the dryness of death, burst into the flower of the Resurrection. By which same flowering Aaron, is rightly known to be the Priest, in that by this glory of the Resurrection our Redeemer, Who sprung from the tribe of Judah and Levi\ is shewn to be an Intercessor in our behalf. 'Lutei;

And so, lo! the rod of Aaron buds now after dryness, but ' the rods of the twelve tribes remain in a dry state, in that already indeed the body of the Lord lives after death, but our bodies are kept back from the glory of the resurrection until the end of the world. Whence he carefully introduced this same delay, by saying, And that I shall rise at the last "^ day from the earth. 'novis-

69. Therefore we have a hope of our own resurrection, by considering the glory of our Head. But lest any one say perhaps merely in the secret thought of his heart, that it was in this way that He rose again from the dead, viz. that being God and Man in one and the same Person, the death, which He underwent in His Human Nature, He overcame by His Divine Nature, while we, who are mere men, are not able to rise from the curse of death; it happened rightly that, in the season of His resurrection, the bodies of many of the Saints arose at the same time, that both in Himself He might shew us an example, and by the resurrection of others who were like to ourselves in respect of a mere human nature. He might joBi9, mve us a sure confirmation, that whereas man despaired c - — ^ his obtaining what He that was God and Man had exhibite in His own Person, he might presume that that was capabl of being brought to pass in his own case, which he knew t have been brought about in the case of those very person who he doubted not were but simple human beings.

70. But there are some who, observing that the spirit parted from the flesh, that the flesh is turned into corruptioi that its corruption is reduced to dust, that this dust is s dissolved into elementary parts that it is incapable of beir seen by the eyes of man, despair of the possibility of tf resurrection being brought to pass, and whilst tliey gaze o the dry bones, they distrust its being possible for these to I clothed with flesh, and again flushing into life; which pe sons, if they do not hold the resurrection of the body on tl principle of obedience, ought certainly to hold it on tl principle of reason. For what does the universe every da but imitate in its elements our resurrection? Thus by tl lapse of the minutes of the day the temporal light itself; it were dies, when, the shade of night coming on, that lig which was beheld is withdi'awn fi'om sight, and it daily risi again as it were, when the light that was withdrawn fro oxu' eyes, upon the night being suppressed is renewed afres For the progress of the seasons too, we see the shrubs lo the greenness of their foliage, and cease from putting for fruit; and on a sudden as if from dried up wood, by a kii of resurrection coming we see the leaves burst forth, t fruit grow big, and the whole tree clothed with reneW' beauty; we unceasingly behold the small seeds of trees coi mitted to the moistness of the ground, wherefrom not lo afterwards we behold large trees arise, and bring foi Comp. leaves and fruit Let us then consider the little seed of any ti on 1 ""' vvhatever, which is thrown into the ground, for a tree to Thess. produced therefrom, and let us take in, if we are capable it, where in that exceeding littleness of the seed that m( enormous tree was buried, which proceeded from it? whf was the wood? where the bark? where the verdure of t foliage? where the abundance of the fruit? Was there a thing of the kind perceived in the seed, when it was thro i into the ground? And yet by the secret Artificer of things orcleriiii? all in a wonderlul manner, both in the soft- Book

•. XIV ness of the seed there lay buried the roughness of the bark, '- and in its tenderness there was hidden the strength of its timber, and in its dryness fertility of productiveness. What wonder, then, if that finest dust, which to our eyes is resolved into the elements, He, when He is minded, fashioneth again into the human being. Who from the finest seeds resuscitates the largest trees? And so, seeing that we have been created reasoning beings, we ought to collect the hope of our own resurrection from the mere aspect and contemplation of the objects of nature. But forasmuch as the faculty of reason was deadened in us, the grace of the Redeemer came in for an example. For our Creator came, He took death upon

Him, He exhibited the Resurrection, in order that we, who would not hold the hope of the Resurrection by reason, might hold it by His succour and example; and so let blessed Job say; / know that my Redeemer lireih, and that

I shall rise at the last day from tJie earth. And let any one that despairs of the possibility that the power of the

Resurrection should be brought to pass in himself, blush at the words of a believing person set in the midst of the

Gentile w^orld, and let him reflect with what a weight of punishment he deserves to be stricken, if he still does not believe his own resurrection, who now knows the resurrection of the Lord which has taken place, if even he believed his own, who as yet expected the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to be brought to pass.

