Homilies on Job 361 Ch. 1, 2. And that man was true, blameless, righteous, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing. For wicked men are false, like those who paint God. Fear God, keep the commandments, for this is the whole man. Blameless, because he was righteous. God-fearing, 362 for a good life makes one know God, and the knowledge of God becomes the guardian of life. 10, 17 Fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep... And they surrounded the camels and took them captive ... The camels he caused to fall to the horsemen; the donkeys and the oxen, those plowing and working the earth, he caused to fall to the captors; but the sheep he hated, for this reason he brought down fire from heaven upon the sheep ... Ch. 2, 9. And when much time had passed, his wife said to him. See the evil deed, when much time has passed, then it attacks; for then especially the things of hope are tested, then especially the things of strength grow weak. And the things of weakness were double for Job; for he himself had become weaker with the length of time, and hope was more despaired of. Ch. 7, 1. Is not the life of man on earth a trial, and his life like that of a hireling for a day? Like a hired servant, all men labor for their own life; for a farmer gathers food in one way, and one who pursues a manual trade in another, and those in authority in another. 363 And there is absolutely no one who does not care for necessities. Ch. 10, 8. Your hands have fashioned me and made me. The body is fashioned from the underlying matter of the earth, that is, of the woman; but the soul is made, with nothing pre-existing, for it is incorporeal and indivisible. I beseech you then to remember also the humbleness and short-livedness of nature. Ch. 12, 5. For at an appointed time he was prepared to fall by others. Here those who believe in fate say that behold the scripture says that it was fated for him to suffer. But the scripture does not say this, far from it! For our affairs are not under necessity; but that God governs all our affairs with measure by the principles of his providence, he knows also how long it is profitable for us to suffer, and he brings temptations according to measure. And Job said this, that he might grant the judgment to God, as if to say: Let not the righteous who suffer be mocked; for they suffer for as long as God wills. Ch. 13, 1. Behold, my eye has seen these things, and my ear has heard, and I know as much as you know, and I am not less understanding than you. And if I seem to be younger than you in age, yet in understanding I am in no way inferior, 364 and not least in the knowledge of divine things, and I am in nothing less than you. 28. Which grows old like a wineskin, or like a moth-eaten garment. He does not say these things according to his own will, but with respect to the supposition, that everyone who is afflicted suffers these things for having sinned. Ch. 14, 1. Or like a flower that has blossomed, it fell; and it fled away like a shadow, and does not continue. And like a shadow, having passed through life, he leaves not even a memorial to the living. Here he clarifies the providence for men; not as remaining in life randomly and by chance, but by the word of God, not transgressing the life appointed by him. And these things must be said not as if fate prevails, but as if the will of God has arranged each thing by limits and measures. Ch. 15, 7, 8. What then? were you born the first of men? or were you formed before the hills? or have you heard the ordinance of the Lord? Instead of: did you not exist before all men, and having extended your life until now, have you had experience of more things than your fellow men. -Theodotion: A hill is a high and impassable place, that is, sandy. -The Hebrew: You were conceived. -There he calls hills "thinas" (shores/sand-heaps), so that he might say, do you not know the things before creation. Ch. 10, 18, 19. O earth, do not cover the blood of my flesh, nor let there be a place for my cry; and now behold

