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this, so that he might be shown to be more illustriously courageous, and his friends also were ignorant of it. But when they heard him praying for death, though it was necessary to console him with other words, it was permitted them, as we have already said before, not to do this, but from some justification, and perhaps also with the devil secretly sowing this in them, to take up a supposed zeal for God, and thinking, which was not true, that for the righteous man to long to be released from the body was blasphemy against God, those who had come for his healing, taking up a supposed advocacy for God, became more bitter to the righteous man than his pains. That their suspicion was not true, it was possible for him to do away with himself and to lead himself out of the body, but he did not endure to do this because of God who had bound the soul to the body. And while he longed for death, keeping his reverence toward God sincere, although having it in his power, he did not kill himself. If, therefore, anyone has followed in the footsteps of the great Job and has passed beyond passionate fear and has attained perfect love, he knows from what confidence he speaks thus and that he would not have dared to be judged by God, if he had not been bound by love for him and had not been very confident in the Lord's righteous judgment; for which reason God also accepted him, knowing from what mind and what love he brought forth his words. And if anyone has experienced pains, he will be especially amazed at the man's philosophy in his torments. But we must proceed, then, to the interpretation of the sayings. And we shall say what things agree with the history and what things look toward allegory, in no way harming the history, just as in the case of the other holy books. For thus the fathers taught us, neither to root out what has been written and turn everything to allegory, nor to remain Judaically in the letter alone, but to dig around and cultivate the intelligible paradise of the divine scriptures and to assign some things to history, and others to contemplation, and especially in the case of the prophets, one of whom I consider the most holy Job. For if the saying accepts both without violence, both the history and the contemplation, we must use both; but if only the history, let us remain with the letter; but if it looks only toward the meaning, the discourse must be elevated to allegory. Let us proceed, therefore, as I said, to the clarification of the sayings themselves, first asking the holy soul of the blessed Job to beseech God to grant us also to say something worthy of the man's magnanimity.

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FIRST CHAPTER Beginning of the saying: There was a man in the land of Ausitis, whose name was Job. Preface to the chapter The scripture states the name of the righteous man and his country and describes the beauty of his soul, securing the hearer beforehand, so that according to this high regard for the man he may hear also the things said by him without being disturbed, but being securely convinced of his righteousness. Then it says that he had many children and beautiful children and abounded in all the things of human happiness. And it teaches also the concord and brotherly love of his children and the care of the father and his reverence toward God and with how much care he raised his children, exercising great foresight and wiping away their involuntary sins of the mind through sacrifices and prayer to God.

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fr. 1 Until today in Arabia both the monument of the courageous Job is shown and the wrestling-ground of the dungheap, in which he bound on his brilliant crowns, and the local people hold annual honors for him, as some of the brethren who came to us from there have explained. Some said the land of Ausitis was that of Sion, others Idumea, others some land situated in the middle of Idumea and Arabia, and others Arabia itself, in which also the tomb of the righteous man is located. But that he was an Idumean is clear from what is written toward the end of the book. And where he dwelt and where he contended is manifest from the things seen until now.

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fr. 2 The land of Ausitis was the land of Esau; for from Esau it was called Ausitis, or from Aus, one