7L But see, I hear of the resurrection, but it is the effect of the resurrection that I am searching out. For I believe that I shall rise again, but I wish that I might hear what kind of person; since it is a thing I ought to know, whether

I shall rise again perhaps in some other subtle or ethereal

1 body, or in that body wherein I shall die. But if I shall rise again in an ethereal body, it will no longer be myself, who rise again. For how can that be a true resurrection, if there may not be true flesh? so that plain reason suggests, that if it shall not be true flesh, assuredly it will not be a true resurrection; for neither can it be rightly termed a resurrection, when it is not what fell that rises again.

But in this too for us, O blessed Job, do thou remove these

Job 19, clouds of misgiving, and whereas through the grace of the Holy Spirit vouchsafed thee thou hast begun to speak to us of the hope of our resurrection, shew in plain words if oui flesh shall really rise again. It follows,

Ver. 26. And I shall he again encompassed with my skin

Ivi. 72. Whereas the ' skin' is expressly named, all doubt of £ true resurrection is removed; in that our body will not, a;

Eutychius the Bishop of Constantinople wrote, in that glori ousness of the resurrection be impalpable, and more subtl( than the wind and air: for in that gloriousness of the resur rection our body will be subtle indeed by the eflficacy of j spiritual power, but palpable by the reality of its nature whence also our Redeemer, when the disciples doubted o

His resurrection, shewed them His hands and feet, and ofFerei

Luke His bones and flesh to be touched, saying. Handle Me am

' see: for a spirit hath not Jlesh and hones as ye see M have. And when, being placed in the city of Constantinople

I brought before Eutychius this testimony of truth from th

Gospel, he said, ' For this reason the Lord did this, that H might take away all doubt of the resuiTection from the heart of the disciples.' To whom I said; ' This is a very extrt ordinary thing that you assert, that doubting should arise t ourselves from the same quarter, whence the hearts of th disciples were cured of doubting.' For what can be sai worse than that that is made doubtful to us relating to H true flesh, whereby His disciples were restored anew to fail from all doubting.? For if He is declared not to have ha that, which He manifested; from the same source, fro whence the faith of His disciples is confirmed, ours destroyed. And he further added, saying, ' He had th body which He shewed a palpable body; but after the hear of those that handled it were confirmed, all that in the Lo: which was capable of being handled, was reduced into certain subtle quality.' To which same I answered, sayiU;

Bom. 6, ' It is written, Knowing that Christ being raised from t dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion oi

Hi?n. If then there was aught in the Body which w capable of being altered after His resurrection, contrary the truly spoken declaration of Paul, the Lord after f resurrection returned into death; and what fool even woi venture to say this, save he that denies the true resurrection Book

• XIV of His flesh?' Then he objected to me, saying, ' Whereas it is -

written; Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, i Cor.

by what means is it to be supposed that the flesh truly rises ' again?' To whom I say; ' In Holy Writ flesh is named in one way according to nature, and in another way according to sin or corruption.' For there is flesh according to nature, flesh of my Jlesh. And, The Word was made flesh, and John i, dwelt among us. But there is flesh according to sin, as '^• where it is written, Mg Spirit shall not alicays abide in those Gea. 6, men, for that Iheg are Jlesh. And as the Psalmist saith;

For He remembered that they uere hut Jlesh, a wind that Vs. 78, passeth away, and cometh not again. Whence too Paul said to the disciples; But ye are not in the Jlesh, but in the Rom. 8, spirit. For it was not that these persons were not in the^' flesh, to whom he was sending letters, but for that they had subdued the motions of carnal passions, henceforth, free through the efiicacy of the Spirit, they ' were not in the flesh.'

