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and word, and deed, and thought, is weighed in the just scales of God; when he rises to judge the earth, gathering counsel and deeds, and laying bare the things sealed up and preserved with him. Let Job persuade you of these things, both in what he says and what he suffers; who was a true man, blameless, just, God-fearing, and all that has been testified; but he is struck by so many assaults from the one who had asked for him, and so successive and severe, that though many have often suffered evils throughout all time, and some have likely been miserable, no one can be compared to his misfortunes. For not only money, possessions, fine children, many children, which are sought after by all men; not only is he deprived of these, so that there was not even room for lamentations because of the succession of evils; but also his very body at last was struck with a blow both incurable and hard to look upon, he had as an addition 35.1101 to his misfortune his wife urging him to worse things (for she strove that his soul be smitten as well as his body); and he had his most genuine friends as comforters of his evils, as he himself says, not healers; who saw his suffering, but being ignorant of the mystery of his suffering, supposed the blow to be a punishment for wickedness, not a test of virtue. And not only did they suppose this, but they were not even ashamed to reproach him for his terrible state, when even if he had suffered because of wickedness, they should have soothed his grief with words of comfort.

18. So then, such was Job, and the first parts of the dealings concerning him. For it was a contest between virtue and envy; the one striving to overcome the good; the other, bearing all things, so that it might remain unconquered; and the one contending to make wickedness prosper through the punishment of the righteous; the other to restrain the good, who have the advantage even in misfortunes. What then of him who spoke to him through the whirlwind and clouds, who is slow to punish and swift to help, who does not completely let the rod of sinners fall on the lot of the just, lest the just learn wickedness? At the end of his contests he proclaims the athlete with a glorious proclamation, and lays bare the secret of the blow, saying, Do you think I have dealt with you for any other reason than that you might be shown to be just? This is the medicine for his wounds, this the crown for his struggle, this the reward for his patience. For what followed is perhaps even small, though it may seem great to some, and dispensed for the sake of small things, even if he receives back twice what was taken away.

19. Therefore it is not surprising here either, if George possessed more than Athanasius; but that is more surprising, if the just man was not inflamed by the insults. Nor is this very surprising, but if the flames prevailed still more. From this point, then, he was on the run, and arranges his exile most excellently. For he brings and gives himself to the sacred and divine monasteries of Egypt; who, separating themselves from the world and embracing the desert, live for God, more than all who are 35.1104 occupied with the body; some living the entirely solitary and unmixed life, speaking only to themselves and to God, and knowing only this much of the world, as they experience in the desert; others embracing the law of love in community, at once hermits and social, dead to other men and affairs, to all that revolves in our midst, turning and being turned, and mocking us with its sudden changes, but being a world to one another, and sharpening their virtue by comparison. Having associated with these, the great Athanasius, just as he was a mediator and reconciler for all others, imitating him who made peace through his blood for things that were divided; so also he reconciles the eremitical life with the communal; showing that there is both a philosophical priesthood, and a philosophy that needs initiation.

20. For thus he harmonized both, and brought them into one, both a quiet practice, and a practical quiet, so as to persuade the solitary life in the stability of character

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καὶ λόγος, καὶ πρᾶξις, καὶ διανόημα, τοῖς δικαίοις σταθμοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ταλαντεύεται· ὅταν ἀναστῇ κρῖναι τὴν γῆν, τὴν βουλὴν καὶ τὰ ἔργα συνάγων, καὶ γυμνῶν τὰ ἐσφραγισμένα παρ' αὐτῷ καὶ σωζόμενα. Ταῦτα πειθέτω σε καὶ λέγων καὶ πάσχων Ἰώβ· ὃς ἦν μὲν ἄνθρωπος ἀληθινὸς, ἄμεμπτος, δίκαιος, θεοσεβὴς, καὶ ὅσα μεμαρτύρη ται· τοσαύταις δὲ πλήσσεται παρὰ τοῦ ἐξῃτηκότος ταῖς προσβολαῖς, καὶ οὕτως ἀλλεπαλλήλοις καὶ φιλοτίμοις, ὥστε πολλῶν πολλάκις ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος κακοπαθησάντων, τῶν δὲ ὡς εἰκὸς καὶ τα λαιπωρησάντων, μηδένα εἶναι ταῖς ἐκείνου παρα βαλεῖν συμφοραῖς. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον χρήματα, κτήματα εὐτεκνίαν, πολυτεκνίαν, ἃ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐστὶ περι σπούδαστα· οὐ ταῦτα ζημιοῦται μόνον, ὡς μηδὲ θρήνοις γενέσθαι χώραν διὰ τὸ συνεχὲς τῶν κακῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα τελευταῖον πληγεὶς πληγὴν ἀνίατόν τε καὶ δυσθεώρητον, εἶχε μὲν προσθήκην 35.1101 τῆς συμφορᾶς τὴν γυναῖκα παραμυθουμένην τοῖς χείροσι (πληγῆναι γὰρ ἐφιλονείκει, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς τῷ σώματι)· εἶχε δὲ καὶ τῶν φίλων τοὺς γνη σιωτάτους παρακλήτορας κακῶν, ὡς αὐτός φησιν, οὐ θεραπευτάς· οἳ τὸ μὲν πάθος ἑώρων, τὸ δὲ τοῦ πάθους ἀγνοοῦντες μυστήριον, οὐ βάσανον ἀρετῆς, ἀλλὰ κακίας εἴσπραξιν, τὴν πληγὴν ὑπελάμβανον. Καὶ οὐκ ἐνόμιζον μόνον, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ᾐσχύνοντο τὸ δεινὸν ὀνειδίζοντες, ὁπότε καὶ εἰ διὰ κακίαν ἔπασχε, σοφίζεσθαι τὸ λυποῦν ἔδει παραμυθίας ῥήμασιν.

