"al.'of substance of virtue'. For when his soul wakes up at the dissolution of the flesh, it learns, assuredly, that it was in a sleeping state that it saw the partial regards of men about it. It goes on;
Ver. 9. The eye also which saw him shall see him no Book more: neither shall his place any more behold hi)n.
8. What is the ' place' of the hypocrite, saving the heart vii. of his flatterers? For there he rests, where he finds partialities towards him. Therefore ' the eye that saw him shall see him no more,' because being removed by death, he is hidden from his foolish lovers, who were wont to behold him, admiring him. ' Neither shall his place any more behold him,' because the tongues of his flatterers do not follow him with their partialities to the Judgment. Yet so long as he lives he does not cease to teach his followers likewise the things that he practises himself; and through the frowarduess of his erring way he begets others also in a likeness to that false pretension which he shews forth. Concerning whom it is fitly added in this place,
Ver. 10. His children shall he nasied with poverty.
9. It is written. For into a malicious soul wisdom shall viii. not enter; and it is declared by the Psalmist, The rich have ^ '^ " ' lacked and been a hungred. For if their want and hunger Ps- 34, were spoken of outward starving, then surely they would be any thing but rich, who were in want of the bread of the body. But forasmuch as whilst they are increased without, they are rendered void within, they are described as rich and needy at one and the same time, in that they never entitle themselves to be filled with the bread of wisdom. And so the children of this hypocrite are ' worn down with want,' because they that are born in hypocrisy in mimicry of him, whilst they do not hold the substance of truth, are brought to nought in the penury of the heart. And his hands shall repay him his own grief.
10. What is denoted by 'hands,' saving works? Thus ix. ' his hands will repay him grief,' because he will reap just damnation fi-om his wicked course of life. Now it is well said, not ' give,' but ' repay,' in that his froward deeds shall pay him back eternal punishment like a kind of debt. But before he is brought to eternal punishment, let him add more fully the sort of character that he shews himself here.
His hones shall be full of the sin qf his youth, and shall sleep with him in the dust.
Job 20, 11. The origin of a bad begiuniug by preoccupying
^ ' begun to do evil, by custom he now grows to a worse height in that which he had begun. What then is the ' youth' of this hypocrite, but the beginning of wickedness, since in youth passion now begins to kindle? And the hypocrite then has youth, when he begins to long for and to embrace the passion for glory. Which same, whilst the soft salves of flatterers redouble it, they give strength to, and as it were turn it into bones. For what he begins badly, he is daily strengthening for the worse by custom. Therefore let it be said; His bones shall be full of the sin of his youth; in that the rigid habits of evil practices in him are taken from the sin of an ill beginning. Hence it is written in the Proverbs, Prov. The young man according to his own way^ when he is oldy ' will never depart therefrom. Which same ' bones' truly * will sleep with him in the dust,' for so long do evil practices endure in him, until they drag him to the dust of death. Since for his ' bones,' or evil habits, to ' sleep with him in the dust' is for these never to quit him even to the very dust, that is, never to cease from sin even until death. Therefore bad habits, which are once begun, keep hold of him, and daily become more hardened. And they ' sleep with him in the dust,' because they are never ended but with his life. But this may be taken in another sense also. 12. For the hypocrite occasionally has something in, practice that is strong and vigorous, but whilst he makesi believe to have many good points that he is without, he loses even these which he has. Whence it is well said now; His bones shall be full of the sin of his youth. For whereasJ in his levity and fickleness he does many things like a child,! even in strong ones which he may do he is enervated in sin.j Which same ' bones shall sleep with him in the dust,' because as all that hypocrisy which he carries on is dust, I so too whatever he has in him that is strong is robbed of alll its solidity, so that by pretension to virtue he loses that alscj.which there might have been in him of a virtuous nature And so for ' his bones' to ' sleep with him in the dust' isj even if there be things done well, for them to come tc| nought together with his evil deeds. It proceeds j
Ver. 12. For when wickedness shall be sweet in his Book
mouth, he will hide it under his tongue. — — —
in that evil tastes sweet to him in the thought. For ' the mouth' of the heart is the thought, whereof it is written;
that is thus sweet in the mouth of the hypocrite is hidden under the tongue, in that the harshness of an evil disposition, which lies hidden in the mind, is concealed under the cloak of a mild address. For the evil would be on the tongue and not under it, if the hypocrite in speaking disclosed the niischievousness of his froward heart. But as is the case with most of the righteous, when they see any persons acting badly, who deserve to be visited with severe rebukes, they put harshness on the tongue, but under the tongue cover the kindness of their feelings; (whence too it is said to Holy
Church by the voice of the Spouse; Honey and milk are Cant. 4, under Thy tongue. For they that shrink from disclosing the sweetness of their inward feeling to the weak, and so in speaking strike them with a degree of harshness, and yet amongst their harsh words secretly as it were let drop a sprinkling of sweetness, these persons clearly have sweetness not on the tongue, but under the tongue, in that amidst the hard words which they utter, they give out some that are sweet and softened, whereby the wounded mind may be cheered and refreshed by kindness;) so with the wicked severally, because they have evil not upon the tongue, but under the tongue, in the words of their mouth they hold out sweet things, and in the thoughts of their heart are plotting mischiefs. For it is hence that Joab held the beard of Amasa 2 Sam.
his sword, he shed out his bowels. For to hold the chin with the right hand is to caress as if in kindness. But lie puts his left hand to his sword, who in secret strikes in malice. Hence too it is written concerning their head is" himself; Under his tongue is mischief and pain. For he Ps.io,?.
* that doth not display openly the ill that he designs, does not put forth on the tongue the mischief and pain of those,
Job 20, whose destruction he aims at, but keeps them close under ^^— the tongue. Now it is rightly added of this hypocrite,
Ver. 13. He will spare it, and forsake it not, hut keep it still within his throat. xii. 14. For the evil that he delights in he ' spares,' because he does not, by practising, penance, hunt it down in himself. Whence too it is added; and forsake it not. For if he had the mind to ' forsake,' he would not ' spare' it, but would pursue it closely. Now he ' keeps it within his throat;' because he so retains it in thought, that he never utters it in speech. It goes on;
Ver. 14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him. xiii. 15. What bread is in the belly, the same is fulness of earthly gratification in the mind. So let the hypocrite now be filled to the full with the praises tendered him, let him revel in honours, ' his bread in his belly is turned into the gall of asps,' because the fulness of transitory enjoyment, in the final Retribution, will be turned to bitterness, in that what here passed for the praise of greatness is discovered to have been ' the gall of asps,' i. e. the prompting of evil spirits. For the wicked then perceive that they are infected with the venom of the old serpent, when, being delivered over to avenging flames, they are tormented along with that prompter of theirs. And so this ' bread' has one sort of taste in the mouth, and another in the belly, in that the joy of transitory pleasure is sweet, while it is tasted here by a chewing of teeth, as it were, but it turns bitter in the belly, because when the joy is past it is swallowed to his ruing.
16. Or indeed forasmuch as bread is not unsuitably taken for the sense of the Holy Scriptures, which refreshes the,mind and furnishes it with the sinews of right practice, and the hypocrite generally makes it his object to be well instructed in the mysteries of Holy Writ, not that he may live by them, but that it may appear to the rest of the world how learned he is, his ' bread in his bowels is turned into the gall of asps,' in that whilst he boasts of the knowledge of the Sacred Law, he converts the draught of life into a cup of poison to himself, and dies in a state of reprobatior from the same cause, whence he appeared to derive instruc- Book lion unto Hfe. Nor is this again unfitly taken to be the ' meaning, that while the hypocrite sometimes applies himself to the word of instruction for display, being blinded by God's judgment, he takes in a wrong sense that very word which he seeks in a wrong spirit. But when he falls into heretical error, it is his fate, that as by the ' gall of asps,' so the unhappy wretch perishes by ' bread;' and in his own selfinstruction he finds death, because in the words of life he never sought life. But it often happens that the sentences of divine warning, even if they be understood rightly by the hypocrite, forasmuch as he neglects to observe them in practice, are lost to him even before the course of the present life is at an end, so that it is taken from him to know, what while he knew he refused to practise. Hence it is added;
Ver. 15. The riches he hath swallowed down, he shall vomit up, and God shall cast them out of his belli/.