Therefore in respect to what Paul says, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he would have flesh to be understood as applied to sin, not flesh as applied to nature. Hence directly afterwards that he was speaking of flesh after sin he makes plain, by adding; Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Therefore in that glory of the heavenly kingdom there will be flesh according to nature, but not flesh according to the desire of the passions; in that the sting of death being overcome, it will reign in eternal

73. To which words the same Eutychius directly answered that he assented, yet still he denied that the body could rise again a palpable body. Who in the treatise too which he had written concerning the resurrection, had put in the testimony of the Apostle Paul, when he says; That which \Cot.

thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which ^^j '

thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. Being eager to shew this, that the flesh will either be impalpable % or will not be itself identically, seeing

Job 19, that the holy Apostle, when treating of the glory of th> 26- resurrection, says that ' it was not sown the body that it shal ^'^" be.' But the answer to this is soon made. For the Apostl Paul when he says, Thou sowest not that body that shal be, but bare grain, is telling us of what we see; viz. that th o-rain, which is sown without a stalk or leaves, springs u] with a stalk and leaves; so that he, in heightening th glory of the resurrection, did not say that what it was i wanting to it, but that what it was not is present: but thi man, whereas he denies the real body to rise again, does nc say that what was wanting is there, but that what it was i

74. Upon this, then, we being led on in long disputing oi this point, we began to recoil from one another with th greatest animosity, when the Emperor Tiberius Constantinc of religious memory, bringing myself and him to a privat audience, learnt what dispute was being carried on betwee us, and weighing the statement of both sides, and by his ow allegations as well disproving that same book which he ha written concerning the resurrection, determined that it ougl to be consumed in the flames. Upon our leaving whom, was seized with a grievous sickness, while to that sam Eutychius sickness and death shortly followed. And whe he was dead, because there was well nigh no one who followe his statements, I held back from prosecuting what I ha commenced, lest I should seem to be darting words at hi ashes, but while he was still alive, and I sick of violent feve: if any of my acquaintance went to him for the sake of greei ing him, as I learnt from their relation, he used to take hoi on the skin of his hand before their eyes, saying, ' I confes that we shall all rise again in this flesh;' which as they then selves avowed he was before wont altogether to deny.

75. But let us, laying aside these considerations, minutel search out in the words of blessed Job, if there will be true resurrection, and the true body in that resurrection; fo lo, we are no longer able to doubt of the hope of the resui rection, in that he says. And that I shall rise at the last da from the ear lit. Moreover he has removed all doubting < the true renewal of the body, in that he says. And I sha be again encompassed uith my skin. And he still furth< adds, with the view of removing the misgivings of our Book

A/td in my flesh shall I see God.

76. Mark, he owns the resurrection, 'the skin,' 'the flesh,' Ivii. in exphcit words. What is there left then, by which our mind should have occasion to doubt? If this holy man then before the fact of the Lord's resurrection, believed in the flesh being destined to be brought back to its entire state, what will be the guilt of our doubting, if the true resurrection of the flesh not even after the proof of our Redeemer obtains credit? For if after the resurrection there will not be a palpable body, surely another person rises again than dies: which is profane to say; viz. to believe that it is I who die, and another that doth rise again'. Wherefore I entreat thee, blessed Job, 'ABCD, add how thou art minded, and remove from us all ground of g^'^j[ ^"^ scruj)le on this point. It follow's; rise.'

