Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

17. After the manner of Holy Scripture, he has the ap- xv. pearance of wishing that which he foresees will he, not surely in the spirit of one uttering curses, hut of one pronouncing prophecies. Thus every man, in that he consists of soul and flesh, is as it were made up of strength and weakness. For by virtue of that part, by which he was created a reasoning spirit, he is not improperly called ' strong,' but in respect of that, by which he is of a fleshly substance, he is weak. And so ' the strength1 of man is the reasoning soul, which is able to resist by reason the tendencies to evil that assail it. And hence it is said again by blessed Job, Thou hast strengthened Job 14, him tin- a while, Unit he might puss through for evermore. Since from a reasoning soul man derives it, that he should live for evermore. And so this wicked man's ' strength is hungerbitten,1 in that his soul is not led by any refreshment of the interior food. Of which same hunger God saith by the Prophet; / will scud a famine in t1i<> hind, not a famine Amos 8, of bread n<>r a thirst for water, hit! of hearing the word of the Lord.

18. And it is well added, And starvation invade his ribs. 1'or the ribs lace in the bowels, that lying out of sight within they should be fortified by their solidity. And so the 'ribs' of everyone are the senses1 of the mind, which fence the hidden ' Vide thoughts. Therefore ' starvation invades the ribs/ when all. spiritual refreshment being removed, thi senses ofthe mind fail, and cannot either rule or guard their thoughts. ' Starvation invades the ribs1 of the wicked man, in that the interior hunger debilitates the - I the mind, that they may not

Jon 18, rule their thoughts at all. For when tin ■ senses of the mind arc dulled, the thoughts issue forth to things without, and, as it u< lv, the ribs being wreak, the bowels which might have lain in secret in a sound stale arc poured forth without

Hence it comes thai when the thoughts are spread abroad without, the mind being deceived goes after the image of exterior glory, and is pleased with nothing save what it beholds beautiful without; against whom the words yet further subjoined arc titl\ directed;

Yer. 13. let it devour the beauty of hi* skim and lei the firstborn death consume his arms. wi. ]!>. 'The beauty of his skin' is temporal glory, which whereas it is coveted as an object without us, is retained as a beauty on the skin. But by the title of- arms' workt not unfitly set forth, in that the work of the body is done by the arms. And what is death but sin, which kills the soul Rev. 20, to the interior life? Whence it is written; Blessed and hu/ij is he //in/ liulJi part in /In- first resurrection, in that heshall hereafter rise again joyfully in the flesh, who whilst in this life has risen again from the death of his soul. If then sin is death, ' the firstborn death1 may not unsuitably

1('' 13- ning of all sin. And so ' the beauty ol his skin and his arms the firstborn death devoured)/ in that the glory or the practice of the bad man is overthrown by pride, lor lie might have been glorious even in this life without sin, if he had not been proud. He might in the judgment ol' His Creator have been commended for some works, if before His eyes pride had not overturned those verj works. Thus we often see rich people, who might have had wealth and glory without guilt, if they would have hail them with humility. But they are uplifted by possessions, they are Bushed with honours, they disdain the rest of the world, ami place their life's wholi hope and trust in the mere abundance of good

''•'• hast much good /uii/ up for many years; take thine ease, mi, drink, mn/ be merry. Which thoughts of their hearts when the Judge above beholds, ||e plueks (hem awa\ for this verj confidence oi theirs by itself Hen< e in this place n>o it is fitly added;

Ver. II. Let his confidence be rooted out of his taber- h<>"k nacle, and let death as a king trample on him.

20. In this place by the title <>f ' death1 we have denoted xvii. the enemy <>f the human race himself, who brought in death, who is set forth by a particular minister of his, of whom it is said to John, And his name was Death. And so this Rev. 6,

' death,' in the day of departure hence, ' tramples upon the wicked man as a king,' in that him, whom he before deceived by soft persuasions, at the last he carries oil" to punishment in bonds of violence, and forces him down the more cruelly, in proportion as he ties him the stronger in bad deeds. And here too while he possesses the heart of the lost sinner, he ' tramples' upon it, in that as often as he pressed it with feelings of delight, he as it were set upon it the feet of his tyrannical dominion.

