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of the sons of Esau. And he wishes to say, what sort of person the land of the profane and lawless brought to piety. And this Ausitis is in the borders of Judea and Arabia, as Eusebius asserts that Aristaeus thus understood it in his work *On the Jews*. fr. 3 truly genuine and not feigned, and blameless and just, as one who justly pursued what is just for the sake of the good itself and not for some other reason, and God-fearing as having God before his eyes and for this reason abstaining from every evil thing, having the divine law and fear written in his mind according to the natural and original concept; for the written one through Moses did not yet exist. It is marvelous, therefore, that before the law and before grace he conducted his life both according to the law and according to the Gospel at the same time, and this while living among foreigners, God who cares for all having appointed him likewise a teacher of virtue to the nations around those places. fr. 4 He recounts these things, in order to show that though he possessed such great happiness 9 he was not undisciplined nor was his mind distracted from piety. fr. 5a From this, let the rich also be taught not to be insolent on account of their surfeit, and let the poor give thanks, either for not having possessed it in the first place or for having possessed it and fallen into poverty. And let those who have lost children be comforted, looking to the wondrous image of the just man. And he speaks of the service through servants; for Aquila has rendered it *a very great servitude*. And great works are the buildings in the fields and in the houses, but preeminently those of piety. fr. 5β instead of: various fields and great plantations. And he says the works of piety are preeminent, which is why the devil did nothing to such works. 10 fr. 6 they invited one another, he says, in succession, _e_a_c_h_ _o_n_ _h_i_s_ _o_w_n_ _d_a_y_; for so Aquila has rendered it. And this is a work of brotherly love and harmony and a mark of their father's training. And most wondrously, in the case of the males he said "going together to one another" (that is, with none of them was there a dispute concerning primacy, but each judged it most important to hasten to his brother), but in the case of the females "to take them along with them"; for they did not demand of them the care concerning such things, but only took them as companions for the feast. And the males were occupied with this service, while the females were with their brothers in a dignified and undistracted manner. fr. 7 going together; and in this is their love for one another, so that they might keep the females undistracted. fr. 8a when the period of the seven days was completed, he would offer sacrifice once a week. fr. 8β And it happened when they had completed; when the period of the seven days was completed. 11 fr. 9 The phrase "when the days of the feast were completed" means either that he did this each day, offering the sacrifice for the day that had passed, or that after the period of the seven days, once a week. And "he sent" shows the father's concern; for this was not done out of some formality, but from watchful care. And "he purified them" with purifications, it seems, by means of water, which people use naturally and the Jews according to the law. And so he offered the sacrifices for their salvation, and the calf for the sins of the mind. fr. 10 For he was wary of the disturbance of thought coupled with the banquets and hastened to purify by sacrifices the actions known to God alone, looking to grace and running past the precepts of the law. You see evangelical exactness; for since the evangelical law commands one neither to commit fornication in the mind nor to be angry without cause, Saint Job was propitiating God through the sacrifice even for the sins in the thoughts of his children. 12 fr. 11 For knowing their visible actions to be pure, he considered whether there might be some hidden transgression in them, and he offered sacrifice for hidden things according to the prophet who says: "From my hidden faults," that is, from those things that happen through ignorance, "cleanse me." 13 SECOND CHAPTER The beginning of the saying: And it happened on this day, and behold, the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the devil came

