In job (sermones 14) (olim sub auctore joanne chrysostomo)

 In ausitis, whose name was job. and that man was blameless, just, god-fearing, true, abstaining from every evil thing. such was adam also before he wa

 Rooted and founded, and secured up to the very arches of heaven. the first messenger came, and says to job: the yokes of oxen were plowing, and raider

 Your sons, he says, and your daughters were eating and drinking at the house of their eldest brother. see how the blessed job was filled with all unde

 In this job sinned not at all before the lord, but for all these things he offered a whole thanksgiving instead of a sacrifice to god, saying: blessed

 Having blossomed from the root, a judge of righteousness. that one warred against nature, and considered his brother a stranger this one considered e

 Those snatched away from polytheism, those gathered from wickedness, those assembled from fornication and adultery, he did not add the summit of virtu

 The sequence of theorems. and may it be granted to us to celebrate the feast genuinely, and having shared in the sufferings of the saints, to share al

 Rather in temporary wealth, but in that of piety. but some other wise man, taking the saying in a common sense, thinks that great works are vineyards

 Runners, called *cursores* in latin but when they drag some away in dishonor, do they send out other harsh and cruel soldiers? so also god sends mini

 Heaven because all earthly things have been trodden underfoot by him, because he has all men under his feet. having gone about, he said, the earth, an

 To the one who wronged you, why do you worship the one who consumes your possessions? fire fell from heaven. job heard, and again bore it nobly. for h

 A wife was left, not because the devil spared her, but because he kept the weapon for himself. for since he knew that through a woman he had overcome

 To contend peter was able to act bravely without a promise, the apostles were able to contend for virtue without receiving a promise of good things

 Of the one who knows all things. from where do you come? see the wisdom of god see the cunning of the devil. for god knew from where he had come, tha

 Job with a malignant sore from foot to head. he made his whole body one wound, one 56.578 bruise. for it was necessary for him, the combatant, to be c

 The magnitude, he insults inanimate things, and fulfills the full measure of his suffering, not daring against god, but accusing himself and the day

 He suffered also in the case of job. he destroyed martyrs, in order to extinguish the church, not knowing that after the martyrs the church would flou

 This not out of ambition, but out of guilelessness, when he says: i have not disregarded the judgment of my manservant, or of my maidservant, when the

 You were. did you, then, call to judgment the one more ancient than the ages, the creator of the creation? when i stretched a line upon the earth, whe

 Again on the day of the resurrection they will receive him from the tomb into the kingdom, and with one accord they will enjoy those ineffable and ete

in this Job sinned not at all before the Lord, but for all these things he offered a whole thanksgiving instead of a sacrifice to God, saying: Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the just and blessed Job, Sermon 2. 1. Great matters require great narratives, and the brilliant histories of the just require a brilliant tongue and mind; a mind that purely contemplates the divine Scriptures, and a tongue that clearly interprets divine things, and especially on the present subject, I mean of the things labored by the blessed Job, which, circulating through all the world under heaven, make the word of patience shine forth. But even if the subject matter overcomes our weakness, yet I know well that the grace of God provides the word, not because of the speaker's worth, but through the intercession of the Fathers. But let us come to the narrative itself: There was a certain man in the land of Uz. It is necessary first to examine what power the introduction has, and for what reason the historian has made the introduction with this phrase, "There was a certain man." Since he was about to narrate a virtuous life, and one far surpassing our condition, lest anyone, looking at the excess of his struggles, should think his nature to be foreign, and not human, he first showed his nature, so that you might marvel at his resolve, that being a man he lived a life beyond man, and while sharing a common nature with all, he raised his soul above the world. There was a certain man in the land of Uz. He proclaims him both by his 56.568 nature; he proclaims him also by his country; so that, just as when you hear he is a man, you marvel that he lived a life beyond man, so too if you learn the land from which such great fruit blossomed, you may truly marvel what sort of rose sprouted in the midst of thorns. Pay close attention. The land of Uz, then, was the land of Esau; for Uz is from Esau. And he names the land of the profane and wicked Esau, as the Apostle says: "Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, like Esau"; so that you may marvel from what schools of wickedness such a fruit of truth blossomed. But not only did the land of Esau bear him, but also the very root of Esau; for he was a descendant of the one who is slandered. For Scripture says that Job was the fifth from Abraham. And how he was fifth, listen: Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Esau, Esau begat Reuel, Reuel begat Zerah, and Zerah begat Job. He had, therefore, the succession from Abraham coming down to him through Esau. Therefore, he shows the root, so that you may marvel at the fruit. And who was Esau? A fornicator and a profane person. And who also was Job? The descendant of the fornicator, this same reverend and wonderful man, who is now set before us for narration; the one who says: "If my eye has followed after another's wife, may my wife also please another man." Esau had intercourse with many wives, being insatiable in licentiousness; but Job had character as the law of his life, and abstained so much as not to gaze upon others' beauty; and he was so far from fornication and adultery, that he did not even pay attention to women not yet betrothed, that is, to unbetrothed virgins; for one must use the clearer term: He was so far from plotting against others' marriages, that he did not even stretch his eye toward licentiousness with an unbetrothed virgin, with whom there was no danger. And who is the one who bears witness to these things? Job himself: "I made a covenant," he says, "with my eyes, and I did not think upon a virgin." See to what a degree of discipline his matters of piety flourished. He disciplines his eye to piety, he disciplines his members also to righteousness, and bearing his succession from the fornicator, he shone with the greatest moderation. Esau was also a fratricide, as far as his intention went; for even if the deed did not come to pass, yet the intention is accused. For, it says, Esau said in his heart: "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother." The root, therefore, a fratricide; but the