17. The hypocrite desires to know the revelations of God, xiv. yet not to practise them. He would speak sagely, but not live so. For this reason, then, that he does not do what he knows, even that which he knows he loses, that forasmuch as he does not unite pure practice "svith his knowledge, contemning purity of right practice he loses the knowledge also. Therefore the ' riches' of the Sacred Law, which he ' swallowed' in reading, he vomits in forgetting, and God ' casts them out of his belly,' in that what he would not observe to do, by a righteous judgment He roots out of his recollection, that at all events he should not keep the precepts of God in the tongue, which he kept not in his life. Whence it is said by the Prophet; But unto the wicked God saith, What Ps. so, ha^t thou to do to declare mij statutes, and that thou shoiddest take my covenant in thy mouth? Which words of instruction if it ever at any time chance that the hypocrite should seem to retain in his mouth until the end, he will be condemned the more on the very grounds, whereon not even a bad man is ever deprived of the good gift of God. For it is written; To those that remember His commandments to do them. Ps. 103, He then that keeps His commandments in mind, but never
Job 20, does them, such an one holds in the words of instruction the *— sentences whereby he is condemned.
Lit Zech.*5, 18. For hence it is written in Zechariah; What seest thou,
thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
This said he to me; This is the curse that goeth over the face of the whole earth. For every one that stealeth shall be judged as on this side according to if. For what is a ' flying roll' saving Holy Writ, which whilst it tells us of heavenly themes, lifts up the bent of the mind to things on high; for while we see that it is above us, we leave minding, i. e.
desiring things below. And it is described as having * a breadth of ten cubits' and a ' length of twenty cubits,' in that the breadth of our practice is single, and the long expectance of hope is extended to double, since in return for our good practice both here there is peace of mind, and there eternal joys in store for us, as Truth bears witness. Who saith; rj;it.i9, And every one that hath forsaken houses or lands, ^c.
^^' shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. For the number one hundred is completed by the number ten multiplied ten times. Thus he gets back an hundredfold'', who, though he has nothing, by the inere perfection of his mind alone, no longer seeks to possess any thing in this world. And in this way, since by this same we have a double measure paid back to us for a single one, that roll is justly drawn out through twenty cubits in length, which is carried out in breadth through ten. But because these very sacred oracles stand for eternal condemnation to those who either will not acquaint themselves with them, or in any wise when made acquainted with them set them at nought, it is rightly said of this roll, This is the curse, which goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. And wherefore it is called a curse is added; For every one that is a thief, as it is therein written, shall be judged. Therefore the hypocrite, as he cares not to live after the words of the law which he knows, and seeks golden opinions by store of instruction, will be ' a thief to be judged,' since by this, that he speaks just words, he usurps to himself the praise of the just man's life. Concerning whom it is still farther added Booic rightly, silver, 16. He shall suck the head of asps: the vipefs tongue shall slay him.
19. The ' asp' is a small serpent, but the ' viper' hath xv. more length of body. And asps produce eggs, and their young are hatched from the eggs. But when vipers have conceived, their young ravin in their womb, which bursting the parents' sides issue out of their bellies. Hence too it is called the ' viper,' because it is a ' ' parent by violence.' ' ' vi Thus the viper is so produced that it comes forth by violence, ^"'^' and is brought into the world by the killing of the mother. What then is represented by the little asps, saving the hidden suggestions of impure spirits, who steal upon" the hearts of men by slight prompting at first, and what by the * viper's tongue' save the violent temptation of the devil? For at first he steals upon them gently, but afterwards he drags them even by force. And so he ' sucks the poison of asps,' in that the little beginning of secret suggestion is first produced in the heart, but ' the viper's tongue slayeth him,' in that afterwards the captive soul is killed by the venom of violent temptation. In the first case unclean spirits speak to the heart of man with their crafty counsels, and these, while they persuade with gentleness, as it were infuse the poison of asps. Whence it is written, They break asps' egys, 1^,52^5, and iveave the spider'' s web; He that eateth of their eygs dieth, and that tvhich is hatched breaketh out into a basilisk. Since to ' break asps' eggs,' to wicked men is, to manifest by evil deeds the counsels of evil spirits, which lurk in their hearts. Moreover, to ' weave spiders' webs' is, on account of the lust of this world, to be busied in any temporal employments. Which, whilst they are established with no stedfastness, assuredly are carried off by the wind of a mortal life. And it is well added; He that eateth of their eggs dieth. In that he that admits the counsels of impure spirits kills the life of his soul in him. ' And that which is hatched, breaketh out into a basilisk,' in that the suggestion of the bad spirit which is covered up in the heart, is nursed = Ben. ' surripiunt,' Steal from, but others ' surrepunt.'
Job 20, uuto full iniquity. For ' basilisk'^' means the king of serpents, l'^' and who is the head of the sons of perdition, save Antichrist?
Therefore ' that, which is hatched, will break out into a basilisk,' in that he who harbours in himself the counsel of the ' asp' to nourish them to life, being made a member of the wicked head, is engrafted into the body of Antichrist. Of which hypocrite it is said, He s/iall suck the head of asps y and the viper's tongue shall slay hitn, in that when he gladly welcomes the evil suggestion of our old enemy, afterwards he surrenders himself vanquished to his forcible temptations. Hence too in Paradise, to man when he was standing, he brought in words of soft suggestion, but him whom he once caught away to the act of consent, now henceforth he forces on even resisting him, and conquered by the gi-atifi cations of his corrupt state of being, kills him well nigh by dint of violence. But perhaps we may be able to make out the meaning of these same sentences by a contrary mode of interpretation. Thus because the ' asp' kills quickly by its venom, but the ' viper' more slowly, by the ' asp' we have denoted a violent and instantaneous temptation, but by the ' viper' a gentle and prolonged one. And hence to the one death is said to lie in the ' sucking of the head,' but to the viper ' in the tongue,' in that a sudden temptation often as soon as it arises kills the soul off its guard, but a lengthened temptation, because it is longer recommending evil things by the suggesting of them, kills as does a viper with its tongue. And because every hypocrite, being penetrated with the suggestion of evil spirits, as with the poison of serpents, never considers what are the gifts from above of the Holy Spirit, while he spreads abroad the bent of the heart in golden opinions without, it is rightly added;
Ver. 17. He shall not see the streamlets of the torrent
river cf honey and butter.