Homiliae in Job 361 Κεφ. Αʹ, βʹ. Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ἀλη θινὸς, ἄμεμπτος, δίκαιος, θεοσεβὴς, ἀπεχό μενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος. Οἱ γὰρ φαῦλοι ἄνθρωποι ψευδεῖς, ὥσπερ οἱ ζωγραφούμενοι τὸν Θεόν. Τὸν Θεὸν φοβοῦ, τὰς ἐντολὰς φύλαττε, ὅτι τοῦτο πᾶς ἄνθρω πος. Ἄμεμπτος, ἐπειδὴ δίκαιος. Θεοσεβὴς, 362 βίος γὰρ καλὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιγνῶναι ποιεῖ, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσις τοῦ βίου γίνεται φυλακή. ιʹ, ιζʹ Πῦρ ἔπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ κατέκαυσε τὰ πρόβατα... Καὶ ἐκύκλωσαν τὰς καμήλους, καὶ ᾐχμαλώτευσαν αὐτάς ... Τὰς μὲν καμήλους πεποίηκε γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοὺς ἱππεῖς· τὰς ὀνάδας καὶ τοὺς βόας, τοὺς ἀροτριῶντας καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐργαζομένους, πε ποίηκε γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοὺς αἰχμαλωτίζοντας· τὰ πρόβατα δὲ ἐμίσησεν, διὰ τοῦτο πῦρ κα τήγαγεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ πρόβατα ... Κεφ. Βʹ, θʹ. Χρόνου δὲ πολλοῦ προβεβη κότος, εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ. Ὅρα τὸ κακοῦργον, ὅτε πολὺς διῆλθε χρό νος, τότε ἐπιτίθεται· τότε γὰρ μάλιστα τὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐλέγχεται, τότε μάλιστα τὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἐξασθενεῖ. ∆ιπλᾶ τε τῷ Ἰὼβ τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας ἦν· αὐτός τε γὰρ ἀσθε νέστερος γέγονε τῷ μήκει τοῦ χρόνου, καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς μᾶλλον ἀπέγνωστο. Κεφ. Ζʹ, αʹ. Πότερον οὐχὶ πειρατήριον ὁ βίος ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὥσπερ μισθίου αὐθημερινοῦ ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ; ∆ίκην μισθωτοῦ, ἅπαντες περὶ τὴν ἑαυ τῶν πονοῦνται ζωήν· ἄλλως γὰρ γεωργὸς συλλέγει τροφὴν, καὶ ἄλλως ὁ τὴν βάναυσον μετιὼν τέχνην, καὶ οἱ ἐν ἀξιώματι ἑτέρως. 363 Ἔστι δὲ ὅλως οὐδεὶς, ὃς οὐ τῶν ἀναγκαίων φροντίζει. Κεφ. Ιʹ, ηʹ. Αἱ χεῖρές σου ἔπλασάν με, καὶ ἐποίησάν με. Πέπλασται μὲν τὸ σῶμα ἐξ ὑποκειμένου τῆς γῆς, ἤτοι τῆς γυναικός· πεποίηται δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ, μὴ προϋποκειμένου τινὸς, ὡς γὰρ ἀσώματος καὶ ἀμέριστος. Ἱκετεύω δὴ μνη σθῆναι καὶ τοῦ τῆς φύσεως εὐτελοῦς καὶ ὀλιγοχρονίου. Κεφ. ΙΒʹ, εʹ. Εἰς χρόνον γὰρ τακτὸν ἡτοί μαστο πεσεῖν ὑπὸ ἄλλων. Ἐνταῦθα οἱ τὴν εἱμαρμένην δοξάζοντες, φασὶν ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει ὅτι εἵμαρτο αὐτῷ παθεῖν. Ἀλλ' οὐ τοῦτο ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, μὴ γένοιτο! οὐ γὰρ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκην τὰ ἡμέ τερα· ἀλλ' ὅτι πάντα ἐν μέτρῳ διοικεῖ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς τῆς αὐτοῦ προνοίας λόγοις, οἶδε καὶ μέχρι πόσου συμφερόντως δεῖ πάσχειν ἡμᾶς, καὶ κατὰ μέτρον ἐπάγει τοὺς πειρασμούς. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἵνα τὸ κρίμα τῷ Θεῷ παράσχῃ, μονονουχὶ λέ γων· Μὴ γελάσθωσαν οἱ δίκαιοι πάσχοντες· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γὰρ πάσχουσιν, ἐφ' ὅσον ὁ Θεὸς βούλεται. Κεφ. ΙΓʹ, αʹ. Ἰδοὺ ταῦτα ἑώρακέν μου ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς, καὶ ἀκήκοέν μου τὸ οὖς, καὶ οἶδα ὅσα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπίστασθε, καὶ οὐκ ἀσυνετώ τερός εἰμι ὑμῶν. Καὶ εἰ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ ἐλάττων ὑμῶν εἶναι δο κῶ, ἀλλὰ κατ' οὐδὲν εἰς σύνεσιν λείπομαι, 364 καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα εἰς τὴν τῶν θείων εἴδησιν, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμῶν εἰμι καταδεέστερος. κηʹ. Ὃ παλαιοῦται ἴσα ἀσκῷ, ἢ ὥσπερ ἱμάτιον σητόβρωτον. Οὐ κατὰ βούλησιν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ταῦτα λέ γει, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ὑποτιθέμενον, ὅτι πᾶς θλιβόμενος ἁμαρτὼν ταῦτα ὑφίσταται. Κεφ. Ι∆ʹ, αʹ. Ἢ ὥσπερ ἄνθος ἀνθῆσαν ἐξέπεσεν· ἀπέδρα δὲ ὥσπερ σκιὰ, καὶ οὐ μὴ στῇ. Καὶ σκιᾶς δίκην, παρελθὼν τὸν βίον, οὐδὲ μνημόσυνόν τι τοῖς ζῶσιν ἀφίησιν. Τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρόνοιαν ἐνταῦθα σαφηνίζει· οὐχ ὡς εἰκαίως καὶ ἔτυχεν ἐν τῷ βίῳ παραμένον τα, ἀλλ' ἐκ ῥήσεως Θεοῦ, οὐχ ὑπερβαίνοντος τὸν παρ' αὐτοῦ τεταγμένον βίον. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐχ ὡς εἱμαρμένης κρατούσης λεκτέον, ἀλλ' ὡς τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ Θεοῦ ὅροις καὶ μέ τροις ἕκαστα διαταξαμένου. Κεφ. ΙΕʹ, ζʹ, ηʹ. Τί γάρ; μὴ πρῶτος ἀν θρώπων ἐγεννήθης; ἢ πρὸ θινῶν ἐπάγης; ἢ σύνταγμα Κυρίου ἀκήκοας; Ἀντὶ τοῦ· μὴ πρὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὑπέστης, καὶ ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν διατείνας τὸν βίον, πλειόνων πραγμάτων πεῖραν ἔσχηκας παρὰ τοὺς ὁμοφυεῖς. -Θεοδωτίων· Ἵνα ἐσ τὶν ὁ ὑψηλὸς τόπος καὶ δύσβατος, ἤτοι ψαμ μώδης. -Ὁ Ἑβραῖος· Συνελήφθης. -Θῖνας ἐκεῖ λέγει τοὺς βουνοὺς, ἵνα εἴπῃ, μὴ τὰ πρὸ τῆς κτίσεως ἐπίστασαι. Κεφ. Ιʹ, ιηʹ, ιθʹ. Γῆς, μὴ ἐπικαλύψῃς ἐφ' αἵ ματι τῆς σαρκός μου, μηδὲ εἴη τόπος τῇ κραυγῇ μου· καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