αὐτῷ οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν Ἰὼβ ἐναντίον Κυρίου, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ τούτων ἁπάντων ὁλόκληρον εὐχαριστίαν ἀντὶ θυσίας ἤνεγκε τῷ Θεῷ, λέγων· Εἴη τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου εὐλογημένον, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Εἰς τὸν δίκαιον καὶ μακάριον Ἰὼβ, Λόγος βʹ. αʹ. Τὰ μεγάλα τῶν πραγμάτων μεγάλων δεῖται διηγημάτων, καὶ αἱ λαμπραὶ τῶν δικαίων ἱστορίαι λαμπρᾶς δέονται καὶ γλώττης καὶ διανοίας· διανοίας μὲν εἰλικρινῶς τὰς θείας Γραφὰς θεωρούσης, γλώττης δὲ τρανῶς τὰ θεῖα ἑρμηνευούσης, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς προκειμένης ὑποθέσεως, λέγω δὲ τῶν τῷ μακαρίῳ Ἰὼβ πεπονημένων, ἃ διὰ πάσης φοιτῶντα τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν, τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἀπαστράπτει λόγον. Πλὴν εἰ καὶ νικᾷ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν ὁ τῆς ὑποθέσεως λόγος, ἀλλ' εὖ οἶδα, ὅτι παρέχει ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις λόγον, οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ λέγοντος ἀξίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν Πατέρων πρεσβείαν. Ἀλλ' ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἔλθωμεν τὴν διήγησιν· Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ Αὐσίτιδι. Ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι πρῶτον σκοπῆσαι τὸ προοίμιον ποίαν ἔχει δύναμιν, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς λέξεως τὸ προοίμιον πεποίηται ὁ ἱστοριογράφος, Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν. Ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλε βίον ἐνάρετον διηγήσασθαι, καὶ πολὺ τὴν ἡμετέραν κατάστασιν νικῶντα, ἵνα μή τις εἰς τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἀγώνων ἀποβλέψας, νομίσῃ ξένην εἶναι φύσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην, προλαβὼν ἔδειξε τὴν φύσιν, ἵνα θαυμάσῃς τὴν πρόθεσιν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὢν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐπολιτεύσατο, καὶ μὲν κοινῆς φύσεως ἅπασι κοινωνήσας, ἀνωτέραν δὲ τοῦ κόσμου τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναγαγών. Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ Αὐσίτιδι. Κηρύττει αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς 56.568 φύσεως· κηρύττει αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας· ἵν', ὥσπερ ἀκούσας αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον, θαυμάζεις ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐπολιτεύσατο, οὕτως ἐὰν μάθῃς καὶ τὴν χώραν, ἐξ ἧς ὁ τοσοῦτος καρπὸς ἤνθησε, θαυμάσῃς ἀληθῶς ὁποῖον ῥόδον ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀκανθῶν ἐβλάστησεν. Πρόσεχε ἀκριβῶς. Ἡ χώρα τοίνυν ἡ τῆς Αὐσίτιδος, χώρα ἦν τοῦ Ἡσαῦ· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ ἡ Αὐσῖτις. Ὀνομάζει δὲ τοῦ βεβήλου καὶ πονηροῦ Ἡσαῦ τὴν χώραν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Μή τις πόρνος ἢ βέβηλος, ὡς Ἡσαῦ· ἵνα θαυμάσῃς ἐκ ποίων παιδευτηρίων κακίας οἷος καρπὸς ἀληθείας ἤνθησεν. Ἀλλὰ οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν ἡ χώρα τοῦ Ἡσαῦ ἤνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἡσαῦ· ἀπόγονος γὰρ ἦν τοῦ διαβαλλομένου. Λέγει γὰρ τὸν Ἰὼβ ἡ Γραφὴ πέμπτον εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Καὶ ὅπως πέμπτος, ἄκουε· Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, Ἰσαὰκ τὸνἩσαῦ, Ἡσαῦ τὸν Ῥαγουὴλ, Ῥαγουὴλ τὸν Ζαρὰ, Ζαραδὲ τὸν Ἰώβ. Εἶχεν οὖν τὴν διαδοχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ εἰς αὐτὸν κατερχομένην. ∆είκνυσιν οὖν τὴν ῥίζαν, ἵνα τὸν καρπὸν θαυμάσῃς. Τίς δὲ ἦν Ἡσαῦ; Πόρνος καὶ βέβηλος. Τίς δὲ ἦν καὶ Ἰώβ; Ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦπόρνου, οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ σεμνὸς καὶ θαυμάσιος ἀνὴρ, ὁ νῦν προκείμενος ἡμῖν εἰς διήγησιν· ὁ λέγων· Εἰ ἐπηκολούθησεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου γυναικὶ ἀλλοτρίᾳ, ἀρέσει καὶ ἡ γυνή μου ἀλλοτρίῳ ἀνδρί. Ἡσαῦ περὶ πολλὰς ἔσχε μίξιν γυναῖκας, ἄπληστος ὢν εἰς ἀσέλγειαν· ὁ δὲ Ἰὼβ τὸν τρόπον νόμον εἶχε τοῦ βίου, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε, ὥστε ἀλλότρια κάλλη μὴ περιεργάζεσθαι· καὶ πορνείας καὶ μοιχείας τοσοῦτον ἀπεῖχεν, ὡς μηδὲ ταῖς μηδέπω κατεγγυωμέναις γυναιξὶ προσέχειν, τουτέστι, ταῖς ἀμνηστεύτοις παρθένοις· δεῖ γὰρ τῇ τρανοτέρᾳ λέξει χρήσασθαι· Τοσοῦτον ἀπεῖχεν ἀλλοτρίοις γάμοις ἐπιβουλεύειν, ὅτι οὐδὲ τῇ ἀμνηστεύτῳ παρθένῳ, ἐφ' ᾗ οὐδεὶς ἦν κίνδυνος, ἀπέτεινε τὸ ὄμμα πρὸς ἀκολασίαν. Καὶ τίς ὁ ταῦτα μαρτυρῶν; Αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰώβ· ∆ιαθήκην, φησὶ, διεθέμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, καὶ οὐ συνῆκα ἐπὶ παρθένῳ. Βλέπε μέχρι τίνος παιδαγωγίας ἤκμασεν αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας. Παιδαγωγεῖ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν εἰς εὐσέβειαν, παιδαγωγεῖ καὶ τὰ μέλη εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πόρνου τὴν διαδοχὴν φέρων, μεγίστῃ σωφροσύνῃ διέλαμψεν. Ἡσαῦ καὶ ἀδελφοκτόνος ὑπῆρχεν, ὅσον εἰς πρόθεσιν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ ἐξέβη ἡ πρᾶξις, ἀλλὰ κατηγορεῖται ἡ πρόθεσις. Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἡσαῦ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ· Ἐγγισάτωσαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ πένθους τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ ἀνελῶ Ἰακὼβ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου. Ἡ τοίνυν ῥίζα, ἀδελφοκτόνος· ὁ δὲ