•21. But if by the title of c death,' we arc to understand not the devil explicitly, but sin, in consequence of which the lost meet with the doom to be dragged to death, then indeed such ' death tramples on the mind like a king,' when it possesses the same nuking no resistance. For temptation to sin cannot be away from man whilst set in this life. But it is one thing to resist sin tempting us, and another to be enthralled by it tyrannizing over us. And so the wicked man, because he is not taught to resist the persuasions of sin, and is not afraid to be subdued to its dominion, has it rightly said of him, Death as a king shall trample on him. For it was the reign of this death that Paul was keeping off from the hearts of his disciples, when he said, Let not -sin there~Rom. 6, fore reign in your mortal body. Since he does not say, ' let it not be,' but, let it not reign, in that it cannot help but be, but reign it may not, in the hearts of the good. And so whereas, when a sin strikes the heart of the bad man, it does not find it resist, but bows it under its dominion, let it rightly be said, Let his eonjidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let death as a king trample on hint. And so ' his confidence is rooted out of the earth,1 when the bad man, who in this life had provided for himself many goods after his mind, is brought to nought by death in an instant. And ' death as a king tramples on him,1 in that lie is either pressed upon here by evil habits, or at the time

1 30 lulu null it "/ ii wicked soul haunted by devilish thought*

: — roent, he is brought under t<> the power of the devil. Which is thus done m the minds <>i tin- wicked on tins account; ii \\h«ii the opportunity <>l' committing sin is lacking, tb< ons oi the desire arc not in the least

Lacking to their minds. And whereas thej do always follow the devil in practice, yet do they doubly hind themselves fasl to liim in thought And so there is Bret sin in thought, ami afterwards in act. Whence it is said to the daughfc t of '• Babylon, Come down and *it in the ilitst, <> Virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the earth. For wh ireas dusl is always earth, earth is not always <lu^t. What then are we to understand by dust but thoughts, which, while they perseveringly and silently lly up in the mind, blind its eyes? And what is denoted by ' the earth,1 bul an earthly way of acting? And ivhereas the mind of the lost sinner is first casl down to imagine wicked things, and afterwards to do them, i<> the daughter of Babylon, who came down from the judgment of interior uprightness, it is rightly said in a wounding sentence, th.it firsl Bhe should ' sit in the dust." and afterwards ' in the earth,1 in that except Bhe had lowered herself in thought, she would never have settled fast in had practice. It goes <>n; hi his fellows dwell in his tabernacle, because he is not. xviii. 22. i. e. In his mind apostate angels shall have their haunt by vilest thoughts, they being ' his fellows,* who for this reason no longer k is,' because he has departed from the Supreme Essence, and for this is, by a daily augmented declension, as it were tending ' not to be,1 in that he has once fallen from Him Who truly is; who moreover is rightly said k not tn be,1 in thai he has lost well-being, though he has nol lost natural being. Still, yet further Betting forth these thoughts of the had man with more niinnte- e\. r, BO cherishes the fire, that it sends out the very foulesl stench. What then do we understand bj ' brimstone,1 bul carnal sin. which, while it till- the mind with wicked thoughts like a Kind ni ill savours, is kindling everlasting (ires for it; and whilst it spreads the cloud ofitS Stench in the hist BOUl,

Brimstone typifiesuncleanness. TJiought the root of works. 1 3]

it is as it were providing against it fuel for the Barnes to Boos come after. For thai the ill savour ofthe flesh is understood— - by brimstone, the mere history of Holy Writ by itself bears record, which relates that the Lord ' rained down fire and Gen. 19, brimstone upon Sodom.1 Who, when lie had determined to"

punish her carnal wickednesses, by the very character of the punishment marked out the stain ofher guilt: since ' brimstone' hath stench, and lire burning; and so, forasmuchas they had been kindled to bad desires in the ill savour of the llesh, it was meet that they should perish by fire and brimstone combined; that by their just punishment tbey might be taught what they had done in unjust desire. And so this ' sulphur is scatt red upon the habitation1 of the wicked man, as often as the corrupt indulgence of the flesh exercises dominion within him; and whereas bad thoughts unceasingly occupy him, and forbid his bringing forth the fruit of good practice, it is rightly added;

Ver. 1(>. Let his roots be (hied up beneath, and above let his crop be spoiled.

24. For what do we understand by the title of ' roots,' xx. which are set out of sight, and bring forth a shoot into open view, but the thoughts, which, while they are not seen in the heart, produce visible works;? And hence by the title of a ' crop' there is denoted the same visible practice, which is thus produced from a hidden root. And whereas every bad man first dries up in the imaginings of temptation and afterwards dies off from good deeds, it is rightly said by Bildad, Let his roots be dried up beneath, and above let his crop be spoiled, in that, whereas the wicked man sets his thoughts in things below, and neglects to seek the delights of everlasting greenness, what is this but that he lets his ' routs be dried beneath?' Whose ' crop too is spoiled above,' in that all his practice is counted as nothing in the view of the judgmenl above, even if it seem good in the eyes of man. Thus the 1 roots' are at the bottom, and the ' crop' above, in that we first send out good thoughts hen1, that we may one day deserve to receive the fruit of our good works in eternal recompensing; but every wicked person when he abandons good thoughts, and pours himself forth upon the things that are without, has ' his roots dried up below:' but ' above his crop is

Job L8, spoiled,' in thai he, who persists barren here, alter this life is bidden to no rewards. I on;

Ver. 17. Let his remembrance perish from the earth\ and let lint his name be repeated in the streets. \\i. 25. It is deserving of om aotice, thai Bildad the Shuhite so i xpresses himself of each one of the wicked, that his words are Becretly directed against the head of all the wicked; for the head of the wicked is the devil. And he in lii- own n ba ing in the last times entered into that vessel of perdition, shall be called 'Antichrist,' who will endeavour to spread his aame far and wide, which same every individual now likens himself to, when, by the memorial of an earthly name, he strives to extend the gloiiouSD 98 of his praise, and exults in transitory reputation. Therefore let these words be so understood ol' each one of the wicked, that they be referred in a particular manner to the head of the wicked himself. Therefore let him say, Let his remt mbrance }>< rish from the earth} <in<l let not his name bt repeated in the

1 plat. ' streets. For1 streets are called by a Greek term from width,

*,'", and SO Antichrist aims to settle the remembrance of himself ( broad.' upon earth, when he longs, if it were possible, to remain for ever in temporal glory. lie delights to have 'his name celebrated in the street,1 whilst he spreads the working of his wickedness far and wide, lint whereas this wickedness of his is not permitted to lie reared to a heighl lor a long time, let it he said. Let his remembrance perish from the earth, and let iml his mi me In- repeated in the sheet; i.e. that he should both quickly part with the fame of his earthly power, and lose all the pleasures of his name, which he had spread far and wide in the shortlived prosperity of time, h -ueson;

\. r. 18. //'■ shall drive him from light into darkm x x i i i. 26. He is led ' from light to darkness,1 when for honour in the present life, he is condemned to eternal punishments.

And hence it is more plainly added, in'/ translate him out of the world.

1 or he is ' translated out of the world," when upon the Judge above appearing, he is taken away from this world, in which he wickedly glories; and for this, that when the end of the world breaks in upon him, he is condemned with all his followers, it is rightl) subjoined;

His seed cut off. Enoch and Elias to be slain by him. 188

in his people, nor any remnant in his parts. —

For it is written, that the Lord Jesus shall consume him^T^M.

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

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

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

Job 18, derived from virtue, and alarm proceeding from the flesh; in k that though they be of the number of the Elect, so that they cannot be overcome by torments, yet from this only thai they are men, the} fear the very torments, that they overcome. So lot it he said, In his days the In*/ shall be astonied, and terror shall seize on the "first. In that heshall then shew forth such signs, and do things so cruel and hard hearted, as to lore.' them to astonishment, whom he shall find at the end of the world, and to pierce with the pang of carnal death the first lathers, who are reserved for his extirpation. Therefore whenas he has described many particulars relating to all the wicked, or to the head of the wicked himself, he immediately adds with a general description,

Ver. 21. Surely, such are lli<> dwellings of the nicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not Clod. x\iv. *28. For he had said above; He shall drive him from light Rion m. ■Illfn darkness, and translate him >m( of the world; and upon subjoining his miseries, he added; Surely, such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is (he /dace of him that knoweth w>i God. In that he who is now lifted up from not knowing God, is then broughl to his own ' dwellings,1 when his own wickedness plunges him into woes; and one day he finds c darkness his place,1 who, while he made himself glad here in the counterfeit light of righteousness, was occupying the place of another. For had men in all that they do in dissimulation, are striving to possess themselves of the righteous man's name of credit, as of another's place. But they are then brought to their own place, when they are tormented with everlasting fire, as the desert of their iniquity. For here in all thai they do they are ministering to their desire of winning praise, and by the semblance of good works, they are opening wider the bosom of the mind to avarice. So let the wicked man go now, and lull Mown with complete equipments, let him build his habitations here below, let him spread a name of glory, let him multiply estates, and delight himself in abundant stores, but when he shall be brought to everlasting punishments, th< u surely he shall know that ' such are the dwelling of the wieked, and this i>> the place of him that knoweth not God.1 Now Bildad jaid this ri'ditK, hut he did not know who it was that he was saying it to. Hut the heart of a good man is seriously Boom afflicted, when sentences are pronounced against him upon- - an unfair estimate. Whence blessed Job directly answered, saying;

How long will ye rev my soul, and break me in pieces with words /

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

Lo, these ten times ye confound me.

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

Job i'.», tiuv do wrong in their wicked principles, tiny forsake the — — pici i pts of the Ten Commandm< nts, and cause confusion i<» the g 1 as oft< d as the] Bet ih mselvi - against the words ol w\ii. 81. There are some persons, whom bad principle Buddenlj springing np invites to the commission of wickedness, yet respect for their fellow-creatures recalls again. And very often from this, viz. that they arc made ashamed outwardly, they arc brought hack into their nun inn srior heart, and ]>a^-

.in inward judgment upon themselves; in that if they an afraid t<» do what is evil on man's account, how much more ought they not even to have longed alter what is evil, on ( tod's account, Who sees all things? And in the case of il: persons it is brought to pass, that they correct greater i \ il by inferior good, i.e. interior sin by exterior Bhame. Again, there arc souk, who. whin once they have brought themsi Ives to contemn God in their hearts, despise the judgments of their fellow-Creatures much more, and all the evil that the\ long after, they do not blush to execute boldly, which persons secret wickedness invites to the commission of sin, and outward shame holds not hack; as it is said also of a garded man. Hence too it is said of certain persons sin- [s.s,9.ning with shameless effrontery; And they have declared their sin OS Sodom. Thus very often there are such persons enemies of I lol\ Chinch, persons who are not withheld from committing wicked things, either by the fear of God, or regard of man; and it is well said t<> these by blessed Job, Ami ye are nut ashamed thai yt oppress me; seeing thai though it was wrong to have wished had things, it is worse not to he ashamed of things w rongly desired. It goes on;

Ver. 4. And be it indeed that I have been ignorant, my ignorance remaineth tcith myself. Kxviii. 82. Heretics have this about them, thai they are swoln by the eni]it\ pretensions of their knowledge, and often turn to ridicule the simplicity ol those that believe rightly, and

Othei hand Holy Church, in all that she BBS reallx wi-, in her, keeps low <li level "i her view in humility, that she 1"

l-.nii then ignorance is good for good men. 187 nut puffed up by knowledge, nor be made to swell high <>n Boob the seeking <>ut of tilings hidden, and venture to dive into - points that are above her powers. For with more profit to herself she is anxious not to know things she is unable to fathom, rather than boldly to define things she does not know. As it is written; // is not good to eat much honey:?™*- so he that is (i searcher of majesty, shall he overwhelmed by" ' glory* Fur if the sweetness of honey be taken in greater measure than there is occasion for, from the same source whence the palate is gratified, the life of the eater is destroyed. The ' searching into majesty' is also sweet; but he, that seeks to dive into it deeper than the cognizance of human nature admits, finds the mere gloriousness thereof by itself oppress him, in that, like honey taken in excess, it bursts the sense of the searcher which is not capable of holding it. Now that is said to be ' with' us, which is for us; and on the other hand that is said not to be with us, that is against us; and so, because his own knowledge puffs out the heart of the heretic, while his perception of his own ignorance abases the faithful, let blessed Job say in his own voice, let him say also in the confession of the Church Universal, And be it indeed that I hare been ignorant* my ignorance shall be with me. As if it were said in express words to Heretics; ' All your knowledge is not with yon, since it is against you, so long as it uplifts you in foolish pride; but my ignorance is with me, because it is for me; since, whereas I do not dare to search into any thing relating to God in pride of heart, I keep myself in the truth in a spirit of humility.' And because these very same things that heretics seek to know, they apply perforce to the furtherance of sellelation only, that they may seem learned in contrast to the faithful and humble, it is rightly added;

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

138 1 host- who tpare their own rin proud in judging others,

Job i!', wlid served as be didj with what vengeance did t)i« \ deserve s-j- to be smitten, who bad Dot served like him? Audit is rightly said to them,)' ore set up against mei as if it were said to them iu plainer terms; ' Ye who ought by occasion of in\ being smitten to have been Bet up against your own selves,' this being the order of such setting up on the si ilc of goodness, viz. that we b first set up against ourselves, and afterwards against (Joe wicked. For he that is set up against the good, is blown OUt in pride. Thus we arc set up against ourseh es, when, reviewing our own evil deeds, we smite ourselves with the severe avenging of penance, when we do not spare OUrselve8 at all in our sins, ami are not biassed by any fond tlioughts towards ourseh es, who, if we first rigidly follow up our evil things in ourselves, it is likewise fair, that we Bhould he set up against the evil in others too for their good, and that the evil w Inch we punish in ourseh < s, we should Subdue in others too, by charging it home to them.

34. Hut this sort of setting up the wicked know nothing of, because they leave themselves, and attack the good; thej incline themselves towards themselves, in their secret heart, by the softness of fond flattering, and they are set up against the lives of good men by the severity of harshness, u hence it is now rightly said to the friends of blessed Job swelling against him under his scourge. Ye are set up against me: i. e, ■ Your own selves, that deserve to he rebuki d, ye leave, and me ye rebuke with severe sentences." For he that does not judge himself first, is ignorant what to judge right in another; and if perchance he did Know by the hearing what to judge right, vet he is not able to judge rightly the merits of another, who has no rule of judging supplied him by the consciousness of his own innocence. Hence it is that it is,ud to certain persons dealing deceitfully, w hen they brought 8, an adulteress to receive punishment; /A- thai is without sin among you, lei him first atxi n ttone at her. For thej went for the punishing of others' sins, and they had left their own behind; and so they are called back to their conscience within them, that they should first cornel their own taults, and then reprove those of others. It is hence that, when

;'"'iK''s the tribe ol Benjamin was deep sunk in the guilt y\ carnal

The Proud reproach the Righteous with their troubles* L89 sin,;ill Israel handed together would have avenged that Boob

\ i v wickedness, yel was once and again itseli 8mitten down in - the conflict <if war; but on the Lord being consulted whether they should go to take vengeance, it was commanded them.

The People, that went according to the bidding of God's voice, fell both once and again, and then at length effectually smiting the sinning tribe, almost wholly extirpated it. How is it that it is first kindled to the revenge of sin, and yet afterwards itself brought down; but that those are to be chastised first themselves, by whose means the sins of others are chastised; that they may themselves now come cleansed through vengeance, who are forward to chastise the evil of others: Whence it follows that when the vengeance of God's inquest is at rest towards us, our own conscience should reprove it-, own self, and by its own act lift itself up against self, to sorrows of p nance, neither being set up towards the good, and humble towards itself, but unbending towards itself, and bowed low towards all the good. Thus to proud men administering reproof, it is rightly said; Ye are set >//> against me, and ye charge me uitJi my reproaches. All persons that are set up, account temporal afflictions to be a grievous reproach, and they think every individual to be the more despised by God, in proportion as they see him scourged with the rod of affliction. For they look for nothing in principles, they look for nothing in practices; but whomsoever they see to be stricken in this life, they imagine to be already condemned by God's sentence; whence it is well said on this occasion by the voice of blessed Job;

And ye charge we with my reproaches.

35. In that they, who knew him to be righteous before *xx, his strokes, were now judging him to be unrighteous by the mere fact of his being stricken, and hence it very often happens that Heretics, because they see persons within the bosom ■ fHoly Church Buffering affliction; (for it is written of God, ' rgeth every son whom He receiveth;) fancy Heb.

that the sorrows of the faithful arise from nothing but sin, ' and themselves they for thi- r.1- o conclude to be righteous, because being left in the thoughts of their evil ways, lacking the rod. iln y have become hardened. It proceeds;

lid Job colli nut (/'ml unjustj Jn'i himself innocent, j< H 19, Ver. 6. Know now at least that Qod hath afflicted me with no just Judgment.

\\\i. 86, (), how bard does the roice of the righteous man sound, Buffering onder the infliction of tin rod '. which name, however, not pride, but grief gave vent to! Now he is not righteous, who gives up righteousness under sorrow; and blessed Job, because he had a meek spirit, did not

—iii even by a hard word. For, if we say thai he <li<l err by this voice, we make <»ut that the devil accomplished what he

5. purposed, when he said, Touch his hone and his flesh, and

• if he have not blessed Thee to Thy face. Therefore a serious question arises; for if he did not sin in that he says,

Know /'"ir at l< ast tlmt Qod has not afflicted me with a Just

Judgment; we agree to God's having done something unjustly, which it is profane to say; but if he did sin, then the devil made appear concerning him the thing that he promised. And so it must be asserted both that God acted rightlj in His dealings with blessed Job, and yet that blessed Job herein, viz. that he Bays thai he 'was not afflicted h_\ a just judgment of God,1 did not speak an untruth, and that our old enemy in respect of that which In' promised of sin in the hlesscd man did speak an untruth.

For Bometimes the words of the good are lor this reason

BUpposed wrong, because they are not ever considered in their interior signification. Thus blessed Job had turned his eyes to his own life, and he estimah d the strokes which he was undergoing, and saw that it was not just that upon

Such a life BUCh strokes should he dealt. And when he

—,\ - that he \va-> not afflicted by a just judgment, he spoke that with unreserved roice, which God in His own secresj v..(. had said concerning him to his adversary, thou movedst tfl against him, t" afflict him without cause. For what God expresses, th.u lie 'had afflicted blessed Job without cause,' tin- blessed Job asserts again in the words that he was not 'afflicted of the Lord by a just judgment?1 Wherein then did he sin, who was in nothing at odds \\ i 1 1 1 the -. ntence "f

.".7. lint perhaps some one will say, that for us to Bpeak that uro"d concerning ourselves, which the Judge may have Baid in secrel concerning us, cannot!><• done without Bin.

./ man may speak truth for himself on occasion. Ill

For he whom tin- Judge praises, ii cannot be doubted, is l;

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

38. Whence Paul the Apostle also related many brave things of himself for the edification of his disciples, but he did not commit sin by relating these things, in that both by an undeniable attestation, and a humble mind, he did not depart from the pathway of truth; and so let blessed Job, conscious of his own life being just, say that he is not afflicted by a just judgment; neither yet docs he sin by that voice, wherein he is not at variance with His Maker, in that he whom God ' smote without cause,' himself also asserts that he was not ' afflicted by a just judgment.' But again there arises another question, which I remember has been already solved in the beginning of this work, viz. whereas Almighty God does nothing without cause, why does He bear witness that He had aiflicted blessed Job without cause? For our just Creator by those many strokes inflicted upon bless, d Job did not aim to do away with evil qualities in him, but to increase his merits; and so that was just, which He did in the heightening of his good deserts; but it did not seem equitable, because it was thought to be the punishing of instances of sin. Now blessed Job believed that sins of his doing were obliterated by those scourges, not that his merits were added to, and therefore he calls it ' not a just judgment,' because he tests his life side by side with the scourges: thus, if the life and the scourges be weighed in the scales, that was not equal dealing, which blessed Job, as 1 have said, supposed to be done to him in the wrathfulness of severity; but if the mercifulness of the Judge be looked to, seeing that by the punishment of the just man the merits of his life are heightened, it was an equal or rather a merciful judgment:

joi 19, therefore at once Job spoke what was true, bo long as he —. — balanced his life with the stroke: and God did Dot afflict Job with an unjust judgment, in that he heightened his merits ].\ the Btrok<; and the devil did not achieve what be promised; seeing that blessed.1"!', amidst words which Bound hard, was neither removed from a tru - atence nor a humble mind, i Jut perhaps ire shall understand these words ■>! blessed Job less well, il not acquainted with the sentence of the Judge; Who, when He was delivering sentence betwi n the two parties, Bays to the friends <>i Job;

1 19,)> hath not spoken of Me the thing that is rights as My i\i',( ft servant Job hath. Who then is I ' foolish in mind as 'tun.' to own that blessed Job had tilty in his way <>\ in he is declared to have spoken rightly bj the vi rj voice of the Judge itself? Which same voice, indeed, if u. refeT to tin1 p Holy Church, we not unsuitably apply it to her weak mi mbers, which while, in the season of her persecution, they weigh both her merits and In r scourges, forasmuch as thej Bee thai the unjust thrive, and the just pi risb, have no notion that this is just. Now it is well added by the roice of the bless '1 man, And compasst d me with his scourges. itxxii. 39. I'"i it is om thing to be Bmitten, and another thing to lie- compassed with scourges.' Tims, w,. are smitten with scourges, when even in our sorrows we have a consolation derived from other sources; for when affliction lies bo hi avj on us that the spirit can no longer take breath by consolation from anyone thing; we are now no longer smitten only, but even ' compassed with scourges,1 in that we are everj way surrounded by the rod <>i affliction. Thus Paul bad j Cor. 7, been compassed ■ ith scourges, when he ^ ii«l. Without wen r>- fightings^ within were fears. He had been compassed with

2 Cor. scourgi b, when he said, /// perils by mine own countrymen, n'-''- in perils by the heathen, in /arils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, with the other particulars, which he bo enuiii' r.ii s, as tn shew that he no where had rest. Bnl when Holy Church is ' compassed with the scourges' of her tribulation, all the weak in her arc brought down in tin- Tall of littleness of mind, so thai thej uow suppose themselves disregarded, in proportion as thej Bee that tin \ arc the more slowlv heard with effect And it is rightly added yet further h<>ok likewise in a figure of them by the voice of the holy man,

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

40. Almighty < rod, knowing what has in it efficacy t<» prove wxiii. our good, shuts I lis ears to hew tlic voice of persons mourning, that I If may add to their advantage, thai their life may he purified by punishment, that the tranquillity of resl which ran no where be found here, may be sought for elsewhere, But thereare some of the faithful even that know nothing of this grace of Providential ordering, in whose person too it is now said; Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I din tin/ heard; I cry aloud, l>ut there is no one i<> judge; for it is said, ' there is no one to judge,' when lie veils His eyes L. judge, in that beside Him 'there is not am to judge' our cause against our adversary. Nor yet is this very thing void of judgment, viz. that judgment is delayed; seeing that at the very time that blessed Job said this, both the merits of the holy man and the punishment of his adversary were increased: so then this very deferring of judgment is the act of a judge. But what God settles justly within is one thing, and what the soul bruised by scourges without seeks after is another. Whence he still further adds of that sinking under scourges,

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

1 1 1 The weak find ili< ir uaij dark, <m<l lit i- stripped of glory.

•)>>ii i!', do in >i know the rery good, which they Bhould choose, t.

as it were, shrink from the ' darkness placed in their paths.'

For the mind often becomes so doubtful of its own doings,.is not to know at all which is the virtue and which the fault. Thus he ' finds darkness in his path,1 who in those things which he desires to do, is ignorant what be ought to choose. Therefore Beeing that there is sin often from infirmity, and Bometimes from ignorance, it is Baid in the person <>f the members that go weakly, He hath fenced up my way thai I cannot pass. While in the person of those wb< clear as t<> the very good work itself which they Bhould choose, it is added; and He hath ft / darkness in my paths. For it is punishment of sin, to see the good which we ought to do, and yet not to have the power to fulfil it; and again it is in still worse punishment of sin, not even to Bee what we ought to do; and hence against both of these it is said Pn.S7,l.by the voice of the Psalmist, The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom then shall tfear? For against the darkness of ignorance the Lord is a ' Light;' against weakness ' Salvation,'whilst Be both shews what ought to be desired for the doing it, and supplies the powers, that what Me shews

Ver.!>. //c Intlh stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

xxxv. i'2. That all this suits the person of the Messed man Si I in the midst of tribulation, there can be no doubt; hut, since the words of the historical account are plain, they do not require explaining after the letter, therefore they have to he traced out in their mystical a uses. Thus he says, He hath stripped me of my glory. For the glory of each individual is his righteousness. Now just as a garment protects from the cold, so does righteousness defend from death; hence righteousness is not improperly likened to a garment, where 133, it is said by the Prophet; Lei Thy priests he clothed with righteousness. But Beeing that in the season of her tribulation this garment of righteousness, which covers her in the sight of ( rod, is lost!>• l loiy Church in her members that go weakly, let ii he rightly said; lit hath stripped me of my glory ti. e. righteousness has keen taken away from the weak, whereas it could never possibly have been taken away from

Victory <ut<I hope of reward lost for a while by the tenth. 1 15 them, if it had been infixed in them from the ground of the Boo* heart, but for this reason it was possible to be taken away— from them, because it was attached to them outwardly, like a garment. Wherein the question offers itself, how they could be called members of Holy Church, who were capable of losing the righteousness which they seemed to maintain, lint it is necessary for us to know, that very often righteousness is lost for a while by her weakly members, but when they are afterwards brought back to penitence in the acknowledgment of their fault, they attach themselves to that very righteousness which they had lost more strongly than was supposed credible. And it is yet further added thereby, and taken the crown from my head. As the head is the fust part of the body, so the leading part of the interior man is the mind. Now the crown is the reward of victory, which i from Above, in order that he that has contended should be rewarded; and so because many persons, under the pressure of adversities, do not hold out in the contest, in these HoK Church as it were { loses a crown from her head:' for ' a crown on the head' is the reward from Above in the mind; there are a great many who whilst they are pressed with adversities, neglect to take thought of the rewards above, and cannot reach to the completion of victory; in such, tl ' the crown is taken from the head,' in that the heavenly and spiritual reward is taken away from the aim of the mind, that they should henceforth go after the externally peaceful, nor look out for the eternal rewards, which they used to have at heart.

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

Job 19, the ills to the greater ones, going on aboul the manifold andoing ofthe Church, he added;

and undone iu her weak members, when those verj ones that seemed Btrong, are brought to ruin; when 'the crown is taken awaj from the head,1 i. e. when the rewards ofeternitj are neglected even by those se( at the head; and ii is well added concerning weak ones falling, And mine hope Imtli Me removed like as with a tree torn away; for a tree is pushed by the wind that it falls, and with him whom threats bo terrify, as to make him ^n headlong into unrighteousness, what else is it. 1 >ut that B tree met with a blast of the wind, and lost ilii- standing of its uprightness? Fot he lias, as it w ere, lost hope by the w ind, who, subdued by the threats and persuasions <>f the wicked, has parted with those eternal rewards, which he looked forward to; and because it very often happens that a person, from fear ni' punishment, gives ovt r righteousness, it is brought to pas* by God's decreeing it, that even in giving up righteousness he does not get quit ofthe pnnishment8, which he was afraid of, and that he who did not fear at all the destruction of the soul, meets even \\ ith the ills ofthe flesh, which he apprehended. Ilence it i- yet

\ er. ]l. He lmili alio kindled His wrath against me, and Ifr counteth me unto Him us one of His em mies. wwii. 15. For we have been taught by the excellent Preacher attesting it, that ' God is faithful, Who will not Buffer us t<> he tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may he able to hear Jer.30, it.' Moreover the Lord says by the Prophet, For I have annulled Hue with Hie WOUttd dun i in in >/. irith u eruel chastisement, lie then that is bo stricken that his powers are overcome bj that striking, the Lord no longer now smites him as.i son in the course of discipline, but as an eiiem\ in indignation. Tints when the strokes exceed the power of our patience, it is very much to he feared, lest, our sins demanding it, we are now no longer stricken as sons by a l'""'K

,. XIV. Father, but as enemies by the Lord; and whereas it v< ry often '- comes to pass thai evil spirits too press home many things to tin- hearts of the afflicted, and amidst the scourges which strike them outwardly, infuse had thoughts into their hearts, after the wrath of the Lord it is rightly added;

Yer. 12. His robbers come together} and make themselves a way through me.

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

And encamp round about my tabernacle.

For they ' encamp round about our tabernacle,' when they Hist. encircle the mind on every side with their temptings; which by most wicked prompting they persuade one while to mourn for things temporal, at another time to despair of things eternal, now to go headlong into impatience, and to cast words of blasphemy against God. Yet these words, as we have already said before, agree with blessed Job even taken historically; who, whilst he heaped before his eyes the ills he was enduring, judged himself to be not like a son that must be corrected, but as an enemy stricken with affliction. Through whom even ' His robbers made themselves a way,1 in that the evil spirits obtained against him the leave to smite. ' Round about whose tabernacle they encamped,' in that after his substance and his children were taken away, they bruised his whole body too with wounds. But it is very extraordinary, why, when he spoke of the ' robbers,' he added His. clearly with a \iew to shew that these same robbers belonged to God; on which point, if we make a distinction between the power and the will of evil spirits, it is made evident, why they are called ' God's robbers;' for evil spirits incessantly pant to do us mischief; but while they have a bad will derived from themselves, they have not the power of doing mischief, except the Supreme Will vouchsafes them permission; and while of themselves indeed they long to hurt us unjustly, yet by

Job, di a rted by his own, a typt ■ I turd job. 19, Almighty God they are nol suffered to hurt aaj one sari is— 15. jllst]\. a]M] Si, when is the will is unjust in ili< m and the power just, they are at once called ' robbers,1 and ' God's robbers,1 that it should come from themselves, that thej aim to bring jdown evil things unjustly, and from God that the things bo desired thi 3 d 1 not consummate saving justly; hut because,.1- we have often said already, the holy man Bel in the midst of the pain of punishment, one while Bpeaks in his own accents.;it another time in the accents of the Church, at another time of our Redeemer, and very frequently bo describes bis own circumstances, thai in a figure he delivers.■ that belong t<> the Holy Church and to out Redeemer, concern for historical fact being for a little space put aside, let us shew in these things, which he subjoins, how be accords with the accents of our Redeemer. It goes on;

Allbo. Ver. 18, 11. He hath />//{ my brethren far from me; and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kiuxfolk have failed, and my familiar friends havt forgotten me, xx\i\. -17. We shall shew this the better, if we bring forward the

1, testimony of John, who says, 1 1< came iiiiin His own, and His own received Him wl; for His ' brethren were put far from Him," and Mis 'acquaintance were estranged1 from Him, Whom the Hebrews that held the Law * Jit to prophesy, and never knew to acknowledge when present; whence it is rightly said. My kinsfolk have failed me, and my familiar friends hare forgotten me. For the -lews, 'kinsfolk' in the flesh. ' acquaintance1 by the teaching of the Law. as it were forgot Him, Whom they had foretold, in that I Inn they both sung of in the words of tin Law, as d< Btined to he made Incarnate, and when made Incarnate denied Him by the words of unbelief. It proceeds;

Ver. 15. They lhat dwelt in my house, and my maids, fount me, for a stranger. xl. 48. The inmates of God's house wen' the Priests, whose 1 origo,ac.(.i (Mice set apart in the service of God, was henceforth l>\ office continued in thai Btate. But the ' maids1 an not improperly taken for the bouIs of the Levites, servants to the hidden parts,,f the tabernacle.is it were bj a more familiar service to the interim of the bedchamber. Therefore let him sa\ of the Priests, serving with sedulous care, let him

.say of the Levitea attending on the interior of the house of Book

God. They tliat dwell in my house, and my maids, hare - counted me for a stranger; in that the Incarnate Lord, Whom they had for long foretold in the words of the Law, they refused to acknowledge and to reverence. And he yet more plainly shews thai He was not known by their wicked will, when he adds;

And / uas as it were an alien in their sight.

I!». For our Redeemer whereas He was not recognised xli. by the Synagogue, was rendered ' as it were an alien' in His own house. Winch the Prophet plainly witnesses, saying, Wherefore shalt thou be as a set iter in the land, and OS a Jer. 14, wayfaring man thai turneih aside to tarry? For whereas8'

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