x^.j 20. The Lord saith in the Gospel; He that believeth in
Johx) r, Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
' ' rivers of living water. Where the Evangelist subjoins, saying. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. And so 'the streamlets of the river' are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Charity is ' a Book streamlet of the river,' faith is ' a streamlet of the river,' hope -^^' is ' a streamlet of the river.' But because no hypocrite ever loves either God or his neighbour, when he makes the transitory glory of the world his aim, he does not see the streamlets of the river, in that he is not watered with the overflowing of charity. Whereas the hypocrite goes after present gains, he disregards future blessings, and not having faith, he sees not in the mind ' the streamlet of the river,' inasmuch as faith is the evidence of things not seen. AndHeb.ii, while the hypocrite clings to the things that are seen, he makes light of those, which are not seen, therefore he does not see the ' streamlets of the river' in desire, in that he is taken up with visible things alone. And it is vrritten, /or Rom. 6, what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? He then would have seen ' streamlets of the river' if he had shut his eyes to the glory of this world, and opened them to the love of the heavenly country. And observe that he does not say * streams,' but ' streamlets.' For the ' streamlets of the river' may be taken for those spiritual gifts, which trickle in such fine streams from heavenly sources into the soul of him that loveth, that they can never be compassed* by the mouth of the flesh. For it is often the case that the spirit of him that loves is filled with such a mighty gift of contemplation, that it has power to see what it has not power to utter. Xow the ' torrent river' is the inundation of the Holy Spirit itself, which in exuberant outpouring is gathered in the soul of him in contemplation, when his mind is full beyond what he is able to comprehend. And it is necessary to be known, that when the grace of the Holy Spirit bathes us, it fills us with ' honey and butter' equally. For ' honey' falls from above, but ' butter' is di'awn from the milk of animals, and so ' honey' is from the air, ' butter' from the flesh. But the Only-begotten Son of the Most High Father, while He is God above all things, was made Man one among all things. Who when he replenished us with the sweetness of His Divine Nature and the mvstery of His Incarnation, satisfied us with ' honey and butter' at once. And so seeing that the Holy Spirit rejoices the soul It has filled, at once with the
Job 20, sweetness of His divinity and the belief of His Incar-
1— nation, these are described as ' the streamlets of the torrent
* river of honey and butter' together, in that they both refresh the soul with sweetness by the exalted knowledge of God, » <Cha- and anoint it with the mystery of the Benefit' by the grace of the Incarnation. But whereas this hypocrite, being dissipated in outward regards, does not taste these interior gifts, he adjoins to what after punishments he is tending, in that it is added;
Ver. 18. He shall pay for all the things that he hath done, nor yet shall he be consimied. xvii. 21. For he ' pays' in torment for those desires, which he ^^^' retained here contrary to right, and being consigned to avenging flames, he is always dying, in that he is always kept alive in death. For he is never consumed in death, in that if his life in dying were consumed, his punishment likewise would be brought to an end together with his life; but that he may be tormented without end, he is forced to live on without end in punishment, that he whose life here was. dead in sin, may have his death there living in punishment. Let him say then; He shall pay for all the things that he hath done, nor yet shall he be consumed, forasmuch as he is. tormented, and not put out, he dies and lives, he is falling' away and holding on, always finishing, without being finished. These things are very terrible in the hearing of the ear only, how infinitely more terrible in the enduring of them! Now because the multiplicity of his wickedness demands that he should never be without punishment, it is fitly added;
According to the multitude of his inventions shall he also suffer.
xviii. 22. For whereas he found out many things in order to sin, he is tormented with new inventions in punishment. Sine© what he could not have suspected here, he is made sensible of there, when he is given over to vengeance. For as the Elect in exercising themselves in good works, sometimes set themselves to do more than the Lord thought fit to bid them, (for virginity of the flesh is no where commanded, but only commended; since if it were commanded, then it would follow that wedlock must henceforth be deemed sin, and yet there are many strong in the virtue of virginity, so as to render more in service than they received in command,) so very Book commonly the wicked are each practised in bad ways, so— ^^ — that they find out in evil doing more for them to do than by the practice of the lost they received examples of wickedness. And hence they are stricken with the torments of an ampler retribution, in that they too of their own heads invented practices on an ampler scale, which they deserve to be stricken for. And so it is well said, According to the multitude of his inventions shall he also suffer. For he would not find out new wickedness, except he also sought it; and he would not seek it, except he was eager to do it of set purjjose. Therefore in his tormenting the excessiveness of evil devising is taken into account, and he receives the pain of a worthy recompense. And although the woe of all the damned is infinite, yet they have worse torments inflicted upon them, who invented many things in wicked ways by their desires as well. Xow since Zophar has brought in the punishment of this hypocrite, he immediately adds his sin, nor does he describe anv one in particular, but that from which all sins have their origin. For it is written, Covetousness is the root of all evil. He i Tim.
then, whom covetousness is described as having dominion ' over, surely is proved to be subject to all evil propensities. Thus he subjoins, Ver. 19, 20. Because lie hath broken doicn and laid bare the house of the poor, because he hath violently taken it away and not builded it, neither is he satisjied in his belly.
23. He ' breaks in pieces and lays bare the house of the xix. poor,' who is not ashamed as well to rob out of avarice him whom he crushes by power. ' He violently takelh it away and doth not build it.' As if it were expressed in plain words; ' He that ought to have builded it, he over and above takes it away.' For the Lord Who is to come in judgment, shall say to the reprobate. For I uas an hunyred, Mat.25, and ye gave Me no meat: / u:as thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I teas a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye covered Me not, ^c. as the consequence of which sin it is added, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting f re, ^. H. preparedfor the devil and his angels. If then he is sentenced to so great a penalty, who is convicted merely of not having
Job 20, given away his own, with what punishment does not that man??'ili'. deserve to be stricken, who is proved to have taken the "' things of others also? And so he ' took it away and did not build it up,' in that he not only never gave any thing of his own, but also took away what was another's. Now it is well added; Surely his belli/ shall not be satisjled. For the ' belly' of the wicked man is avarice, in that there is collected together in it whatsoever is swallowed with wrong desire. But it is plain that avarice is not extinguished, but increased by the objects desired. For like fire, when it has got fuel to feed on, it increases; and from the same cause that the flame appears to be restrained for a moment, it is seen a little while after to spread itself out. And it often happens that when Almighty God is greatly wroth with the covetous soul, He first lets all things accrue to it according to its wish, and afterwards takes it away in vengeance, that it may undergo eternal punishments on account of them. And hence it is added;
And tvhen he shall have that which he desired, he shall not he able to possess it. XX. 24. For it is a mark of greater indignation, when thati thing is given which is desired amiss, and therefrom there ensues sudden retribution, because he got that likewise, which he went after when God was wroth the while. Andl hence it is said by the Psalmist, where the people are described as having lusted after flesh for food in a wrong way; Pa. 78, But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath oji 30.31. Q^^ came upon iliem, and slew the most of them. For the judgments of God are used to be slower in appearing, when wrong wishes are hindered that they should not be put in execution. For the quicker that a bad wish is suffered to be fulfilled, it is usually punished the more speedily in proportion. And so by the very act, whereby the hypocrite is^ aggrandized in haste to become powerful, it is brought to pass with proportionate rapidity, that he should not be. For the trees too that grow slower, last to number many years, and those which make way in a short space of time, witheii the sooner, and in a manner, whilst they are hasting to be, they are going the way not to be. It goes on; Ver. 21. There shall none of his meat he left.
25. ' His meat' is all that he coveted with wrong desire; Book but when the hypocrite is struck, ' there is none of his meat ^^' left,' in that when he is himself carried to eternal punishments, ^^*" he is parted from all the good things that he had gotten here. And hence it is yet further added;
Therefore shall nought remain from his goods.
For if ' aught did remain of his goods,' he would take along with him the things that he had possession of But because while going after every thing, he would not fear the Judge, upon being removed out of this life, he goes naked to the.Judge. To which same wicked man, it is but little for his recompensing that he is tormented in after punishment, if only in this life he is let to go free. But there is no liberty in sin, seeing that it is written; where the Spirit of2Cor.S, the Lord is, there is liberty; and to the wicked soul usually '' its very own sin becomes its own punishment. And hence it is rightly added;
In the fulness of his siifficiency, he shall be in straits.
26. For first from avarice he pants to heap together things xxii. he covets, and when he has gathered together a great multitude as it were in a kind of belly of avarice, ' in the fulness of his sufficiency, he is in straits,' in that whilst he is full of anxiety how he may keep the things he has gotten, his own fulness itself straitens him. For the field of a certain rich man had brought abundant fruits, but because he had not where to lay up such stores, he said. What shall I do, Lukei2, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said. This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater. He then who from being straitened by his abundance said, What shall I do? was in a fever as if oppressed with a quantity of food. Let us consider with what longings he desired his land might produce abundant crops. Behold now his wishes are completed, seeing that the land did bring him abundant fruits. But forasmuch as there are not places enough to stowit away, the rich manbeing greatly aggrandized knows not what he should do. O straitness caused by ' fulness of sufficiency!' By the abundance of his land the mind of the covetous man is straitened. For when he says, What shall I do? he clearly shews that, surcharged with the en-
Job 20, grossments of his desires, he went heavily under a kind oi
■~r-r— bundle of stores; and so it is well said, In the fulness oj his sufficiency he shall be in straits. Since the mind of tht covetous man, which had before looked for rest from plenty was afterwards put to worse trouble for the keeping thereof And hence it is also yet further added;
He shall burn uifh heat, and every woe shall come doun upon him.
xxiii. 27. For first he had sorrow in the mere wearying of his own concupiscence how to snatch hold of the things coveted how to secure one sort by arts of flattery, another sort by means of threats; but after that having possessed himsell of the gifts of fortune he has attained his desire, anothei annoyance wears him down, viz. that it is with fear and anxiety he keeps safe that which he remembers it cost him infinite trouble to acquire. On every side he dreads conspirators, and fears to be himself subjected to the very thing that he has done to others. One more powerful he is afraid of, lest he be exposed to violence from him; a poor man, when he sees one, he looks on as a thief. The things themselves which he has hoarded up, he is at great pains about, lest by the failure of their own inherent nature they be con suraed by neglect. In all these particulars then, because fear by itself is punishment, the unhappy wretch suffers things' as great as he fears to suffer. And after this he is yet further brought to hell, and given over to eternal torments. Therefore ' every woe cometh down upon him,' who is at once consumed first here by the punishment of coveting, afterwards by the trouble of safe keeping, and There at some future time by the punishment of retributive wrath.
28. But it is wonderful security of the heart, not to seek what does not belong to us, but to rest content with each day's sustenance day by day. From which same security it is that the Kest everlasting also arises, seeing that from a good and quiet fi-ame we pass to eternal delights. Contrariwise lost sinners are at once worn down here in desires, and there in torments. And from the labour of taking thoughti there arises to them the labour of pain, in that by the fever of avarice they are drawn into the fire of hell. And because as we have already often said, it often happens that the Book wicked man, the sooner he attains his object, is the more easily can'ied off to torment, it is added in the form of a wish;
Ver. 23. Would that his belly might be filled, that God might cast the fury of His wrath upon him, and rain His war upon him.
29. The Lord ' rains His war' upon this hypocrite, when xxiv. he smites his deeds with the swords of His judgments. Thus for God to ' rain war,' is His pressing hard to destruction the life of the wicked man by His strict sentences from on high. God ' raining war' is His smiting the hearts that are lifted up against Himself, and His wounding the blasted soul with the darts of His judgments, as with a kind of thickening drops of rain, that when he is now carried off to judgment, one while he should remind himself how he coveted wickedly, and more wickedly set himself to heap together the things he coveted, at another time grieve that he is parted from the things thus heaped together, and one day feel the very fire of retribution, which, that he might not live well, he was too indifferent to foresee. It goes on;
Ver. 24. He shall fiee from the iron weapons; and rush upon the bow of brass.
30. We ought to know, that avarice sometimes steals upon xxr. men from pride, and sometimes from apprehension. Thus there are some who whilst they aim to appear with greater power, are kindled to the going after the things of others; and there are some, who while they are afraid lest the necessaries of the aids of life should be wanting to them, freely give their minds to covetousness, and go after the things of others when they fancy that their own may not be enough for them. Now all necessity is not unaptly termed ' iron,' in that it pains the Ufe of him that wants with the wound of grief, as it is likewise expressed concerning the necessities of him, who, being sold by his brethren, led an aflflicted life; The eVow Ps- 105, entered into his soul. What then are ' the iron weapons' but necessities of the present life, which press hard upon, and push to extremity, the life of the needy.? Since iron is consumed by rust, but brass is naturally more difficult to be consumed by it. Therefore by ' iron' there is represented
Job 20, present necessity which is transient, bnt by 'brass' the ^^^ eternal doom. And whereas the judgment Above is noi heeded by the mind of the wicked man, it is justly likened t( a ' bow,' since it strikes as it were out of ambush, whilst tht person that is struck does not observe it. And thus, H( shall flee from the iron weapons, and rush upon the bow Oj brass; in that whilst from dreading present necessities, h( seizes things without number, through avariciousness he ii exposing himself before the severe strokes of the fina judgment; and, while he ' fleelh the weapons of iron,' he ii encountered by the arrows from the bow of brass, in that while foolishly providing against the ills of time, he is strucl by eternal doom. For whosoever with guilt fleeth the hard ness of need here, meets there an everlasting duration of jus retribution. But before the time that he is hurried off t judgment, what are the things which this wicked man i busied in here, he yet further informs us. It goes on;
Ver. 25. He is drawn and cometh out of his sheath, yea lightening in his bitterness. xxvi..31. This wicked man lays plots in arts of robbery on hi neighbours. And whilst he is plotting mischief in tb thoughts of his heart, it is as if the sword were still in il sheath;' but when he wickedly executes the mischief, whic he has contrived, he ' cometh out of his sheath,' in that he i brought out to view, from the secresy of his thoughts, in th wickedness of evil doing. He is shewn to light in the deet such as he was, hidden from view, in the thought. An observe that he says, drawn and cometh out; i. e. ' drawn* b the deceiver, but ' coming out' by the act of his own fre will. For he that is ' drawn' unquestionably follows on that draws him. But he that ' cometh forth,' seems to ai according to his own will. That man, then, who is once drawn to the several wicked practices by our old enem; and yet fast bound in the desire of them by his own fn' will, is described as ' drawn and coming forth from h sheath,' since this thing, that he issues forth from the be thought to the worst enacting, belongs at once to tl wickedness of that spirit that prompted, and of him th consented by an act of his own will.
32. The terribleness of whose power is further shew where it is immediately added, Yea, lightening in his hitter- Book ness. For when the lightning comes suddenly from above, when it shines with terribleness before our eyes, it displays shining brightness, and strikes the objects before it. Thus, thus is it with the wicked man, when he has secured to himself i/ the glory of the present life: by the same cause by which he is shewn to view bright by power in the present world, it is brought to pass that he is blasted at the last. For the wicked man's as it were ' lightening,' is his shining in this life's honour; but whereas the splendour of that glory is consigned to the eternal woes of hell, it is I'ightly said in this place, ' Yea, lightening in his bitterness.' For he that now seems as though he took delight in striking by terribleness and brightness, for this cause afterwards undergoes punishments for everlasting. And indeed it is written of a certain rich man that he ' fared splendidly' every day. Now it is one thing to shew ' splendidly,' and another to ' lighten;' for sometimes there is splendour without striking, but splendour u ith striking is described by the title of ' lightning.' He then who being placed in power does injury to others, is not unaptly entitled ' Hghtening,' in that from the same means whereby he is himself exalted against the good, as it were by the light of glory, the life of the good is made to feel torture. It goes on;
Terrible ones shall come and go over him.
33. Who are here called ' terrible ones' except evil spirits, xxvii. who are to be feared and avoided by godly minds? And whereas those same evil spirits are to be believed to attach themselves severally to certain particular vices, when this wicked man seems to quit for a moment one set of faults, and begins to commit another, then surely ' the terrible ones come and go over him,' in that the soul of the bad man though one set of bad habits abandons, yet another takes possession of it. For you may often see the bad man, who is set in earthly power, agitated « ith furious passion, and executing all that his rage suggests; and when his fury is gone, then directly lust ravages his soul; when lust is stopped for a time, self-exaltation as on the ground of continency is immediately made to take its place in his heart, and that he may be feared by others, he aims to shew himself as an object of terror. But when the
Job 20, occasion requires that he should say any thing with doubh
— ^-^ dealing, laying aside in a certain sort the terribleness of prid he flatters with an easy address, and when he ceases to she himself proud, he does not dread to turn double-dealin And so it is rightly said of him, in whose mind one vi( continually takes the place of another, Terrible ones con and go upon him; since for all the evil habits that he borne down with departing and taking each other's plac his soul is as it were overrun by as many evil spirits going ai returning. But it is these things which he does in act, th issue outwardly by parts and pieces, for on his soul he has i things bad tied fast at once and together. Hence it is adde Ver. 26. All darkness is hid in his secret places.
xxviii. 34. For though the hypocrite exhibits good actions < the surface, yet a certain ' darkness' of evil deeds appears him; yet it less comes forth in act, than lies buried in 1 secret thought. For he who does not fulfil all things at on in execution, does in his heart in silence hold all things tl may do mischief. Thus ' all darkness' is said to be ' hid his secret places,' in that though he does not exhibit to vi all things evil in himself, yet he aims to bring down all up his fellow-creatures. Now let him add the retributioUj, whi this soul so reprobate shall be visited with. It goes on;. Afire that is not kindled shall consume Mm.
xxix. 35. Most wonderfully in these few words is the fire of h set forth! For bodily fire, in order to become fire, stands need of bodily fuel; and when it is necessary for it to preserved, as we well know, it is nourished by wood heaj upon it, neither can it be, except by being kindled, nor li save by being cherished. But contrarily the fire of h whilst it is a bodily fire, and bodily consumes the child of perdition that are cast into it, is neither kindled by hur r effort, nor kept alive by wood, but being once made to be lasts unextinguishable: at one and the same time it needs kindling, and lacks not heat. And so it is well said of wicked one; A fire not kindled shall consume him; in 1 the justice of the Almighty, foreseeing future events, did f the very beginning of the world create the fire of hell, wl should once begin in the punishment of the wicked, never end its heat even without fuel. But it is necessar know, that all the children of perdition, as they sinned in Book spirit and flesh conjointly, are there tormented in spirit and ^- flesh alike. Plence it is said by the Psalmist, Thou shalt^^-^^i^- make them as ajiery oven in the time of Thine anger. The Lord shall confound them in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. For an ' oven' is heated within; but he who is ' devom'ed by fire' begins to be consumed from the outside. Thus that holy Scripture might shew that the lost burn both within and without, it testifies that they are at once ' devoured by fire,' and ' made as a fiery oven,' that by fire they should be tormented in the body, and by grief burn in spirit. Hence in this place too, when it is declared of the ungodly man that afire that is not kindled shall consume him, it is forthwith added concerning his spirit;
Being left in his tabernacle, it shall go ill icith him.
36. The ' tabernacle' of the wicked man is his flesh, in that xxx. he inhabits it in joy fulness, and, if it were possible, wishes he might never quit it. But the righteous, as they place their delight in the prospect of heavenly rewards, and have their conversation in heaven, while they are still in the flesh are as if they were no longer in the flesh, in that they are not fed with any gratification of the flesh. And hence it is said to some persons; But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Rom. 8, spirit: not that they were not in the flesh, who by the epistles, of their master received charges of exhortation; but it is in a manner to be no longer ' in the flesh,' not to own aught connected with the love of fleshly objects. But on the other hand this wicked man, because he set all his delight in a fleshly life, ' dwelt in the tabernacle' of the flesh. Which very flesh when he shall receive back in the resurrection, he shall burn along with it delivered over to the fires of hell. Then he longs to be brought out of it; then he seeks, if he might be able, to escape from his torments; then he begins to wish he could get quit of that which he loved: but because he preferred that flesh to God, it is brought to pass by the judgment of God, that by it he is more fully tormented in the fire. Here then he has no mind to leave it, and yet is severed from it, and there he wishes to leave it, and yet is kept in it for punishments. And so for the:i}| increase of his torments, he is at once both removed out of
Job 20, the body here against his will, and held fast in the body
-^ — there when he would not. Therefore because his spirit in XjIT torment longs ^ to get rid of the flesh, which it set before itself in loving amiss, and has not the jaower, it is rightly said here, being left in his tabernacle it shall go ill itith him. Of whose accusing it is directly said;
Ver. 27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity; and the
earth shall rise up against him, xxxi. 37. What do we understand by ' the heavens,' but the righteous, and what by ' the earth,' but sinners } And hence in the Lord's prayer we pray; Thg tvill be done o)i earthy as it is in heaven, meaning this, that the will of our Creator, in the same way as it is accomplished in all the righteous, may also be fulfilled in all sinners as well. Moreover of the
Ps,i9,i. righteous it is said, The heavens declare the glory of God. And to man when he sinned the sentence is pronounced, Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shall return. And so of this ungodly man, when dragged to that awful judgment: ' the heavens reveal his iniquity, and the earth rises uf against him,' that that man, Vv^ho here never spared either th( good or the bad, should in that tremendous inquest have the life of the righteous and of sinners alike accusing him. Anc of the two indeed it is worse if a man injure the good rathe;
Ez.24,7. than sinners; and hence it is said by the Prophet, For he. blood is in the midst of her: she poured it upon th smoothest rock^; she poured it not upon the ground to com it with dust: by ' the ground' and ' the dust' indeed denotin sinners, but by the ' very smooth rock,' the righteous man who is not made rough by the hard grazes of sins; and s ' the blood is poured upon the very smooth rock,' when tb wickedness of a bloodthirsty mind rages in the afflicting c the righteous soul. While then it is worse unjustly to distres the righteous than the unrighteous, yet it is much worse t hurt the righteous and unrighteous together; and therefoi whereas the wicked have injured both the good and the ba alike, in the accusing to damnation, ' the heavens sha reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against hin because he at one and the same time set himself again; those who savoured the things of heaven, and oppressed Book those who savoured of things below. But it may be that by L.
' tlie earth' we have denoted not the sinful and reprobate, but those that being busied in earthly courses, by the heljD of alms and of tears attain to eternal life. Concerning whom it is said by the Psalmist, when the Lord is proclaimed as coming to Judgment, He shall call to the heavens fromVsM,A. above, and to the earth that He may Judge His people. For He ' calls the heavens from above,' when they, who, leaving all that they had, held on the tenour of the heavenly life, are called to sit with Him in judgment, and come with Him as judges; but 'the earth is called from above,' when they who were tied down to earthly courses of action, yet sought therein for heavenly more than for earthly profit and advantage, to which persons it is said, / was a stranger, and ye look me in; naked, and ye clothed me. So ' the heaven reveals the wickedness' of the hypocrite, and ' the earth rises up against him,' in that both they who come in company with God as judges, and they who through the ordeal of the Judgment are set free, become the witnesses of his iniquity. Thus nought of the things he has committed is hidden from sight in the time of condemnation, and if indeed many of his deeds are now concealed from his fellow-creatures by doubledealing, yet in the day of condemnation, whatever there was that lay hidden within him, it is brought to light. Hence it is fitly added;
Ver. 28. The shoot of his house shall be disclosed, and he shall he taken away in the day of God's wrath.
38. 'The shoot of his house is disclosed,' when every xxxii. thing bad that sprung up in his consciousness is shewn to view. For now the ' shoot of the hypocrite's house' remains hidden from sight, in that though his practice appears good in the delineation, yet the intent lies hidden. Since it is one thing what he does, and another thing what he has in view. But when, at the coming of the Judge, each man's conscience shall be brought forward for its testimony, (whence it is written. Their thoughts the mean tvhile accusing or else Rom. 2, excusing one another,) then the ' shoot of the hypocrite's house is herein disclosed,' because the evil design is laid bare in his heart. ' And he shall be taken away in the day
Job 20, of God's wrath,' in that when the indignation of the Judge — ^- is revealed, being given to avenging fires, he is parted from His sight. For he that, whilst he lived, would not take thought of the highest things, being forced down by the weight of his sins, shall fall from the face of the Judge into the depths of punishment. But now the Judge both sees and bears with the sinner in his sins, and because it is the day of forbearance and not as yet the day of fury, He waits for each one for his conversion. Now in this day of forbearance the hypocrite as it were remains unmoved, whilst he both commits many evil deeds, and is chastised by no scourges; but ' in the day of fury he shall be taken away,' in that being carried off to punishment in the season of vengeance he is cut off from the countenance of the eternal Judge. It goes on;
Ver. 29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage of his words from the Lord.
xxxiii. 39. For if, while placed in this life, he had been minded to act rightly, he would have had for his ' portion' with the
Lord fellowship in the kingdom of heaven; but because he chose to be subjected to bad desires, his ' portion from the
Lord' he found in torment, because he did not seek to obtain a share in the grace of that Lord. But it is well said. And the heritage of his words from the Lord. For he that is immersed in punishment for enormous deeds of wickedness perchance it was thought would never be judged for the words which he had spoken amiss. But when the strict justice of
Almighty God exacts punishment fi-om lost sinners for theii froward deeds, it renders evil things to them even to the recompensing of their words, that they who are debtors foi great transgressions, being consigned to punishment, maj pay even the very last farthing. For they are spared the least misdemeanours, who rigorously lamented the greatei evils in themselves. And those whom great sins weigh dowi even the very least alike put to pain in hell. Now holy met desire not to receive a portion from the Lord, but to hav( the Lord Himself for their portion. Hence the Prophe Ps. 73, prays, saying, God is my portion for ever: but the wicke( man, because he sought not to have the Lord Himself fo: his ' portion,' found fire for his ' portion' without the Lord, tha
Johi though wronged, entreats. He fears not laxLghter. ] 99 being shut out from His face, because he did not seek to Book find joy in Him, he might be tormented beneath Him. — -1- These things Zophar brought forward in such a way, that by what he spoke against the hypocrite, he might strike a blow against the Hfe of blessed Job^ thinking that he who was stricken by the Lord, had not done with a simple heart all the good things which he had done. For him, whom he saw beneath the rod, he supposed to have displeased God. But the friends of blessed Job likewise maintain a likeness of heretics in this particular, in that whilst they see, in Holy Church, some, that live aright, groaning beneath the rod, they reckon that they have not good merit in good deeds, and set them down as bad men, whom they see afflicted with the scourge of God; not knowing, that is to say, that Many pg. 34^ are the ajfiictions of the righteous, and that He scourgeth ^^• every son whom He receiveth. But blessed Job, after the g. " "' manner of the Holy and Universal Church, which bears with 1| patience the darts of words at the hands of the froward, and, when she hears the sayings of the proud, never leaves the pathway of her humility, made answer with great humility of heart, saying,
40. For he that when he said Hear, added, I pray you,^^^vf. shews how humbly he speaks, whilst he entreats persons, swelling with pride against him, to bring back their thought to the teaching of saving truth. But whereas holy men, within the pale of the Universal Church, are not only ready to teach what is right, but also to undergo things that are done against them, they do not dread being laughed at. Hence it is added;
Suffer me that I may speak; and after my ivords, if it shall seem so, laugh.
41. For when good men speak, there are two points, which xxxv. they regard in their discourse, viz. that they should be of use to themselves and their hearers, or to themselves alone, if they are unable to be of use to their hearers. For when the good things they deliver are heard to good purpose, they benefit both themselves and their hearers; but when they are turned to ridicule by the hearer, doubtless they were of use
Job 21, to themselves, whom they made quit of the sin of silence. ■ ^'^' And so let blessed Job, that he might serve both himself and his hearers, speak the words; Hear I pray you my speech, and practise repentance. But that he may discharge himself of the obligation which he owes, even if he is unable to avail his hearers, he adds, Suffer me that I speak; and after my tvords, if it shall seem so, laugh. I observe that whereas he added, and practise repentance, he first premised. Hear, but when he added the words, and after m.y words, if it shall seem so, laugh, he premised, Suffer me that I may speak; for ' hearing' is of one who acts of free will, but * bearing' of one who acts against his own inclination. And so if his friends desire to be taught, let them ' hear,' but if they are ready to mock, let them ' suffer' the things that are said; seeing that to a proud mind, instruction in humility is a grievous and onerous weight. It goes on;
Ver. 4. As for me, is my dispute against man, that I should not he justly sad? x.xxvi. 42. Whosoever in pleasing God displeases man, has no grounds for sadness. But he, who in jjleasing man displeases God, or thinks that he displeases both God and man together, if sadness does not come upon him, proves a stranger to the excellency of wisdom. Now blessed Job believed that he had displeased God in the midst of his strokes, and therefore he called back his mind to sadness, in that He was not to be disregarded, Whom he was afraid that he had displeased. Now. if he had been pleading against man concerning the merits of his life, he would have had no occasion to feel sadness, but seeing that by his present strokes he was made doubtful of his past life, he justly sought for sadness under the scourge. Hence too it is added;
Ver. 5. Mark me, and he astonished. xxxvii. 43. i. e. Consider what I have done, and be astonished at the things that I undergo under this infliction of the rod. And he yet further rightly introduces the words;
As if he had said in plain speech; ' Knowing the good things that I have done and seeing the ills that I am subjected to, your own selves keep even from offence in words, and in my strokes dread your own hurts.' Or indeed seeing that by our fingers we dislinguish things severally, discretion is not Book ini fitly represented by the fingers; and hence it is said by the '—
Psalmist, Blessed be the Lord my God, Wliich teacheih m// Ps. 144, hands to rear, and my fingers io fight; i. e. by the ' hands' denoting practice, and by the ' fingers,' discretion. And so the finger is laid to the mouth, when the tongue is bridled by discretion, that by what it utters, it may not fall into the sin of foolishness. And therefore he says, Lay your finger upon your moutli; i. e. 'join the virtue of discretion to your sj)eech, that in those things which ye say right against the hypocrite, ye may see to what persons they are proper to be said.' It goes on;
Ver. C. Even alien I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
44. That blessed Job was not forgetful of his deeds, thexxxviii. last utterance of his lips proves. Wherefore this which he now says to his friends. Even when I remember L am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh, must clearly be said in mockery. As if it were in plain words; ' If I remember that I have had any thing of the hypocrite in me, directly i tremble in tears of penitence.' And ' if he remembered, his flesh was shaken with trembling' he declares, i. e. that the weakness of practice was disheartened by the dread of vengeance. But as Zophar said many things about the sudden condemnation of the wicked man, whereby he snapped at the powerful estate of blessed Job, the holy man subjoins in answer to his words, saying,
Ver. 7. Wherefore do the iticked live, are lifted up, and strengthened by riches?
4.5. For except the patience of God bore with them, theyxxxix, would never live long in their sins. For they are ' lifted up by riches,' when they first begin to be powerful, but they are ' strengthened,' when they are permitted to continue long in this life. Since those whose substance uplifts them, lengtii of days strengthens in the pride of their power. Or surely they are said to be lifted up and strengthened, in that they are ' lifted up' by honours, ' strengthened' by substance. But there are very many, who while they are both ' lifted up' by honours and ' strengthened' by riches, are vouchsafed the things which they covet in this life, but deprived of the
202 The wicked J avowed with children as well as wealth. Job 21, succession of children. To these their very power is punish-
— — - ment, when they see themselves possessed of a large inheritance, but not possessed of heirs to whom they may leave it. What good then, if every thing be forthcoming, but children be wanting who may become their heirs? It proceeds;
Ver. 8. Their seed is established in their sight with them. xl. 46. For the increase of exceeding happiness, together with a large patrimony, they have heirs too given them; and that no unavoidable temporal circumstance either may remove from their eyes those in whom their soul delights, it is said of this seed of theirs, Their seed is established in their sight. But what if children are vouchsafed, yet the children themselves stricken with barrenness? The family is made extinct in them, in like sort as it was feared it would be made extinct by the barrenness of their parents. It goes on;
Observe, life is theirs, honours and riches are theirs, children are theirs, grandchildren are theirs. What if any secret fancy gall the mind, and domestic discord pierce the joys of their security? What is the prosperity of this world, if it be not joyful? It goes on;
Ver. 9. Their houses are secure and at peace^ neither is the rod of God upon tit em. xli, 47. Their ' houses are secure and at peace,' in that they live on committing sin, they do things to be mourned over, and they never leave their joys. And the ' rod' of discipline from Above ' does not smite them,' and they go on the more unrestrainedly in sin, in proportion as they are punished less for sin. But as we have heard the things, which go prosperously within, what prosperity smiles on them in the field too, let us see. It goes on;
Ver. 10. Their ox conceiveth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and loseth not her calf. 1 ' bos' It is the usage of common talk to call ' ox'' masculine, and ' cow' feminine, but literary phraseology designates ' ox' of the common gender. Hence it is now said, Their ox conceiveth, and faileth not; their coir calveth, and loseth not her calf. For to the owner of flocks, the first good fortune is that the flocks being free from barrenness conceive, next that Book the conception come to the birth, and the third that the ^^' thing which is produced be by nomishment reared to a growth. And so in order to shew that the wicked had them all together, blessed Job declares that ' their flocks had conceived and not miscarried, that they had brought forth and were not deprived of their own ofispring.' But it is inferior good fortune, if whilst the flocks increase, the keepers of them do not thrive at the same time. And hence to the fruitfulness of the flocks we have the fruitfulness of their household^ made to succeed immediately. For it is said, ' ' fami-
Ver. 11. Their little ones go forth like flocks, and their children revel in sports.
48. That as there are greater stores bestowed on them xlii. to have the possession of, so great numbers may spring up to keep them safe. But whereas he said, revel in sports, lest we should imagine that the mere sport of the children in the house of the wicked by itself was too mean and poor, he adds, saying;
Ver. 12. They take the timbrel, and harp, and rejoice at the noise of the organ.
As if he said in plain speech; 'Whilst the masters swell with honours and substance, the dependants rejoice in festive sports.' But, O blessed man, wherefore dost thou tell us all these many things of the delights of the wicked? It is now a long time that thou runnest on in the description of them; after much said, in one word point out what thou thinkest. It goes on;
Ver. 13. They spend their days in loealih, and in a point of time go down to the lower parts.
49. Yes, O blessed man, thou hadst for long dilated on xliii. their joys, how dost thou now declare that ' in a point of time they go down to the lower parts,' saving that all length of time of the present life is then known to be but a ' point,' when it is cut short by the end } For when a person is brought to the last end, he no longer keeps aught of the past, seeing that all the periods of time have elapsed, he has nought in the future, in that there remain not to him the moments of a single hour. So the life, which could be thus narrowed, was but a ' point' of time. For as we have before said, we set
Job 21, down the style in a point, and lift it up; and so lie as it were — J— ^ touched life by a point who received and lost it. By a ' point' it is possible that this also may be understood, that it often happens that they that were long borne with in wickedness, are seized by sudden death, that it should not even be granted them to bewail before death the thinc^s they have done wrong, but seeing that occasionally the life of the righteous also is cut short by a sudden end, we shall understand it better, if we take the words of their temporal life, in that whatever was capable of passing away was sudden. But the friends of blessed Job, who believed him to be unrighteous on this account that they saw him afflicted with scourges, rightly have the truth shewn them by the voice of that holy man concerning the blooming and ruin of the wicked, in that prosperity in the present life is no witness to innocency, since many are brought back to everlasting life by scourges, and very many die without a scourge to be dragged to infinite woes. Of whom it is yet further added; Ver. 14. Who say unto God, Depart from us. xliv. 50. To say this in words even foolish men have not the boldness, yet all wicked persons say to God, not by their words but by their ways, Depart from us. For they that do those things wliich Almighty God forbids, what else are they doing but shutting up their soul against the Almiglity. For just as to think of His precepts, is to introduce Him into one's self, so to resist His commandments is to keep Him away from the dwelling-place of the heart. And so they say, Depart from us, who refuse to yield Him an approach to them; and assail Him with wicked deeds, even if they seem to praise Him in words. Moreover they say; For we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. xlv. 51, And that by this alone, that they are too indifiereut to acquire the knowledge of Him. For there be some who Lukei2, from this that ' Truth' saith; And thai servant, which knoweth ^ not his Lord's will, and doth things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. But he that knoweth his Lord's will, and did not according to it, shall be beaten with many; choose not to know what they should do, and reckon as if they will be beaten less, if they are iguorant of what they ought to have put in practice. Yet it is one thing not to have known, and another thing not to have chosen to know. Book For he knoweth not, who is wilhng to make the acquisition, ^^' but is not able. But he who, that he may not know, turns away his ear from the voice of truth, such a person is brought in, not one in ignorance, but a despiser. Now ' the way' of God is jieace, ' the way' of God is humility, ' the way' of God is patience. But whilst the wicked disregard all these, they say, We desire not the knowledge of Thy nays. For whilst they are big with pride in this life, whilst they are swollen with honours, whilst, even if they have not, they covet, they slight ' the ways' of God in the thoughts of their hearts. For because God's way in this world was humility, this very Lord and God, the Redeemer of us men, came to reproaches, to mockery, to the Passion; and He underwent the adverse treatment of this world with patience, resolutely eschewed its good fortune, that He might both teach the prosperity of the eternal life to be aimed at, and the adversities of the present life not to be dreaded. But because the wicked covet the glory of the present life, and eschew disgrace, they are described as saying. We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. For they are unwilling to know, what they scorn to do. Whose words are further continued, where it is said;
Ver. 15. WIio is the Almighty, that we shoidd serve Him?
52. For the mind of man being miserably discharged xlvi. without, is so dissipated in things corporeal, as neither to return to itself within, nor to be able to think of Him, Who is invisible. Thus carnal men setting at nought spiritual commands, because they do not see God with bodily sight, one time or another come to this pass, that they even imagine Him not to be. Hence it is written, The fool hath said inVHA4,i. his heart, There is no God. Whence also it is said now, Who is the Almighty, that ive shoidd serve Him? For it very often happens that men make it more their aim to serve their fellow-creatures, whom they see with bodily sight, than to serve God, Whom they do not see. For in all that they do, they stretch towards the reach of their eyes, and because they cannot stretch the eyes of the body to God, they either scorn to pay Him homage, or if they begin they grow wearied. For, as has been said, they do not be-
JoB2i,lieve Him to be, Whom they do not behold with bodily sight. These, did they but seek God the Author of all things in a spirit of humility, would in themselves experience that a thing which is not seen is better than an object which is seen. For they themselves subsist in being by virtue of an invisible soul and a visible body; but if that which is not seen be withdrawn from them, at once that perishes which is seen. And the eyes of the body indeed are open, but they cannot see or perceive any thing. For the sense of sight is gone, because the indweller has quitted, and the house of the flesh remains empty, since that invisible spirit has departed which was wont to look through its windows. Therefore that invisible things are better than visible ones, all carnal persons ought severally to conclude from themselves, and by this ladder of reflection (so to speak) to mount towards God, seeing that He is even herein that He continues invisible, and continues supreme in proportion as He can never be comprehended. But there are some, who do not doubt either that God is, or that He is incomprehensible, who notwithstanding seek from Him not Himself, but His external gifts. And when they see that these are wanting to those that obey Him, they scorn to obey Him themselves. In relation to whose words it is further added;
And ivliat projit should we have, if we pray unto Him?