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τῶν υἱῶν Ἠσαύ. βούλεται δὲ εἰπεῖν, οἷον ἤνεγκεν εἰς εὐσέβειαν ἡ τοῦ βεβήλου καὶ ἀθέσμου χώρα. αὕτη δὲ ἡ Αὐσῖτις ἐν ὁρίοις Ἰουδαίας καὶ Ἀραβίας, ὡς Εὐσέβιος φάσκει οὕτωτὸν Ἀρισταῖον ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ἐκλαβεῖν. φρ. 3 ἀληθινὸς μὲν καὶ οὐκ ἐπίπλαστος, ἄμεμπτος δὲ καὶ δίκαιος, ὡς δικαίως τὸ δίκαιον μεταδιώκων δι' αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν καὶ οὐ δι' ἕτερόν τι, θεοσεβὴς δὲ ὡς πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὸν θεὸν ἔχων καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος κατὰ τὴν φυσικὴν καὶ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἔννοιαν τὸν θεῖον νόμον καὶ φόβον γραπτὸν ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ ἔχων· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν ὁ ἔγγραφος ὁ διὰ Μωσέως. θαυμαστὸν οὖν, ὅτι πρὸ νόμου καὶ πρὸ χάριτος νομικῶς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ εὐαγγελικῶς ἐπολιτεύσατο, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ἀλλοφύλοις ἀναστρεφόμενος, διδάσκαλον αὐτὸν ἀρετῆς τοῖς περὶ τοὺς τόπους ἔθνεσιν ὁμοίως τοῦ πάντων κηδομένου θεοῦ καταστήσαντος. φρ. 4 καταλέγει ταῦτα, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι ἐν τοσαύτῃ εὐδαιμονίᾳ τυγχάνων οὐκ 9 ἀπαιδαγώγητος ἦν οὐδὲ περιεσπᾶτο τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας. φρ. 5α ἐντεῦθεν καὶ πλούσιοι παιδευέσθωσαν, μὴ διὰ τὸν κόρον ὑβρίζειν, καὶ πένητες εὐχαριστείτωσαν ἢ τὴν ἀρχὴν μὴ κτησάμενοι ἢ κτησάμενοι καὶ εἰς πενίαν ἀποπεπτωκότες. παραμυθείσθωσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ παῖδας ἀποβεβληκότες πρὸς τὴν θαυμαστὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ δικαίου βλέποντες. ὑπηρεσίαν δὲ τὴν διὰ τῶν οἰκετῶν φησιν· ὁ γὰρ Ἀκύλας δουλεία πολλὴ σφόδρα ἐκδέδωκεν. ἔργα δὲ μεγάλα τὰ τῶν κατ' ἀγροὺς καὶ κατ' οἴκους οἰκοδομημάτων, διαφερόντως δὲ τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας. φρ. 5β ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἀγροὶ παντοδαποὶ καὶ φυτεῖαι μεγάλαι. διαφερόντως δὲ τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἔργα φησίν, διὸ οὐδὲ ὁ διάβολος πεποίηκέ τι τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔργοις. 10 φρ. 6 ἀλλήλους, φησίν, ἐκ διαδοχῆς συνεκάλουν _ἕ_κ_α_σ_τ_ο_ς_ _τ_ὴ_ν_ _ἑ_α_υ_τ_ο_ῦ_ _ἡ_μ_έ_ρ_α_ν_· οὕτω γὰρ Ἀκύλας ἐκδέδωκεν. τοῦτο δὲ φιλαδελφίας καὶ ὁμονοίας ἔργον καὶ τῆς πατρῴας παιδεύσεως γνώρισμα. θαυμασιώτατα δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἀρρένων ἔφη τὸ συμπορευόμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους (τουτέστι παρ' οὐδενὶ αὐτῶν περὶ πρωτείων ἡ αἵρεσις, μέγιστον δὲ ἕκαστος ἔκρινε τὸ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἐπείγεσθαι) ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν θηλειῶν τὸ συμπαραλαμβάνειν· οὐ γὰρ ταύτας ἀπῄτουν τὴν περὶ τῶν τοιούτων φροντίδα, ἀλλὰ κοινωνοὺς μόνον τῆς εὐωχίας ἐλάμβανον. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄρρενες περὶ ταύτην τὴν διακονίαν ἠσχολοῦντο, αἱ δὲ θήλειαι σεμνῶς καὶ ἀπερισπάστως συνῆσαν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς. φρ. 7 συμπορευόμενοι· καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸ φιλάλληλον, ὅπως ἀπερισπάστους φυλάξουσι τὰς θηλείας. φρ. 8α ἡνίκα ἡ περίοδος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν ἐπληροῦτο, ἅπαξ τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἔθυεν. φρ. 8β καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἂν συνετελέσθησαν· ἡνίκα ἡ περίοδος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν ἐπληροῦτο. 11 φρ. 9 τὸ μὲν ὡς συνετελέσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ πότου ἢ ὅτι καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τοῦτο ἐποίει ὑπὲρ τῆς παρελθούσης ἡμέρας προσφέρων τὴν θυσίαν, ἢ ὅτι μετὰ τὴν περίοδον τῶν ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν ἅπαξ τῆς ἑβδομάδος. τὸ δὲ ἀπέστειλε τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν δείκνυσι τοῦ πατρός· οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τύπου τινὸς τοῦτο ἐγίνετο, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀγρύπνου φροντίδος. τὸ δὲ ἐκαθάριζεν καθαρσίοις ὡς ἔοικε τοῖς δι' ὑδάτων, οἷς φυσικῶς τε οἱ ἄνθρωποι χρῶνται καὶ κατὰ νόμον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι. καὶ τὰς μὲν οὖν θυσίας ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτῶν σωτηρίας προσέφερεν, τὸν δὲ μόσχον ὑπὲρ τῶν κατὰ διάνοιαν ἁμαρτημάτων. φρ. 10 ηὐλαβεῖτο γὰρ τὴν συνεζευγμένην τοῖς δείπνοις τοῦ λογισμοῦ ταραχὴν καὶ καθαίρειν ταῖς θυσίαις τὰς μόνῳ θεῷ γινωσκομένας πράξεις ἠπείγετο πρὸς τὴν χάριν βλέπων καὶ παρατρέχων τὰ νομικὰ παραγγέλματα. ὁρᾷς ἀκρίβειαν εὐαγγελικήν· τοῦ γὰρ εὐαγγελικοῦ νόμου κελεύοντος μήτε κατὰ διάνοιαν πορνεύειν ἢ θυμοῦσθαι εἰκῆ ὁ ἅγιος Ἰὼβ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν κατ' ἔννοιαν ἁμαρτημάτων τῶν παίδων τὸν θεὸν ἐξιλεοῦτο διὰ τῆς θυσίας. 12 φρ. 11 τὰ γὰρ ὁρώμενα αὐτῶν εἰδὼς καθαρὰ διενοεῖτο, μήπως τι ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς κρυπτὸν παρολίσθημα, καὶ ἔθυεν ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων κατὰ τὸν λέγοντα προφήτην· ἐκ τῶν κρυφίων μου, τουτέστι τῶν κατ' ἄγνοιαν συμβαινόντων, καθάρισόν με. 13 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· καὶ ὡς ἐγένετο ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἦλθον οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ παραστῆναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἦλθεν