Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

xxi. 32. By which same words he made known what exceeding humility he had, who says that he was ' not inferior' to them, whose life by holy living he very far surpassed. For he makes good that ' what they knew he knew,' who by knowing the things of heaven transcended their earthly thoughts through the spirit of prophecy in addition. It goes on;

desire lo reason with Cod.

33. We * speak with the Almighty,' when we beseech His Book pity; but we ' reason with Him,' when uniting ourselves to — rj- His righteousness, we sift our actions with minute investigation. Or otherwise, to ' reason with God,' is for him who obeyed His commandments here, to come with Him hereafter as Judge to judge the people. As it is said to the Preachers that leave all things, Verily I say unto you, that Matk ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Whence the Lord saith by Isaiah too, Relieve the oppressed, Is a, 17. judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together. For it is right that they should reason with God concerning their charges d in the Judgment, who, at the words of God, entirely give up the present world. Thus the ' speaking' has to do with prayer, and the « reasoning' has to do with judgment. Therefore the holy man ' speaks' to the Almighty now, that he may! reason' with the Almighty hereafter, in that He cometh with God afterwards as a iudge, who here in this present time was familar with Him in prayer. But Holy Church, whom we have already said that blessed Job bears the likeness of, not only then judges the wicked, when the day of final Judgment shall come, but even now doth not cease to judge all that either act wickedly, or think foolishly. And hence it is

Ver. 4. First shewing that ye are builders of lies, and votaries of wrong doctrines.

34. By which same words it is clearly shewn that his xxiii. friends as in the likeness of heretics oppose the decisions of the holy man's judgment. For it is clear that they do not hold the figure of Catholics, who are termed ' votaries of wrong doctrines.' Wherein this likewise ought to be marked, that they are called ' builders of lies.' For as an edifice is < built' with stones, so a lie is < built' with words. For when there is not deceitful speech, but a meaning of truth, it is like a fortified mound, arising not by fabrication, but by nature. It goes on;

Job 13, Ver. 5. O that ye would altogether hold your peace, and ~ ' ye should be accounted wise!

xxiv. 35. As in a house, when the door is shut, it is not known what members there are hidden within, so, generally speaking, if a fool hold his peace, it is hidden whether he be wise or foolish, only, however, if no other works come to light, which may speak the mind even of one that is silent. For this reason the holy man, seeing that his friends were anxious to appear what they were not, charged them to hold their peace, that they might not appear what they were. And hence it

Prov. is said by Solomon; Even a fool when he holdeth his peace

'» 28# is counted wise. But because when a fool speaks, from this, that he brings in his own words, he is unable to reflect on the words of the wise, after he had bidden silence, he yet further adds rightly,

xxv. 36. Now he did well first to bring forward ' reproof,' and afterwards * judgment.' For except by reproof first the swelling of the fool be put down, the judgment of the righteous is not by comprehension at all understood. It goes on;

Ver. 7. Doth God need your lie, that ye should talk deceitfully for Him?

xxvi. 37. God doth not ' stand in need of a lie,' in that Truth does not seek to be stayed up by the aid of falsehood. But because Heretics are unable to defend on principles of truth the things which they erroneously conceive about God, it is as if they sought for the shadow of falsehood, to shew the ray of light. And they ' speak deceitfully for Him,' in that weak minds, by being senselessly seduced, they deceive in the understanding of Him. It goes on;

xxvii. 38. For when foolish men behold the doings of the wise, they all seem to them to be worthy of blame; who, forgetting their own emptiness and deficiency, pass judgment on the concerns of others the more eagerly, in proportion as they are more deeply ignorant of their own. But on the other hand, when the righteous reprove the deeds of the wicked, ever conscious of their own weakness, they administer reproof, Book though in launching forth against them outwardly, yet in sympathizing with them inwardly; in that it belongs to Him alone to scrutinize the sins of men without fellow-feeling, Who by the omnipotence of His nature knows not to commit sin. Therefore, as the friends of blessed Job had so reproved his deeds as if they had nothing in themselves to be reproved, it is well said in this place, Will ye take His face? Will ye strive to judge for God? For to ' take the face of God' is to assume His authority in the act of judging; and he as it were ' strives to judge for God,' who when he reproves the several weak points in another, does not feel weak in himself within from fellow-feeling. It goes on;

Ver. 9. Or shall it please Him, from Whom nothing can be concealed*-? Or like as a man will He be deceived by * ceiare. your deceits.

39. Heretics shew God deceit in that they fabricate such xxvin. things as cannot be pleasing to the very Being, in Whose behalf they say them. And whilst they set themselves as if to defend, they only offend Him, in that they are brought to the ground in2 fighting against Him, Whom they appear Dy!^\B'C* preaching to be serving. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, < fau ' That Thou mightest still the enemy and the defender*. For'JJ10-' every heretic is to Almighty God an ' enemy and defender, for wherein he strives in his way to defend Him, therein he fights against His truth. But because nothing can escape God's sight, He judges according to that in them, which they think within their heart, but not by their appearing without to be doing Him service. Therefore since by their frauds ' as a man is deceived, God is not so deceived,' it is rightly added, Ver. 10, 11. He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly take His face. Presently when He ariseth He shall make you afraid; and His dread shall fall upon you.

40. This part, wherein He declares that ' the face of God XX1Xis taken in secret,' may be understood in two ways. For there be some, who at one and the same time perceive truth in their hearts, and yet utter outwardly concerning God things that are false. For lest they should appear to be

Job 13, subdued, they both know the truth within, and yet assail it

\0' 1L without. Hence it is well said in this place, He will surely Hist, reprove you, if ye do secretly take His face. As if it were expressed in plain words; ' Ye are the more to be blamed in His sight for falsehood, as ye see in yourselves what is true.' And there be some, who when they turn back into the interior, contemplate the justice and righteousness of God, and in praying and weeping tremble with fear, but after the hour of contemplation has passed by, they return with as much boldness to their wickednesses, as if, being placed behind His back, they were not seen by the light of His righteousness. And so these with themselves in secret ' take God's face' as if it saw with a bodily sight, in that both, when they are present to Him, they flatter Him with their tears, and, when they are as it were gone from His sight, they make slight of Him by their practices. And these deserve to be beaten more for their evil doings, even in proportion as in the secret of their hearts they know the righteous judgments of God. And hence it is added; As soon as He stir ret h tip Himself, He will trouble you, and His dread shall fall upon you.

41. Seeing that Almighty God is of a nature unchangeable, in the wrath of judgment He is not capable of being moved; but by the expression proper to man, of God's being 'moved,' is understood nothing else than that enforcement of His rule of righteousness, by which the wickedness of man is chastised. Now righteous men conceive a dread of God before His indignation is stirred up against them; they fear Him at rest, lest they should feel Him as moved. But, on the other hand, the wicked then for the first time fear to be smitten, when they are under the rod, and terror then rouses them from the sleep of their insensibility, when vengeance is Is. 28, troubling them. And hence it is said by the Prophet, And only the vexing alone shall supply understanding to the hearing. For when they have begun to be stricken in vengeance for the contempt and neglect of God's precepts, then they understand the thing that they heard. And the

Ps. 78, Psalmist saith, When He slew them, then they sought Him. Therefore it is well said, As soon as He stirreth up Himself, He will trouble yon, and His dread will fall upon you;

in that the hearts of the children of perdition have not iJook fear producing repose, but punishment producing fear. It

Ver. 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes. 42. All that are conformed to this present state of being xxx. by an earthly temper of mind, mean, by all that they do, to leave the remembrance of themselves to the world. Some in the toils of war, some in the towering walls of edifices, some in eloquent books of this world's lore, they are eagerly toiling and striving and building up for themselves a name of remembrance. But whereas life itself runs on to an end with speed, what is there in it that will stand stedfast, when even its very self by nature running rapidly speeds away. For a breath of air seizes the ashes, as it is written; 2fa?Ps.l,4. ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth. And so the remembrance of fools is rightly compared to ' ashes,' in that it is placed there, where it is liable to be carried away by a breath of air. For howsoever a man may toil to achieve the glory of his name, he has placed his ' remembrance like ashes,' in that the wind of mortality hurries it away in a moment. Contrary to which it is written of the just man, The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. Pa. 112, For by the very circumstance, that he imprints his deeds upon the eyes of God alone, he sets firm the name of his remembrance in the eternal world. It goes on; And your necks shall be brought down to the mire, 43. As the sight is used to be denoted by the eye, so is xxxi. pride by the ' neck.' Thus ' the neck is brought down to the mire,' when every proud man is humbled in death, and the flesh that was lifted up rots in corruption. For let us contemplate how and like what the carcases of the rich lie in their graves, what that form of death is in the lifeless flesh, what the rottenness of corruption. And surely these were the very persons who were lifted up with honours, swollen with the things gotten by them, who looked down upon others, and exulted to stand as it were alone. Yet, while they never considered whereunto they were going, they knew nothing at all what they were. But ' the neck is brought down to the mire,' in that they lie neglected in rottenness,

Job 13, who swelled high in emptiness. ' The neck is brought

—: — -down to the mire,' because what the might of flesh is good Hist..

for, the rottenness of corruption evidences. It goes on;

whatsoever my mind shall bid me.

xxxii. 44. He shews that they spoke with the perception of the flesh, whom he therefore binds to silence, that he may speak that which ' his mind bids him.' As if he said in plain words,

' I do not speak in a carnal, but in a spiritual way, because

I hear by the perception of the Spirit things that I bring forth by the service of the body. Whence he at once mounts up on high, and lifts himself aloft in mysteries, and changes into mystical discourse the reproofs which he had delivered,

xxxiii 45. In Holy Scripture ' teeth' are sometimes used to be

Myst. understood for the holy preachers, and sometimes for the interior senses f. Thus of the holy preachers it is said to the

Cant. 4, Bride, Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing. And hence it is said to one of them, when the Gentiles were represented to

Acts him in a figure, Kill and eat, i. e. ' crush their oldness, and

10, 13. convert it into the body of the Church, i. e. into your own members.' Again, that ' teeth' are wont to be understood of the interior senses, is testified by the Prophet Jeremiah, when Lam. 3, he says, He hath broken my teeth by number. For by the

16' ' teeth' the food is broken in pieces, to allow of its being swallowed. Hence we not unjustly understand the interior senses by ' teeth,' which as it were chew and mince small the several particulars that occur to the mind, and transfer them to the belly of the memory, which the Prophet declares to be ' broken by number,' in that according to the measure of each particular sin there is blindness of understanding engendered in our perception, and in proportion to that which each person has committed outwardly, he is made dull of sense in that, which he might have understood of the f S. Thomas Aq. distinguishes four reason makes in them. Sum. Theol. 1. interior senses in men and animals, the P. Queest. lxxviii. Art. 4. same in both, with the difference that

The ' Teeth* may mean the interior perceptions. 20 inward and invisible. Whence too it is rightly written, Book Every one that hath eaten the soar grape, his teeth shall be MoR^t> numbed. For what is 'the sour grape,' saving sin? foraJer.31, < sour grape' is fruit before the time. So whosoever desires to be satisfied with the enjoyments of this present life, is as it were in a hurry to eat fruit before the time. Thus ' the teeth of him that eateth the sour grape are numbed,' in that he who feeds in the gratification of the present life, has the interior perceptions tied fast, that they should no longer be able to eat, i. e. to understand spiritual things; in that from the very self-same cause that they gratify themselves in outward things, they are rendered dull in those of the interior. And whereas the soul is fed with sin, it is unable to eat the bread of righteousness, in that the teeth being tied fast by the custom of sin, can never at all chew such good, as has a relish in the interior. In this place then, because, as we have said, we understand ' the teeth' to be the interior perceptions, we ought to consider very needfully what the righteous are wont to do. Who, commonly, if they detect in themselves any points of a carnal sort however slightly, going over these in the interior senses, vehemently prosecute them in their own person, afflict themselves with selfchastisement, and with excessive self-inflictions visit in judgment the very least things wrong in them, and condemn them by penitence. Which same they do for this reason, that in the sight of the eternal Judge, both they may themselves be found as far as may be without blame, and that those, who see them thus judge themselves, may be kindled to reform themselves from worse offences. And this blessed Job had done in the presence of his friends, who kept fast temporal glory, and extolled transitory blessings. Yet he could not bring their sense to see the usefulness of the scourge with which he was afflicted, that so they might bethink themselves that Almighty God not only bestows prosperity, but likewise brings down adversity upon us, when He is favourable. Whence he says well in this place, Where/ore do I tear myjiesh with my teeth? As if he said in plain words, ' Why with my interior perceptions do I hunt out things carnal, if there be any such thing done in me, if

Job 13, 1 cannot thereby benefit my spectators?' Where too it is

And carry my life in my hand?

46. To ' carry our life in our hands' is to shew forth the bias of the heart in practice. For the righteous have this thing proper to them, that in all that they do, and all that they say, they not only seek their own increase, but the edification of their neighbours likewise. Sometimes they judge themselves in some point, that they may recall indolent hearers to the consideration of themselves. Sometimes they exhibit good works, that their spectators may be ashamed Matt. 5, not to imitate what they see. For it is written, That they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in Heaven. Thus he that exhibits the bent of his mind by his works, ' carries his life in his hand;' but when any good man, whether by judging himself or by exhibiting good works, furthers not his neighbour's welfare by what he has done, he returns to words of sorrow. Whence it is rightly said in this place, Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth? and carry my life in my hand? i.e. ' Why do I either judge myself strictly before men, or shew in practice what my heart is bent on, if I do not advance my neighbour's good either by passing judgment on my evil things, or exhibiting good ones?' But yet the righteous, even while they speak so, never give over setting their neighbour a good example. Hence blessed Job, still further exemplifying and exhibiting the excellence of patience before the eyes of his friends, saith, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.

xxxiv. 47. There is no room for the virtue of patience in prosperous circumstances. He is really patient, who is at once bruised with misfortune, and yet not bowed down from the erectness of his hope. Concerning the temper of mind of Ps. 49, the reprobate man it is written, He will praise Thee, when y'^a Thou doest well to him. Hereby, then, the righteous mind is distinguished from the unrighteous, that even in the midst of affliction the former acknowledges the praise to Almighty God, that he is not broken down together with his worldly fortune, does not fall together with the fall of outward glory, but hereby proves the more, what he was with worldly goods, who even without worldly goods stands the stronger. Hook

Ver. 15, 16. But I will rebuke mine own ways before Him. He also slmll be my salvation.

48. Whereas Paul the Apostle saith; For, if we would xxxv. judge ourselves, we should not be judged, the Lord is found u 3^ to be our ' Salvation' Then, in proportion as our sin is now rebuked by ourselves, from fear of God. Whence the Elect are used never to spare their own sins, that they may find the Judge of sin rendered propitious; and they look to find Him hereafter truly their ' Salvation,' Whom they now strictly fear as their Judge. For, he that spareth himself now in sin, is not spared hereafter in punishment. So let him say, But I will rebuke mine own ways before Him. And what use and advantage results from such rebuking, let him add, He also shall be my salvation. It goes on; For an hypocrite shall not come before Him.

49. Whereas we know that the Judge, when He cometh, xxxvi. will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left, with what reason is it now said, ' that the hypocrite shall not come before Him,' when, if he be among the goats, he will appear on the left hand of the Judge? But we are to bear in mind that we come before the Lord in two ways.

One, whereby taking exact account of our offences here we punish and judge ourselves before Him with weeping. For as often as we recall to our perception the power of our

Creator, we as often, as it were, stand before Him.' Hence too it is well said by Elijah, the man of God, Tlie Lord i Kings

God of Israel licet h, before Whom I stand. In another way l7' L we ' come before God,' when at the last Judgment we present ourselves before His Tribunal. And thus the hypocrite in the last reckoning does come before the Judge, but because now he shuts his eyes to consider and bewail transgressions, he refuses to ' come before' the Lord. For as righteous men, when they fix their eyes on the severity of the Judge that shall come, recall their sins to remembrance, bewail the things that they have done, and judge themselves severely that they be not judged; so hypocrites, as they outwardly please the world, hence omit to look inwardly into themselves, and wholly engross themselves in the words of their neigh-

Job l3,bours, and account themselves to be holy, because they con-

-^ — - sider that they are so accounted by their fellow- creatures. And when they have dissipated their mind in the words that sound their own praises, they never recall it to the cognizance of sin, never mark wherein they offend the interior Judge, entertain no fears concerning His severity, for they believe that they have pleased Him as they have their fellow-creatures. Yet if they but brought His terribleness to mind, this very circumstance, that fixed in a wrong bias they are making themselves pleasing to their fellowcreatures, would cause them to fear the more. Therefore it is well said, For an hypocrite shall not come before Him; in that he does not set before his eyes the severity of God, so long as he is ambitious to please the eyes of men. Who, if he set himself in the presence of God in searching his own conscience, would then assuredly no longer be a hypocrite.

Ver. 17. Hear my speech, and take in my riddles with your ears xxxvii. 50. Herein, that he names ' riddles,' he shews that he has parts of his speech framed in figures. Whence too it is fitly added by the voice of the faithful People;

Ver. 18. If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just.

xxxviii 51. Which too is not at variance with the person of the self-same blessed Job, since he is only telling that concerning himself without, which ' Truth' had inwardly declared to his enemy concerning him; Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? And yet it is much less that the holy man records concerning himself, than what the Lord declared concerning him. For it is one thing to be ' just,' and another to have e none like him.' Therefore he thought humbly of himself, who, whereas he was just beyond comparison with another, described himself not just above others, but simply able to be ' found just.' It seems however to furnish this ground for raising a question in his words, viz. that he who said above, I will rebuke mine own ways before Him; and again says v. 26. further on, Thou wouldest consume me in the iniquities of my youth; and seeing his sins with a distinct eye, says

Job righteous, through grace, in all that man could see.

still further on, My transgression is sealed up in a bag, Bo< now saith, If J shall be judged, I know that I shall fo?_^- found just. For it is impossible l'or sin and righteousness 17. to meet together. But the holy man, attributing wickedness to himself, and the purifying of him to Almighty God, at once sees that he is a sinner in himself, and knows that he is made righteous by free gift. Who even in the midst of good practice earned in superabounding grace to have stripes put upon him. And he already rejoices to be ' found just' in Judgment, who beheld himself before Judgment smitten with the rod. Hence too when he says long afterwards, My transgression is scaled up in a bag, he adds directly; but Thou hast healed mine iniquity. He, then, that describes himself as ' found just' in Judgment,' says not at all that he is not justly smitten, although the Lord did not intend to obliterate sins by the scourge, but to increase his merits. It proceeds;

52. Holy men so guard themselves in their good works, xxxix. with God for their aid, that there can be no where found, without, grounds, whereon to accuse them; but within, in the secret thoughts of their own hearts, they watch over themselves with such good heed, that, if it might be, they may at all times stand blameless before the eyes of the interior Judge. But what they are able to effect, that they never should slip outwardly in act, they are unable to effect inwardly, that they never should make a false step in thought. For man's conscience, from the very fact that it withdraws8 from the things deepest within, is always on slippery ground. Whence it comes to pass, that even holy men often slip in them. So let holy Job, speaking as well in his own voice as in the voice of the Elect, say, Who is he thai will plead with me? Let him come. For, seeing that in extemal actions there is no occasion for which to fasten a blame upon him, he freely looks about for an accuser. But because the consciences even of the righteous sometimes have to charge themselves with foolishness of thought, it is on this account perhaps that it is added;

34 Conscience notes thoughts. God not fully served in fear. Job 13, Why am I consumed in silence?

x| himself for foolishness of thought, is gnawed in his own heart by the tooth of conscience. As if he said in plain words, ' As I have so lived that I should never fear any accuser without, would that 1 had so lived that I should never have my conscience for mine accuser within me.' For he is ' consumed in silence,' who discovers in himself within i unde cause whereby the fire should gnaw him1. It goes on; uratur yer> 20. Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from Thy face.

54. What are we to understand here by the ' face of God,' saving His visitation? In which, whilst He beholds, He also punishes our sins, from which no just man even is hidden, if the two things, which he entreats, be not removed; concerning which he adds;

TJiy dread make me afraid.

xli. 55. By which same two what else does he ask in a voice

Proph. Qf prophecy, but the season of grace and redemption? For the Law held the people obnoxious to the stroke of vengeance, that whoso committed sin under its yoke, should be forthwith punished with death. Nor did the Israelitish people serve

God from a principle of love, but of fear. But righteousness

2implerican never be perfected2 by fear, seeing that according to the l John voice of John, perfect love casteth out fear. And Paul

Eom. 8 comforts the children of adoption, by saying, For ye have

15- not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, hut ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,

Father. Therefore in the voice of mankind, longing for the hardness of the stroke of the Law to pass away, and eagerly desiring to advance from fear to love, he names in prayer what

' two things God should put far from him,' saying, Withdraw

Thine hand far from me, and let not Thy dread make me afraid; i. e. remove from me the hardness of the stroke, take away the weight of dread, and while the grace of love illumines me, pour upon me the spirit of assurance, in that if I be not removed far from the rod and from dread, I know that I shall not be withdrawn from the strictness of Thy searching. Since he cannot be justified before Thee, who serves Thee not on a principle of love, but of fear.' Hence Book lie seeks the very presence of his Creator itself, as it were — familiarly, and in a bodily sort, that he may thereby both hear what he is ignorant of, and be heard in the things that he knows. For he adds directly;

Ver. 22. Then call Thou, and I will answer; or let me speak, and answer Thou me.

56. Who at the time, when lie did appear by the assumption of the flesh to the eyes of mankind, disclosed to men their sins, which they were doing and knew not. Whence it is added;

Ver. 23. How many are mine iniquities and my sins? make me to know my crimes and my offences.

57. Though the ' calling' and ' answering1 may likewise xlii. be understood in another way. For God's ' calling' us is

His having respect to us in loving and choosing us, and our ' answering' is the yielding obedience to His love by good works. Where it is fitly added, Or let me speak, and answer Thou me. For we ' speak,' when we beg for God's face in desire, and God answers our speaking, when He appears to us that love Him. But because whoever pants with longing for the eternal world, examines his doings, taking himself to task with great exactness, and searches lest there be aught in him, whereby he might offend the face of his Creator, he rightly adds, How many are mine iniquities and my sins? Make me to know my crimes and offences. This is the task of the righteous in this life, to find out themselves, and on finding out to bring themselves to a better state by weeping and self-chastening. And though John the Apostle tells us that there is no odds between iniquity and sin, when he says, l John iniquity is sin; yet in the simple usage of speech, ' iniquity' ' sounds something more than ' sin,' and every one confesses himself a ' sinner,' but he is sometimes ashamed to call himself an iniquitous person. Now between ' crimes' and ' offences' there is this difference, that ' crime' over and above exceeds the weight and measure of sin, but an ' offence' does not exceed the weight of sin; for thus, when a sacrifice is commanded to be offered under the Law, it is doubtless enjoined, as for a ' sin,' the same for an ' offence' too. And crime is never done but in deed, whereas offence is most

Job 13, commonly committed in thought alone. Hence it is said by

Ps. 19, that sins of practice are known the quicker, in proportion as they appear externally, but sins of thought are the more difficult to apprehend, that they are committed out of sight.

Hence any one, who being made solicitous by the love of

Eternity, has it at heart to appear clean before the Judge that shall come, examines himself so much the more exactly now, in proportion as he bethinks himself how he may then present himself free to His terribleness; and he beseeches to have it shewn him, wherein he offends, that he may punish that thing in himself by penance, and by judging himself here, may be rendered unobnoxious to judgment.

58. But herein it is needful to observe, how great is the punishment of our pilgrimage which has fallen upon us, who have been brought to such a degree of blindness, that we do not know our own selves. We do evil, and yet do not quickly find it out, even when done. For the mind, being banished from the light of truth, finds in itself nothing else than darkness, and very often puts out the foot into the pit of sin, and knows it not. Which it is subject to from the blindness of the state of exile alone, seeing that, being driven away from the illumining of the Lord, it even lost the power to see itself, in that it loved not the face of its Maker. Hence it is added;

Ver. 24. Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and /widest me for Thine enemy? xliii. 59. Man enjoyed the light of inward contemplation in Paradise, but by gratifying himself, as he departed from himself, he lost the light of the Creator, and fled from His face to the trees of Paradise, seeing that, after his sin, he dreaded to see Him, whom he had used to love. But mark, alter sin he is brought into punishment, but from punishment he returns to love, because he finds out what was the consequence of his transgression, and that face, which he feared in sin, being awakened to a right sense, he seeks afresh by punishment, that he may henceforth flee the darkness of his blind condition, and shrink with horror from this alone, that he does not behold his Creator. Pierced with which longing the holy man exclaims, Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and takes! me for Thine enemy? ' since, if Thou didst regard me as a friend, Thou wouldcst not deprive me of the light of Book Thy vision.1 And going on, he adds the fickleness of the — - — — huinan heart, saying,

Ver. 25. Wilt Thou shew Thy power against a lea/driven to and fro? and wilt Thou pursue the dry.stubble/

60. For what is man but a leaf, who fell in Paradise from xliv. the tree? what hut a leaf is he, who is caught by the wind of* temptation, and lifted up by the gusts of his passions? For the mind of man is agitated as it were by as many gusts, as it undergoes temptations. Thus very often anger agitates it; when anger is gone, empty mirth succeeds. It is driven by the goadings of lust, by the fever of avarice it is made to stretch itself far and wide to compass the things which belong to the earth. Sometimes pride lifts it up, and sometimes excessive fear sinks it lower than the dust. Therefore seeing that he is lifted and carried by so many gusts of temptation, man is well likened to a ' leaf.' Hence it is well said too by Isaiah, And tie all have fallen as a leaf and our iniquities Is. 64,6. like the wind have taken us away. For ' our iniquity like a wind has taken us away,' in that being steadied by no weight of virtue, it has lifted us into empty self-elation. And it is well that, after a leaf, man should be called * stubble' likewise. For he that was a ' tree' by his creating, was by himself made a ' leaf in his tempting, but afterwards he appeared ' stubble' in his fallen estate. For in that he fell from on high, he was a leaf, but, whereas by the ties' i he was fellow to the earth, even when he seemed to stand, he is described as 1 stubble.' But because he lost the greenness of interior love, he is henceforth c dry stubble.' So let the holy man reflect both what meanness man is of, and what severity God is of, and let him say, Wilt Thou shew Thy power against a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble/ As if he openly bewailed, saying, ' Why dost Thou run him down with so much force of righteousness, whom Thou knowest to be so frail in temptation?' It goes on; Ver. 2G. For Thou writest bitter things against me.

61. For seeing that every thing we speak passes away, x'v* but what we write remains, God is said not to ' speak,' but to

' write bitter things,' in that His scourges upon us last for long. For it was said once to man, when he sinned, Dust

Job 13, thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return? And Angels many — — — times appearing gave commandments to men. Moses, the lawgiver, restrained sins by severe means. The Only-Begotten Son of the Most High Father, Himself came to redeem us, He swallowed up death by dying, He announced that everlasting life to us, which He exhibited in Himself; yet that sentence which was given in Paradise concerning the death of our flesh remains unaltered from the very first beginning of the human race up to the end of the world. For Ps. 89, what man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? which ps';6 the Psalmist considering well saith again, Thou, even Thou, 7- art to be feared: and who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry? Who being' once angry,' when man sinned in Paradise, fixed the sentence of the mortality of our flesh, which now even to the very last may never be changed a whit. Therefore let him say, Thou writest bitter things against me. Hence it is further added;

And ivouldest waste me with the iniquities of my youth. xlvi. 62. Observe, that whereas the holy man finds not that he 1 juven- has ever sinned in his manhood1, he dreads the sins of his 2adoles-youth2. Now it is necessary to know, that as in the body, so centise are faeYe advances of age in the mind also. Thus the first age of man is infancy, when, though he lives in innocence, he cannot speak b the innocence which is in him; and then follows boyhood, in which he has henceforth the power of speaking what he wishes; to which youth succeeds, which we know is the first age in active life, which is followed by manhood, i. e. that which is suited to hardihood; and afterwards old age, which from mere time even is now fellow to maturity of mind. Therefore, as we have called the first age fit for good actions ' youth,' and as the righteous when they are far advanced in perfect maturity of mind, sometimes recall to recollection the beginning of their deeds, and blame themselves for their first commencement in an equal degree as they have advanced deeper in gravity of mind, because they find that they were once void of discretion, in proportion as they afterwards more thoroughly attain possession of the stronghold of discretion, it is rightly that now, in the words of the holv man, the sins of his youth are dreaded. But if this Book is to be held alter the bare letter, we ought from this eon — - — — sideration to infer how grievous the sins of grown men and the aged are, if the just so greatly fear even that which they did wrong in the years of weakness. It goes on;

Ver. 27. Thou ptittest my foot also in the stocks, and lookest narroivly into all my paths; Thou markest the prints of my feet.

63. God ' set man's foot in the stocks,' in that he bound xlvii. fast his wickedness with the strong sentence of His severity. And He ' looketh narrowly into all his paths,' in that He judges with minute exactness all the several particulars that belong to him. For a ' path' is usually narrower than a ' way;' but as by ' ways' we understand actions, so by ' paths' we not unjustly understand the mere thoughts of them. So God ' looketh narrowly into all our paths,' in that in all our several actions He takes account of the thoughts of the heart too; and He ' marketh the prints of our feet,' in that He examineth the intentions' of our wrorks, how far they are placed aright, lest that which is done a good work, be not done with a right object. But it is possible that by the prints of the feet the several things done badly may be understood. For a foot in the body is a print in the way. And very commonly, when we do some things wrong, whereas our brethren see it, we are setting them a bad example, and our foot being as it were turned out of the way, we leave to those that follow our footsteps all awry, while by our own deeds we lead the way for other men's consciences to stumble. But it is very hard for man to keep on his guard, that he never presume to do evil, that in his good actions he be not unsteady in the intention, and amidst upright deeds let no wrong purpose deceive him. Yet all these particulars Almighty God minutely examines, and weighs each one of them in judgment. But when can man, bound about as he is by the frailty of the flesh, have power to rise up against all of them with exact particularity, and to maintain the line of uprightness with the thought of the heart unmoved? Hence it is properly added;

Ver. 28. Who am as a rotten thing to be consumed, and as a garment that is moth eaten.

40 Sin eats into the soul as a moth. Man's frail origin. Job 13. 64. For as a garment is eaten by the moth sprung out of itself, so man containeth rottenness in himself, whereby he i— 'consuuieth, and that which he is, is that whereby he consumeth that he should not be. Which may be taken in another sense also, if it be said in the voice of man when tempted; And I as a rotten thing am to consume, as a garment that is moth eaten. For man ' as a rotten thing consumed),' in that he is wasted by the corruption of his flesh. And because impure temptation springs up to him from no other source than from himself, like a moth, temptation consumes the flesh, as a garment from which it issues. For man contains in himself the occasion whence he is tempted. Therefore as it were ' the moth consumeth the garment,' whilst it proceeded from that very same garment. However, we ought to bear in mind that the moth digs its way through the garment without any sound, and it very often happens that thought pierces the mind in such a way, that the mind itself is not sensible of it, until after it has been pierced by its sting. Therefore it is well said that man ' consumeth like a garment that is moth eaten,' for sometimes we do not know the wounds of temptation, unless after we be pierced thereby within our souls. Which same frailty of ours the holy man yet further considering justly adds;

Chap. xiv. 1. Man that is bom of a woman liveth a short time, and is full of many miseries. xlix. 65. In Sacred Writ ' woman' is taken either for the sex, Gal. 4, or else for ' frailty.' For the ' sex,' as where it is written, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law. Ecclus. But for frailty, as where it is said by the Wise Man, Better ' * is the iniquity of a tnan than a woman doing well. For ' a man' is the term for every strongminded and discreet person, but ' a woman' is understood of the weak or indiscreet mind. And it often happens that even the discreet person suddenly falls into a fault, and that another weak and indiscreet man exhibits good practice. But he that is weak and indiscreet is sometimes lifted up the more on the score of what he has done well, and falls the worse into sin; but the discreet person even from that which he sees that he has done amiss, takes occasion to recall himself with closer application to the rule of strictness, and advances the further in righteousness from the same act, whereby he seemed to have fallen from Book righteousness for a time. In which respect it is rightly said, '

Better in the iniquity of a man than a woman doing well; in that sometimes the very fault of the strong becomes occasion of virtue, and the virtue of the weak occasion of sin. In this place then by the name of ' a woman,' what else but ' frailty' is denoted, when it is said, Man that is bom of a woman? As if it were said in plainer words, ' What strength shall he have in himself, who was born in frailty?'

(><>. Liveth a.short time, and is full of many miseries. Observe by the holy man's words we have the punishment of man briefly set forth, in that he is at once stinted in life and filled out in misery. For if we consider with exactness all that is done here, it is punishment and misery. For to minister to the corruption of the flesh by itself in things necessary and permitted is misery, in such measure that clothing should be sought out against cold, food against hunger, coolness against heat. That the health of the body is kept only with great care, that even when kept it is lost, when lost it is recovered not without great difficulty, and yet after being restored is always in risk; what else is this than the misery of the life of mortality? That we love our friends, mistrusting lest they may be offended with us; that we dread our enemies, and truly are not secure touching those whom we dread; that we often talk to our enemies as confidentially as to friends, and often take the sincere words of our friends, and those, perhaps, that love us very much, as the words of enemies; and that we, who wish never either to be deceived or to deceive, err the more by our caution; what, then, is all this but the misery of man's life? That alter the heavenly country has been lost, banished man is delighted with his exile, that he is weighed down with cares, and yet shuts his eyes to considering how great the burthen is, in that he is full of a multitude of thoughts; that he is deprived of the interior light, and yet in this life wishes to prolong his state of blindness; what else is this but misery, the offspring of our punishment? \et though he desire to stay here for long, still he is driven on by the mere current of his mortal life to depart out of it. Hence the holy man rightly adds;

Ver.2. He cometh forth like a flower, and is crushed: heftecth also as a shadow, and never continue th in the same state.

Job 14, 67. For, ' as a flower, he cometh forth,' in that he shews

— — '- — fair in the flesh: but he is ' crushed,' in that he is reduced Moral.. ' '.

I to corruption. For what are men, as horn in the world, but a kind of flowers in a field? Let us stretch our interior eyes over the breadth of the present world, and, lo, it is filled as it were with as many flowers as there are human beings*

So life in this flesh is the flower in grass. Hence it is well Ps. 103, said by the Psalmist, As for man, his days are as grass: as

Is.40 6. a flower of the field, so he flour isheth. Isaiah too saith, All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof is as the flower of the field. For man cometh forth like a flower from concealment, and of a sudden shews himself in open day, and in a moment is by death withdrawn from open view into concealment again. The greenness of the flesh exhibits us to view, but the dryness of dust withdraws us from men's eyes. Like a

•oneMs. flower we appeared, who were not; like a flower1 we wither, grass.' who appeared only in time.

68. And whereas man is daily being driven into death moment by moment, it is rightly added, He fleeth also as a shadow, and never conlinueth in the same state. But as the sun is unceasingly going through his course, and never stays himself in a state of stedfastness, why is the course of man's life likened to ' a shadow' rather than to the ' sun,' excepting that, when he parted with the love of the Creator, he lost the heat of the heart, and remained in the coldness of his iniquity alone? Since according to the voice of Truth,

Matt. Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. He, then, who hath not warmth of the heart in the love of God, and yet keepeth not the life, which he loves, assuredly he ' fleeth like a shadow.' Hence it is well written

Ecclus. concerning him, that he hath followed a shadoiv. Now it is well ' ' said, and never conlinueth in the same state. For whereas infancy is going on to childhood, childhood to youth, youth to manhood, and manhood to old age, and old age to death, in the course of the present life he is forced by the very steps of his increase upon those of decrease, and is ever wasting from the very cause whence he thinks himself to be gaining ground in the space of his life. For we cannot have a fixed stay here, whither we are come only to pass on; and this very circumstance of our living is to be daily passing out of life. Which same flight the first man could not have known before the transgression, seeing that limes passed, himself standing. Book But after lie transgressed, he placed himself on a kind of— — — slide of a temporal condition, and because he ate the forbidden fruit, he found at once the failure of his stay. Which liability to change man Millers, not only without, but also within him, when he strives to arise to better works. For by the weight of its changeableness the mind is always being driven forwards to some other thing than it is, and, except it be kept in its stay by stringent discipline in self-keeping, it is always sliding back into worse. For that mind which deserted Him, Who ever standeth, lost the stay in which she might have continued.

Henceforth now when he strives after better things, he has as it were to strain against the force of the stream. But when he relaxes in his bent to ascend, without effort he is carried back to the lowest point. Thus whereas iu ascent there is effort, in descent rest from effort, the Lord warns us that we have to enter by a narrow gate, saying, Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for when about to Lute mention ' the entering in of the narrow gate,' He premised, ' Strive, since unless there be an ardent striving k of the heart, the water of the world is not surmounted, whereby the soul is ever being borne down to the lowest place. And so whereas man ' springeth up like a flower and is cut down, and fleeth also as a shadow, and never continueth in his place,' let us hear what he further subjoins in this train of reflection. It ' goes on;

Ver. 3. And dost Thou deign to open Thine eyes upon such an one, and, to bring him into judgment with Thee?

69. For he surveyed above both the power of Almighty li. God and his own frailty; he brought before his view himself and God, he considered Who would come into judgment, and with whom. He saw on the one side man, on the other side his Creator, i. e. dust and God; and he rightly exclaims, Dost Thou deign to open Thine eyes upon such an one? With Almighty God, to open the eyes is to execute His judgments, to look whom to smite. For as it were with eyes closed He does not wish to look at him, whom He does not wish to smite. Hence it is immediately added also about the k al. " unless the purpose of the soul be fervent."

Job 14, judgment itself, To bring him into judgment with Thee?

— - — But whereas he had viewed God coming to judgment, he

]jj again takes a view or Ins own frailty. He sees that he cannot be clean of himself, who, that he might be able to be, came forth out of uncleanness. And he adds,

Ver. 4. Who can make clean a thing conceived of unclean seed'? Is it not Thou, Who only Art? lii. 70. He That alone is clean in Himself can cleanse the unclean thing. For man, who lives in a corruptible flfish, has the uncleannesses of temptation engrained in him, seeing that he derived them from his birth. For his very conception, for the sake of fleshly gratification, is uncleanness. Hence

Ps.5i,7. the Psalmist saith, Behold, I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me. Hence it is therefore that he is very often tempted even against his will. Hence it is that he is subject to impurities in imagination, even though he strive against them by reason, because being conceived in uncleanness, whilst he follows after cleanness, he is striving to get the better of that which he is. But whoever has mastered the motions of secret temptation, and overcome uncleanness of thought, must never ascribe his cleanness to himself, in that none can make clean a thing conceived of unclean seed, save He Who alone is clean in Himself. Let him, then, that has already reached in mind the place of cleanness, cast his eye upon the way of his conception, which he came by, and thence satisfy himself, that in his own power he has no cleanness of Hie, the beginning of whose existence was made in uncleanness. But the meaning here may be that blessed Job, regarding the Incarnation of the Redeemer, saw that That Man only in the world was not conceived of unclean seed, Who so came into the world from the Virgin's womb, hat He had nothing derived from unclean conception. For He did not proceed from the man and the woman, but from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. He only then proved truly clean in His Flesh, Who was incapable of being affected by the gratification of the flesh, seeing that it was not by the gratification of the flesh that He came hither.

It is the practice of the righteous, to think of the present Lit. life, how transitory it is, so much the more needfully in proportion as they are taught more earnestly to take thought of the eternal blessings of the heavenly Country; for by those things, which they see lasting within, they more exactly mark the flight of things passing away without. Whence blessed Job, when he had delivered a sentence on the transition of man's time, saying, Man that is born of a woman hath bat a short time to live; and again, He jieeth also as a shadow, end never continueth in the same state; further adds of the shortness of his life;

Yer. 5. The days of man are short, the number of his months is with Thee.

1. For he sees that that as it were is not with us, which rims by with such great rapidity, but seeing that even things passing away stand with Almighty God, he declares that ' the number of our months is with Him.' Or, indeed, by the ' days,' the shortness of time is denoted, but by the ' months' the spaces of the days are multiplied. Thus to ourselves ' the days are short;' but seeing that our life is further extended afterwards, ' the number of our months' is recorded, to be with God.' Hence also it is said by Solomon, Lcivjth Prov. 3, of days is in her right hand. It goes on;

Thou hast appointed his bounds, that he cannot pass. -2. Of the things that happen to men in this world, none ii. come to pass without the secret counsel of Almighty God; for God, foreseeing all things that should follow, before the ages of the world decreed how they should be ordered in the

Job 14, ages of the world. Since it is already appointed to man — - — both to what extent the prosperity of the world shall attend hirn, or in what degree adversity shall fall upon him, that His Elect neither unbounded prosperity may exalt, nor overmuch adversity sink them too low; moreover it is appointed in this very life of mortality how long he shall live with the conditions of time. For although Almighty God added fifteen years to the life of King Hezekiah, yet at that moment that he suffered him to die, He foresaw he would die. Wherein a question presents itself, viz. how it is that 2 Kings it should be said to him by the Prophet, Set thine house in 2°' l' order, for thou shalt die, and not live? For he, to whom sentence of death was declared, immediately upon his tears had life added to him. Now the Lord said by the Prophet at what time he in himself deserved to die, but by the bountifulness of mercy, He kept him for the undergoing death at that time, which He Himself foreknew before the ages began. Nor even therefore was the Prophet deceptive, because he made known the time of death, at which that man deserved to die, nor were the appointments of the Lord rent and torn, forasmuch as this also, that the years of life should be added to by the bountifulness of God, was foreordained before the ages began; and the period of life, which was added contrary to expectation without, was inwardly appointed without increase upon foreknowledge; and so it is well said, Thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot pass. MonAL. 3. Which may also be taken according to the spirit, in that we sometimes endeavour to advance in virtuous attainments, and some gifts we are vouchsafed, but being kept off from some, we lie prone in things below. For there is no man who masters that degree of goodness which he desires, in that Almighty God, Who discerneth the inward parts, sets bounds to the very spiritual attainments themselves; that by reason of that which man tries to master, and is unable, he may not exalt himself in those things, in which he has the power. Whence too that great Preacher, that had been carried up into the third heaven, and penetrated the secrets of Paradise, after that revelation, was not left the power to be at rest, and without temptation; but whereas Almighty God has ' appointed man his bounds, which he cannot pass,' he both exalted him to know things on high, and set him Book

. XII. down again to be subject to weak things, that he looking at - the measure of his compass, whilst he endeavoured to lay hold on security, and could not, that he might not be carried out of himself in pride, might be forced in humility ever to return back within his own bounds. It proceeds;

Ver. 6. Turn from him a little while, that he may rest, till his longed for day come, as an hireling's.

him the force of the stroke,' for who can rest when He turns away from him, when He Himself alone is rest, and the further off a man is from Him, he is also rendered void of rest in proportion? Thus it is in such sort said, Turn from him, that you should understand, ' from smiting;' for it is fitly added, till his longed for day come, as an hireling's. In proportion as an hireling is far from the end of his work, so is he far from the recompense of his wages. Thus every holy man being set in this life, whilst he sees that he is far from departing out of the present life, laments that he is far from the eternal bliss. What then is it to say, Turn from him a little while, that he may rest; but, ' withdraw now the strokes of the present life, and shew the blessings of eternal rest?' Whence too it is added concerning that rest itself; till his longed for day come, as an hireling's; for then the longed for day as of an hireling comes to man, when he receives eternal rest in compensation for his labour.

But as far as relates to the aspect of the present life, how despicable is the race of man, so full of miseries, blessed

Job yet further tells, and describes how greatly the very things without sense seem to surpass him, when he says;

Ver. 7 — 10. For there is a hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will he green again; and that the tender branches thereof will sprout forth. Though the root thereof icax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth foliage as when it was planted. But man, when he is dead, and stripped, and consumed, where is he?

5. Now because this is self-evident according to the letter, iv^. we must refer the sense to the things of the interior, and Mystsearch how they are to be made out after the spiritual

Job 14, signification. Thus in Holy Scripture by the name of tree1 we have represented sometimes the Cross, sometimes the righteous man, or even the unrighteous man, and sometimes the Wisdom of God Incarnate. Thus the Cross is denoted Jer. 11, by ' the tree,' when it is said, Let us put the tree into his bread; for to ' put the tree into the bread' is to apply the Cross to the Body of our Lord. Again by the title of ' the tree' we have the just man, or even the unjust man, set forth, Ez. 17, as the Lord saith by the Prophet, / the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree. Forasmuch Lukei4, as according to the word of the self-same Truth, Whosoever n..

exalte th himself shall be abased; and he that humble th him-

Ece.il, self shall be exalted: Solomon also saith, If the tree fall towards the South, or toward (he North, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. For in the day of their death the just man does ' fall to the South,' and the unjust ' to the North,' in that both the just man in favour of the Spirit is brought to joy, and the sinner, together with the apostate

Isa. 14, Angel, who said, I will sit also upon the mount of the testimony, in the sides of the North, is cast away in his frozen heart. Again, the Wisdom of God Incarnate is represented by

Prov. 3, < the Tree,' as where it is written thereon, She is a tree of 18.

life to them that lag hold on Her. And as She Herself Luke23, Says, If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And so in this place whereas a tree is preferred before man, what is man taken for but every carnal person? and what is denoted by the title of ' the tree,' but the life of the righteous? For there is a hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will be green again. For when in a death of painful endurance the just man is hard bestead a for the truth, in the greenness of everlasting life he is recovered again; and he who here proved green by faith, there • speoem becomes green in actual sight1. ' And his branches shoot,' in that it is most often the case that by the sufferings of the just man, all faithful persons are redoubled in the love of the heavenly country, and they receive the greenness of the spiritual life, while they are glad that he did courageously here in God's behalf. It goes on;

Ver. 8, 9. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, a Some omit ' in,' making it simply ' is put to a death of suffering for the truth.' and the stock thereof die in the dust; yet through the scent Aook of water it will hud, and bring forth /can's us when it was— — - frsf planted.

6. What is ' the root' of the righteous, but holy preaching, v. since it is that he springs out of, and that he holds on in? and what is meant by the name of ' the earth' or of ' dust,' but the sinner? to whom it is said by the voice of the

Creator, '"Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return. <*en. 3,

Or, indeed, as our Translation reads, l Dust thou art, andis'0 unto dust shalt thou return. Thus ' the root of the righte-Vulg* ous waxes old in the earth, and his stock dies in the dust,' in that in the hearts of the wicked his preaching is despised, and thought dried of all goodness, and ' his stock dies in the dust,' in that amidst the hands of the persecutors his body is bereft of life; for according to the words of Wisdom, /wWiad.S, the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure is taken for misery. But this one, whose ' root waxed old in the earth, and whose trunk died in the dust,' through the smell of 'water, buddeth; in that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by the example of his conduct he causes the budding of virtue in the hearts of the Elect. For by the designation of water sometimes the watering of the Holy Spirit is used to be understood, as where it is written, If John 7, any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. -#M^j/0jm4 whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall 14- never thirst. It follows; And bring forth foliage as when it was first planted. To ' bring forth foliage on the stock being cut down' is, when the just man is put an end to in the body, by the mere example of his suffering to raise up the hearts of many, and out of a right faith to shew forth the greenness of truth. And it is well said, As when it was first planted. All that is done by the righteous here is a second planting; in that clearly the first planting does not consist in the practice of the good, but in the foreknowledge of the Creator; and whereas all that the Elect do, as it is first seen and settled interiorly, so afterwards is executed outwardly, it is well said, And briny forth foliage as when it was first planted, i.e. it shews its greenness in the cxe-

Job 14, curing of practice, such as it had before in the foreknowledge

7. The ' root of the righteous' may also be taken for the very nature itself of a human being, by virtue whereof he subsists, which same root waxes old in the earth, when the natural frame of flesh comes to nought being reduced to dust, whose ' stock dies in the dust,' in that the body dismantled of its own form and fashion crumbles to nought; but at the ' scent of water it buds,' in that through the coming of the Holy Spirit it rises again; and it will bring forth boughs as when it iv as first planted, in that it returns to that form, which it was created to receive, if, when he was set in Paradise, he had refused to sin. Proph. 8. Which perhaps may also be taken of the Lord Himself, Who is the Head of all the good; for according to that which we have said before, whereas He saith of Himself, Luke For if they have done these things in a green tree, what 23' 3L shall be done in a dry? He said that Himself was the green tree, and we the dry tree, forasmuch as He contained in His own Person the power of the Divine Nature, but we that are mere men are called a dry tree. And so ' there is hope of a tree if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,' in that even if He was able to be put to death by His Passion, yet by the glory of His Resurrection, He came to the greenness of life again; ' His branches shoot,' in that the faithful being multiplied by His Resurrection grew out far and wide; His root as it were waxed old in the earth, in that the preaching of Him was to the unbelief of the Jews a despicable thing; ' and His stock dried in the dust,' in that in the heart of those that persecuted Him, which was uplifted by the wind of their unbelief, He was held as an object of scorn and contempt, in that He was capable of being put to death in the flesh; but ' at the scent of water He budded,' in that through the power of God His Flesh after demise returned to life, accord - Acts 3, ing to that which is written, Whom God hath raised from llie dead. For in that God is a Trinity, the Holy Trinity, i. e. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, raised up to life the extinct Flesh of the Only-Begotten Son. And ' It brought forth foliage as when It was first planted,' in that the feebleness of the Apostles, which in the season of His death was afraid and denied, and by denying- turned dry, by the Book glory of His Resurrection was again quickened in faith. In - comparison with which Tree what is every man but dust? Hence it is added;

9. There is no man without sin, save Him Who came not vi. into this world by sin; and whereas all we are tied fast in the bonds of guilt, we die by the mere loss of righteousness. Of the robe of innocence given us aforetime in Paradise, we are stripped naked, and we are yet further consumed by the subsequent dissolution of the flesh. Thus man being a sinner dies in guilt, is stripped bare of righteousness, is consumed in punishment. This nakedness of his erring son the Father vouchsafed to cover, who said, on his returning to him, Bring forth quickly the first robe. For ' the first Luke robe' is the robe of innocence, which man being created 15' 22- aright received, but being persuaded wrongly by the serpent forfeited. Against this same nakedness it is said, Blessed is Rev. 16, he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk J" naked. For we ' keep our garments,' when we keep the precepts ofinnocency in our hearts, that whereas guilt strips us naked to the Judge, penance should cover us returning to the innocence we had forfeited. And it is well said, Where, I pray, is he? in that the sinner, man, refused to stand there where he was created; while here, where he fell, he is forbidden to stay for long. Willingly he forfeited his country, unwillingly he is driven forth from his exile, which he delights in. Where then is he, who is not in His love, where only it is truly to be? It proceeds;

Ver. 11, 12. As if the waters fail from the sea, and the river being emptied drielh up: so man lieth down, and riseth not.

10. The mind of man is the sea, and the thoughts of his vii. mind, as it were, a wave of the sea; which sometimes swell in anger, are made calm by grace, and from hatred run out * in bitterness; but when man dieth, ' the waters of the sea fail,' in that according to the words of the Psalmist, In that very Pa. 146, day his thoughts perish. And again it is written concerning4, the dving soul, Also their love, and their haired, and their Eccl. 9,

Job 14, envy shall perish together. Thus ' the river being emptied illilL drieth up,' in that, when the soul is withdrawn, the body remains empty. For the lifeless body is as it were the empty channel of a river, wherein it is to be marked with an attentive eye that the present life, i. e. the time while the soul stays in the body, is likened to the sea and to a river, for the water of the sea is bitter, of a river sweet. And because we that are living here are at one time under the influence of certain bitternesses, and at another time are seen to be serene and gentle with sweetness, the course of the present life is set forth by the similitude of the sea and a river.

11. But herein that seems to be exceedingly hard which is added, So man lieth down, and riseth not. Wherefore do we so toil and labour, if we are not straining after the recompense of the Resurrection? And how is it said, and riseth not, l Cor. when it is written, We shall all rise again, but we shall not y'alJ" all be changed? And again, If in this life only we have hope v. 19. of life in Christ, we are of all men most miserable: and when John 5, ' Truth' says by Itself, All that are in the graves shall hear 8. 29. jj-s voice^ and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. But the sentence subjoined points out what distinction there is concealed in the sentence preceding. For it is added;

Till the heavens be no more they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. viii. 12. For it is plain that they shall not rise again, that is, till the heavens be no more, in that except the end of the world come, the race of mankind shall not wake to life from the sleep of death. Not, then, that he shall not rise again at all, but that before the crumbling of the heavens the human race shall not rise again, is what he teaches. Moreover it is a thing to be marked, why after he had called man dead above, below he designates him not dead, but sleeping, and tells that he shall never rise again from his sleep until the heaven be crumbled in pieces, which is no otherwise than that it is plainly given us to understand, that by the likeness of the tree quickened afresh to life, he designates man a dead sinner, i. e. extinct from the life of righteousness; but when he speaks of the death of the flesh, he preferred to call this not death but sleep, teaching us surely the hope of the J,""K Resurrection; in that as a man quickly awakes out of sleep,— — — so shall he rise in a moment at the nod of his Creator from the death of the body. For the name of death is horriblj feared by weak minds, but the title of sleep is not feared. Hence Paul in charging his disciples saith, But I would lT*ef,Bnot have you to he ignorant, brethren, concerning (hem ' which <ire asleep, that ye sorrow not as men without hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which are fallen asleep in Jesus will God briny again with Him. How is it that the great Preacher calls the death of the Lord death, but the death of the servants of the Lord he names not death, but sleep; but that, having regard to the weak hearts of his hearers, he mixes the medicine of his preaching with wonderful art, and Him, Whom they knew to have risen already, he does not doubt to teach them was dead, while those, who had not as yet risen again, that he might teach the hope of the Resurrection, he calls not dead, but sleeping? For he did not fear to call Him dead Whom his hearers knew to have already riseu, and he was afraid to call those dead, whose rising again they scarcely believed. Thus blessed Job, seeing that he does not doubt of those that are dead in the flesh waking again to life, calls them sleeping rather than dead. It goes on;