Ver. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

77. For if, as cei'tain votaries of false opinions believe, after the resurrection there shall be no pal])able body, but the subtle quality of an invisible body shall be called the flesh, though there be no substance of flesh, then surely he that dies is one person, and he that rises again is another. But blessed Job destroys this assertion for them by a truthtelling voice, in that he says. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. But we, following the faith that blessed Job held, and truly believing the palpable Body of our Redeemer after His resurrection, confess that our flesh after the resurrection will be at once both the same and different, the same in respect of nature, different in respect of glory, the same in its reality, different in its power. Thus it will be subtle, in that it will be incorruptible; it will be palpable, in that it will not lose the essence of its very and true nature. But that same assurance of the resurrection the holy man subjoins with what sure hope he holds it, with what certainty he awaits it. It goes on;

This my hope is laid up in my bosom.

78. We suppose that we hold nothing more surely than Iviii. what we have in our bosom; and so he kept ' ho])e laid up in his bosom,' in that he laid hold beforehand on true cer-

Job 19, tainty concerning the hope of the resurrection. But whereas

' he made known that the day of the resurrection would come, Lit... ^, he now, whether in his own voice, or ni a hgure of the holy and universal Church, reproves the deeds of the wicked, and foretells the Judgment which ensues on the day of the ^ resurrection. For he straightway adds;

Ver. 28. 29. Wherefore then do ye now say^ Let us persecute hint, and find out the root of the word against him? Fly therefore from the face of the sword, for the sword is an avenger of wickedness; and know that there is a judgment. Hx. 79. For in the first sentence he reproved the deeds of the wicked, while in the following he made known the punishments-proceeding from the Divine judgment. Thus he saith, Wherefore then do ye noiv say; Let ns persecute him and find out the root of the icord against him? Wicked persons, because they hear with wrong earnestness things well put forth, and seek to find in the tongue of the righteous an inlet for accusation, what else do they but ' seek the root of the word against him,* from which same they may take the commencement of speaking, and in the accusing of him expand the branches of evil talkativeness? But when the holy man meets with such things at the hands of wicked men, it is not against them but rather for them that he feels sorrow, and reproves the things wickedly harboured in the heart, and shews them evil for them to escape, saying. Fly therefore from, the face of the sword; for the sword is the avenger of wickedness; and know that there is a judgment. Every one that does wicked things, even herein, that he is too indifferent to fear this, does not know of there being a judgment of God. For if he did know that this was a thing to be feared, he would never do things that are destined to be punished in it. For there are very many who know that there is a final Judgment as far as the words go, but by acting wickedly they bear witness that they do not know it. Since whereas he does not dread this as he ought, he does not yet know with ' al.' he what a tempest of terror it will come. For if he had' been taught to estimate the weight of the dreadful scrutiny, surely in fearing he would guard against the day of wrath. Moreover, * to fly from the face of the sword,' is to propitiate the sentence of the strict visitation before it appears. For the terribleness of the Judge cannot be avoided saving before the Book

Judgment. Now He is not discerned, but is appeased by '- prayers. But when He shall sit on that dreadful inquest, He is both able to be seen and not able any longer to be propitiated; in that the doings of the wiclced which He bore long while in silence, He shall pay back all of them together in wrath. Whence it is necessary to fear the Judge now, while He does not yet execute judgment, while He bears patiently for long, while He still tolerates the wickedness that He sees, lest when He has once plucked out His hand in the awarding of vengeance. He strike the more severely in judgment, in proportion as He waited longer before judgment.

That the friends of blessed Job could never liave been bad men, the words of Zophar the Naamathite bear witness, who on hearing from his lips the terribleness of the Judgment to come, adds directly;

Ver. 1. Therefore do my thoughts changefully succeed one another, and my mind is transported diverse ways. i. 1. As though he said in plain words; ' Because I see the