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τοῦτο, ὡς ἂν καὶ περιφανεστέρως ἀνδρεῖος ἀναδειχθῇ, ἠγνόουν δὲ καὶ οἱ τούτου φίλοι. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ τὸν θάνατον ἐπευχομένου, δέον ἑτέροις παραμυθήσασθαι λόγοις, συνεχωρήθησαν, ὡς ἤδη φθάσαντες εἴπομεν, τοῦτο μὲν μὴ ποιῆσαι, ἐκ δέ τινος δικαιώματος, ἴσως δὲ καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου λάθρᾳ αὐτοῖς τοῦτο ὑποσπείροντος, τὸν ὑπὲρ θεοῦ δῆθεν ζῆλον ἀναλαβεῖν, καὶ νομίσαντες, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν ἀληθές, βλασφημίαν εἶναι κατὰ θεοῦ τὸ ποθεῖν τὸν δίκαιον ἀπαλλαγῆναι τοῦ σώματος, τὴν ὑπὲρ θεοῦ δῆθεν συνηγορίαν ἀναδεξάμενοι οἱ πρὸς θεραπείαν ἥκοντες πικρότεροι τῶν ἀλγηδόνων τῷ δικαίῳ κατέστησαν. ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἦν ἀληθὴς ἡ ὑπόνοια, ἐξὸν ἦν αὐτῷ διαχειρίσασθαι ἑαυτὸν καὶ ὑπεξαγαγεῖν τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἠνέσχετο τοῦτο ποιεῖν διὰ τὸν θεὸν τὸν συνδήσαντα τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ σώματι. καὶ ἤρα μὲν τοῦ θανάτου, εἰλικρινὲς δὲ τὸ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν φυλάττων σέβας, καίτοιγε ἐπ' ἐξουσίας ἔχων, οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἀνεῖλεν. εἴ τις τοιγαροῦν τοῖς ἴχνεσιν ἠκολούθησε τοῦ μεγάλου Ἰὼβ καὶ παρῆλθε μὲν τὸν ἐμπαθῆ φόβον, τὴν δὲ τελείαν ἀγάπην ἔφθασεν, οἶδεν 5 ἐκ ποίας παρρησίας οὕτω διαλέγεται καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐθάρρει κρίνεσθαι πρὸς θεόν, εἰ μὴ τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν συνεδέδετο καὶ σφόδρα ἐθάρρει τῇ τοῦ κυρίου δικαιοκρισίᾳ· διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεδέξατο εἰδώς, ἐκ ποίας γνώμης καὶ ποίας ἀγάπης τοὺς λόγους προέφερεν. εἰ δὲ καί τις ἀλγηδόνων πεπείραται, διαφερόντως καταπλαγήσεται τὴν ἐν ταῖς βασάνοις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς φιλοσοφίαν. ἀλλ' ἰτέον λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ῥητῶν ἑρμηνείαν. λέξομεν δὲ ὅσα καὶ τῇ ἱστορίᾳ συμβαίνει καὶ ὅσα πρὸς ἀλληγορίαν βλέπει οὐδὲν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ λυμαινόμενα, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἁγίων βιβλίων. οὕτω γὰρ ἡμᾶς οἱ πατέρες ἐδίδαξαν, μήτε ἐκριζοῦν τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα καὶ πάντα πρὸς ἀλληγορίαν στρέφειν μήτε Ἰουδαϊκῶς ἐναπομένειν μόνῳ τῷ γράμματι, ἀλλὰ διασκαλιδεύειν καὶ καλλιεργεῖν τὸν νοητὸν τῶν θείων γραφῶν παράδεισον καὶ τὰ μὲν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ, τὰ δὲ τῇ θεωρίᾳ ἀποδιδόναι, καὶ διαφερόντως ἐπὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ὧν ἕνα ἡγοῦμαι τὸν ἁγιώτατον Ἰώβ. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἑκάτερα δέχεται τὸ ῥητὸν ἀβιάστως, καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν καὶ τὴν θεωρίαν, χρηστέον ἀμφοτέροις· εἰ δὲ τὴν ἱστορίαν μόνην, μείνωμεν ἐπὶ τοῦ γράμματος· εἰ δὲ πρὸς διάνοιαν μόνην ὁρᾷ, ἀνακουφιστέον τὸν λόγον εἰς τὴν ἀλληγορίαν. χωρήσωμεν τοιγαροῦν, ὡς ἔφην, ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ῥητῶν σαφήνειαν αὐτήν, πρότερον αἰτήσαντες τοῦ μακαρίου Ἰὼβ τὴν ἁγίαν ψυχήν, ἱκετεῦσαι θεὸν δοῦναί τι καὶ ἡμῖν ἐπάξιον εἰπεῖν τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μεγαλοψυχίας. 6 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ Αὐσίτιδι, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰώβ. Προθεωρία τοῦ κεφαλαίου ὄνομα τοῦ δικαίου καὶ χώραν φησὶν ἡ γραφὴ καὶ διαγράφει τὴν ὥραν αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς, προασφαλιζομένη τὸν ἀκροατήν, ἵνα κατὰ ταύτην τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν ὑπόληψιν ἀκούσῃ καὶ τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα μηδὲν θορυβούμενος, ἀλλὰ ἀσφαλῶς πεπεισμένος περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνης. εἶτά φησιν, ὡς καὶ πολύπαις ἦν καὶ καλλίπαις καὶ βρύων πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐδαιμονίας. διδάσκει δὲ καὶ τῶν παίδων αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁμόνοιαν καὶ φιλαδελφίαν καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ τὸ περὶ θεὸν σέβας καὶ μεθ' ὅσης ἐπιμελείας τοὺς παῖδας ἀνέτρεφεν, πολλὴν ποιούμενος πρόνοιαν καὶ τὰς κατὰ διάνοιαν αὐτῶν ἀκουσίους ἁμαρτίας ἐξαλείφειν διὰ θυσιῶν καὶ τῆς εἰς θεὸν δεήσεως. 7 φρ. 1 μέχρι σήμερον ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ καὶ τὸ μνημεῖον τοῦ ἀνδρείου Ἰὼβ φαίνεται καὶ ἡ τῆς κοπρίας παλαίστρα, ἐν ᾗ τοὺς λαμπροὺς ἀνεδήσατο στεφάνους, καὶ τὰς δι' ἔτους αὐτῷ τιμὰς ἄγουσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἡμῖν ἀφικόμενοί τινες τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐξηγήσαντο. τὴν δὲ Αὐσίτιδα χώραν οἱ μὲν τὴν τοῦ Σιὼν εἶναι ἔφησαν, οἱ δὲ τὴν Ἰδουμαίαν, ἄλλοι δὲ ἐν μέσῳ τινὰ κειμένην τῆς Ἰδουμαίας καὶ τῆς Ἀραβίας, ἕτεροι δὲ αὐτὴν τὴν Ἀραβίαν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ μνῆμα τοῦ δικαίου κεῖται. ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν Ἰδουμαῖος ἦν, εὔδηλον ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ βιβλίου γεγραμμένων. ποῦ δὲ κατῴκει καὶ ποῦ ἠγωνίσατο, πρόδηλον ἐκ τῶν μέχρι νῦν ὁρωμένων. 8 φρ. 2 ἡ χώρα ἡ Αὐσῖτις χώρα ἦν τοῦ Ἠσαύ· ἀπὸ γὰρ Ἠσαὺ Αὐσῖτις ἐκλήθη ἤτοι ἀπὸ Αὖς ἑνὸς