xlvii. 53. When, in praying, God is not the object we seek, the mind is soon wearied in praying, in that when a man asks those things, which it may be that God of His secret counsel refuses to bestow. He is Himself brought into loathing. Who will not give the thing which is loved. Now the Lord desires that He may be loved Himself, more than the things which He has made, and that things eternal should be Matt. 6, rather prayed for than temporal onesj as it is written, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall he added unto you. For in that He saith not, ' shall be given,' but shall he added unto you, he plainly shews that what is given as principalis one thing, and what is added over and above, another. For whereas to us the eternal world ought to be in the thought and intent, but the world of time in the use, both the one is ' given' and the other * added' over and above in siijDerabundance. And yet Bock it very often happens, that when men pray for temporal good ^^' things, but do not look for eternal rewards, they seek the thing that is added, and do not want that whereunto it should be added. Nor do they reckon it to be the worth of their prayer, if here they be poor in things temporal, and there live for everlasting rich in blessedness; but having their eyes fixed on visible things alone, as has been said, they refuse to purchase for themselves the invisible by the labour of beseeching it. Who if they but sought objects above, would ply their labour already with fruit, in that when the mind, employed in prayers, pants after the form and fashion' of its Maker, burning with divine longings, it is'speciem united to that which is above, disjoined from that below, opens itself in the affection of its fervent passion, that it may take in, and while taking in kindles itself: merely to love things above is already to mount on high; and whilst Avith longing desire, the soul is agape after heavenly objects, in a marvellous way it tastes the very thing it longs to get. It goes on;
Ver. 16. But because their good things are not in their hand, may their counsel he far from me.
54. He ' holds his good things in his hand,' who in xlviii. despising temporal things, forces them under the dominion of the mind. For whoever loves them over much, subjects himself more to them, than them to himself. For many of the righteous were rich in this world; sustained by their substance, and by their honour, they seemed to possess many things; yet forasmuch as their mind was not possessed by the excessive enjoyment of these things, which were theirs, ' their good things were in their hand,' because they were held subordinate to the authority of the soul. But on the other hand the wicked so discharge themselves with all their hearts in aims at outward things, that they do not themselves so much hold the things possessed, but are holden with minds in bondage by the things they possess. Therefore because ' their good things are not in their hand,' it is rightly added, let their counsel he far from me. For what is ' the counsel of the wicked,' saving to seek earthly and neglect eternal glory, to aim at temporal well-being at the cost of interior detriment, and to change away transitory
Job 21 sorrows for eternal woes? Let the holy man, then, regarding }^tH: these aims of the wicked, turn from them and say. Lei their ^^^" counsel he far from me. Because he sees it to be good beyond comparison, as it is, he had rather for a brief space groan here beneath the rod, than undergo the woes of eternal vengeance. But not even in tliis life do they, that are bent to make their way prosperous therein, enjoy an uninterrupted course of prosperity. But many times their joys are broken off by groans arising. Whence it is
Ver. 17. How often shall their candle he put out? and how oft shall a flood, come over them, and shall He divide sorrotfs in His fury? xlix, 55. It often happens that the wicked man reckons the life of his children as a ' candle,' but when the son, that is loved overmuch, is taken away, what seemed the ' light' of the wicked is ' put out.' Often the wicked man reckons the credit of present honour his ' candle,' but, whilst, his dignity gone, he is cast down from his height, his candle is extinguished, which shone for him according to his desire. Often the wicked man thinks that the resources of earthly substance are his, like a great candle for light, but when upon ruin falling on him, he loses the riches which he loved more than himself, what else with this man but that he has lost the candle, in the light of which he was rejoicing } And so he that has no wish to rest his joy on the things of Eternity, neither here, where he is minded to establish himself, can he rejoice uninterruptedly. For as often as the ' candle of the wicked is put out,' at once there ' cometh a flood upon them, and God divideth sorrows in His fury.' 'A flood cometh' upon the wicked when they undergo the waves of sorrow from adversity of some kind. For Almighty God, when He sees Himself contemned, and that delight is taken in earthly concupiscence, smites that with woes which He sees is preferred before Himself in the thoughts of the wicked man. Now it is well said. And divideth sorrows in His fury. For He That reserves eternal woes for the wicked man in retribution, and sometimes smites through his soul even here with temporal woe, because both here and there too He smites, ' divideth sorrows in His fury' upon the head of the ungodly. For neither does present punisliment, Book which does not turn the mind of the wicked man from his ' bad desires, set him free fi'om eternal chastisements. And hence it is said by the Psalmist, Upon the wicked He shall Ps.ii,6. rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and blasts of storms; this ^hall be a portion of their cup. In mentioning ' snares, fire, and brimstone, and blasts of storms,' he introduced indeed I multitude of woes; but because the sinner that is not imended by them is called to eternal punishments, he consequently called these woes no more his whole cup, but ' a ortion of his cup,' seeing that their suffering is begun mdeed here in woes, but is consummated in everlasting fengeance. Concerning whose end it is yet further added;
Ver. 18. They shall be as chaff before the uind, and as ishes that the storm scatter eth.
56. When the wicked man is seen in power, when he is 1. itterly without check or restraint in his acts of oppression md violence, by the imaginations of the weak he is accounted.GO well ballasted, and as rooted in this world. But when he sentence of the strict Judge cometh, ' all the wicked shall)e as chaff before the wind,' because, if I may say so, all hey are by the sudden blast of wrath lifted and carried to the ire, whom here once in their hasty judgments the tears of the listressed were as unable to move as a superincumbent mass >f a stubborn weight. And to the hands of griping Judgnent those are light, who by injustice were heavy upon their leighbours. And as ashes that the storm scattereth. Before ^e eyes of Almighty God, the life of the wicked man is tshes, in that though he appear green for a moment, yet is ie already seen consumed by Elis judgment, seeing that he s set aside for everlasting burning. These ashes the storm lisperses, in that, God shall come in state, even our God, and Ps.50,3. Uia// not keep silence. Afire shall devour before Him, and ^here shall he a mighty tempest round about Him. For by he furiousness of this tempest the wicked are can-ied away irom the sight of the eternal Judge. And those that here lad set their mind firm with evil desire, will then appear but chaflf and ' ashes,' because those persons the storm seizes,nd transports to eternal punishment. It goes on;
JoB.21, Ver. 19, God shall lay up for his children the grief of
'— their father. And when He repayeth, then he shall know it.
Y ' 57. We know that it is written j Visiting the iniquity of\^ Ex. 34, the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's chil- '^' dren unto the third and fourth generation. And again it is Ezek, written, What jnean ye that ye make this a proverb among 18, 2-4. yfJ,^^ concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord, ye shall not have this for a proverb any more in Israel. Behold all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soid of the son is 3Iine: jiea-t the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Thus in these two sentences whereas there is found a dissimilar meaning, the mind of the hearer is instructed, that it should search out with minute care the way of discernment. Since original sin we derive from our parents, and, except by the grace of Baptism we be loosed from it, we bear with us the sins of our very parents, seeing that surely we are still one with them. And so ' He visiteth the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,' when on account of the guilt of the parent, the Intne* soul of the offspring is polluted by original sin. And again He does not ' visit the sins of the fathers upon the children,' in that when we are freed from original guilt by Baptism, we no longer own the sins of our fathers, but those which we have ourselves been guilty of. Which however may be understood in another way as well, in that whosoever imitates the wicked ways of a bad father, is bound in his sins also. But whosoever does not follow the wickedness of his parent, is never burthened by his offence. And hence it comes to pass that the bad son of a bad father not only pays for his own sins, which he has added, but the sins of his father as well; seeing that to the evil practices of his father, which he is not ignorant that the Lord is angry with, he is not afraid to add yet further his own wickedness too. And it is meef that he who being liable to a strict Judge does not fear tojlitit^ follow the ways of a wicked parent, should be compelled ir this present life to pay for even his parent's misdeeds liiffd And hence it is there said, The soul of the father is Mine and the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, »' li Ik | nulct ilricl orce 10 as I