^'^- terribleness of the last Judgment, therefore I am confounded in a state of consternation by the tumults of my thoughts.' For the mind spreads itself wider in its range of thought, the more it considers how dreadful that is which threatens it. And ' the mind is transported diverse ways,' when with anxious alarm she weighs and considers, one while the evil she has done, at another time the good she has left undone, now all the blameable practices that she remains in, and now the right habits that she sees to be lacking to her. But though the friends of blessed Job, instructed by habituation to his life, knew how to live well, yet, being uninstructed to form an exact estimate of God's judgments, that any one of the righteous can be susceptible of ills here below, they did not believe possible. And hence they imagined that holy man to be wicked, whom they saw scourged, and, in consequence of this suspicion, it came to pass that they slipt aside into the upbraiding of him as well, whereunto nevertheless they do not descend, save under the guise of a kind of respect. Hence Zophar adds in these words;

Ver. 3. The lesson ivherehy thou dost reproach me I will hear; and the spirit of my understanding will answer me.

•2. As though he said in plain words; ' Tliy words indeed 1 hear, but v^'hctl)er they were delivered aright, 1 discern by the spirit of my under.standing.' For they that disregard the Book words of the teacher, employ his teaching not for an assist '— ance but for an occasion of contention, rather that they may criticise the things heard than to follow them. This then being premised with a sort of restraint, he now springs out into the open reviling of the blessed man, when he adds;

Ver. 4, 5. / know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphimj of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite hut for a moment.

3. Now it is clear to be seen that being jmffed up with iiithe spirit of his understanding, he warps the sentences, which he pronounces against the ungodly, to the reproving of blessed Job. For in him whom he first saw following right ways, and afterwards undergoing punishment, he reckons all that he saw to have been but hypocrisy, in that he did not believe it possible for a just servant to be put to distress by a just God. But those same sentences, which, being right, he did not pronounce in a right way, let us go through, weighing them with earaest intentness of mind; and setting at nought what he says untrue against blessed Job, let us consider how true are the things he speaks, if he were speaking them against the ungodly. / k}iOLC this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triwmphiny of the wicked is short. Going to tell the shortness of the present life, he carried back the eye of the interior to the outset of the commencement, in order to collect from the past how nothing all things are, that while they continue to be, seem to be something. For if we carry the eyes of our imagination from the very commencement of the human race up to the present time in which we now are, we see how short all was that was of a nature to come to an end. Let us imagine a man to have lived from the first day of the world's creation to this present day, yet on this day to end the life, which he seemed to have continued to so great a length, lo, the end is come, the things past are already become nought, in that every thing has passed away. For the future in this world is nought, iu that not a moment, or the very shortest particle of lime remains to our life. Where then is that long time, which, comprehended between the beginning and the end, is so wasted in substance, just as if it had not ever been even short in duration r

Job 20, 4. Therefore because the wicked have their heart centered f' '• in this life, surelv they set themselves up therein and seek to win applause. They are lifted up by the flattery of the lips, having no desire to be good, but only to be called so. Whicli praise they think is of a great length while they receive it, but understand to have been brief when they lose it. Whence it is well said against these wicked persons, This I know of old, since 7nan uas placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short; and it is well added, And the joy of the hypocrite hut for a moment. It often happens that while the hypocrite passes himself off for holy, without a fear of letting himself appear wicked, he is honoured of all men, and the high credit of holiness is awarded to him, by those who can make out the outside, but have no eyes to look into the interioi- of things. Whence it happens, that he triumphs in having the first seat, is overjoyed in getting the first couch, filled with pride at receiving the first invitation, elevated at the respectful address of his followers, swoln in the pride of his heart at the observance of his dependents, Mat.23, as is said of such by the voice of Truth Himself. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they makj broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men. Rabbi, Rabbi. But all this joy of theirs, compared with eternity, what will become of it, when, the crisis of death being upon them, it perishes, as though it had never been.'' Of which same joy the mirth is all gone, the

' oausa, punishment remains, and when the thing is lost, the guilt' endures. And it is well said; The joy of the hypocrite like a point. For in making a point the style is lifted up as soon as set down, and there is no lingering, that it may be drawn along a line to be described. And so the joy of the hypocrite ' is like a point,' in that it appears for a moment, and is gone for ever; and just as the style, in the case of a point, while set down is lifted up in one, so the hypocrite, whilst he touches, parts with the joys of the present hfe. Concerning whom it is also added j

Ver. 6, 7. Though his pride mount up unto the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds: Yet he shall perish at last like the dunghill.

5. The pride of the hypocrite is said to ' mount up unto Book the heavens,' when his high-mindedness has the appearance ' of leading a heavenly life; and his ' head as it were reaches unto the clouds,' when the leading part, i. e. his intellect, is thought to equal the merits of the Saints that have gone before. Yet he ' perishes at last like the dunghill,' because at his death, when he is led to torments, being full of the dung of evil habits, he is trodden under foot of evil spirits. For the joys of the present life, which tlie unrighteous account great good, righteous men look upon as dung. Whence it is written; A slothful man is stoned with the'^cdua.

dung of oxen. Thus he that will not follow God is made ' slothful in the love of the life everlasting. And as often as he is stricken with the loss of temporal goods, he is surely troubled on the score of those things, which the righteous look down upon as ' dung:' what else is it with him, then, that is bruised with the buffeting of things earthly, than that he ' is stoned Avith the dung of oxen?' And the hypocrite is justly described like a dunghill, in that while he aims to obtain temporal glory, at one time in the imagination of his heart he swells within himself, at another time he grudges that same glory to some, and laughs at others having it really. For all the evil qualities then that he is full of, his breast as it were is defiled with so much dung, in the eye of the Eternal Judge. Therefore it may be said. Though his pride viou)it up unto the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish at last like the dunghill. Which same, though he feign to lead a heavenly life, though he shew his view of truth to accord with the true preachers, yet he ' perishes like a dunghill in the end,' in that his soul is damned for the stench of his evil qualities. It goes on;

6. It generally happens that the life of the hypocrite is v. even by all men discovered at the end to be damnable, for it to be made appear by plainer marks now what sort they were of. They then that saw him elate at this present time shall say of him when dead, Where is he f For neither is he seen here where he was elated, nor yet in the rest of eternity, which he was supposed to be of. Concerning the shortness of whose life it is yet further added with fitness;

Job 20, Ver. 8. He shall jiy away as a dream, and shall not be vi. 7. What else is the life of" the hy])ocrite but the vision of a phantom, which exhibits that in semblance which it does not possess in truth? Whence too it is justly likened to ' a dream,' in that all praise and glory is, as it were, gone from him whilst it is being held. For oftentimes in a ' vision of the night,' some that are poor are full of wonder that they are made rich, they see honours awarded to them, they behold heaps of riches, a multitude of attendants, the most beautiful garments, abundance of food presented to them. They are delighted to have escaped poverty, which they bore with a grieved spirit; but on a sudden, when they wake, they find how false all the joy was which they felt, and they are sad that they have awoke, in that real want gripes them awake. Thus the minds of hypocrites, whilst what they do is one thing, and what they exhibit to men another, win applause by the mere exhibiting of holy living; in the esteem of men they are set before numbers that are better, and whilst they are highminded with the secret thought within, they exhibit themselves without as humble. And whereas they are excessively commended hymen, they imagine that in the eyes of God also they are such, as they delight to make themselves known to be to their fellow-creatures. Hence it comes to pass that they assume that they will likewise obtain the rewards of eternal life, and they who triumph here below, upon the commendations of their fellow-creatures, doubt not for a moment that they will have rest there; but in the midst of this the secret hour of their call creeps upon them, and while they shut the eyes of the flesh they open those of the spirit, and so soon as they have gotten eternal punishments, they there see, that they were rich in the repute for virtues only in sleep. Well then is it said of such a hypocrite, Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. For this, that he sees himself for a brief space rich in man's esteem, is of the show of a phantasm, not of the