ΙΗʹ. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ὁ Ἰὼβ, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν πραγματείας. Ἀγὼν γὰρ ἦν ἀρετῆς καὶ φθόνου· τοῦ μὲν, ὅπως τοῦ καλοῦ κρατήσῃ, φιλονεικοῦντος· τῆς δὲ, ὅπως ἀήττητος διαμείνῃ, πάντα φερούσης· καὶ τοῦ μὲν, ὅπως εὐοδώσῃ κα κίαν, ἀγωνιζομένου, διὰ τῆς τῶν κατορθούντων κο λάσεως· τῆς δὲ, ὅπως κατάσχῃ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς, κἀν ταῖς συμφοραῖς τὸ πλέον ἔχοντας. Τί δαὶ ὁ πρὸς αὐτὸν χρηματίζων διὰ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφῶν, ὁ βραδὺς εἰς κόλασιν, καὶ ταχὺς εἰς ἀντίληψιν, ὁ μὴ παντελῶς ἐπαφιεὶς ῥάβδον ἁμαρτωλῶν κλήρῳ δι καίων, ἵνα μὴ κακίαν δίκαιοι μάθωσιν; Ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν ἄθλων ἀναγορεύει τὸν ἀθλητὴν λαμπρῷ τῷ κηρύγματι, καὶ γυμνοῖ τῆς πληγῆς τὸ ἀπόῤῥητον, Οἴει με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, λέγων, ἢ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος; Τοῦτο τῶν τραυμάτων τὸ φάρμακον, οὗτος τῆς ἀγωνίας ὁ στέφανος, αὕτη τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἡ ἀντίδοσις. Τὰ γὰρ ἑξῆς ἴσως καὶ μικρὰ, κἂν μεγάλα τισὶ δοκῇ, καὶ μικρῶν ἕνεκεν οἰκονομηθέντα, καὶ εἰ διπλασίῳ τῶν ἀφῃρημένων ἀντιλαμβάνει.

ΙΘʹ. Οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα θαυμαστὸν, εἰ Ἀθανασίου πλέον ἔσχε Γεώργιος· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνό γε θαυμασιώτερον, εἰ μὴ ἐπυρώθη ταῖς ἐπηρείαις ὁ δίκαιος. Οὐδὲ τοῦτο θαυμαστὸν ἄγαν, ἀλλ' εἰ ἐπὶπλέον αἱ φλόγες ἤρκεσαν. Ἐντεῦθεν ὁ μὲν ἦν ἐκ ποδῶν, καὶ τὴν φυγαδείαν ὡς κάλλιστα διατίθεται. Τοῖς γὰρ ἱεροῖς καὶ θείοις τῶν κατ' Αἴγυ πτον φροντιστηρίοις φέρων ἑαυτὸν δίδωσιν· οἳ κόσμου χωρίζοντες ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἀσπαζόμενοι, ζῶσι Θεῷ, πάντων μᾶλλον τῶν στρε 35.1104 φομένων ἐν σώματι· οἱ μὲν τὸν πάντη μοναδικόν τε καὶ ἄμικτον διαθλοῦντες βίον, ἑαυτοῖς μόνοις προσ λαλοῦντες καὶ τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον κόσμον εἰ δότες, ὅσον ἐν τῇ ἐρημίᾳ γνωρίζουσιν· οἱ δὲ νόμον ἀγάπης τῇ κοινωνίᾳ στέργοντες, ἐρημικοί τε ὁμοῦ καὶ μιγάδες, τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις τεθνηκότες ἀν θρώποις καὶ πράγμασιν, ὅσα ἐν μέσῳ περιφέρε ται, στροβοῦντά τε καὶ στροβούμενα, καὶ παίζοντα ἡμᾶς ταῖς ἀγχιστρόφοις μεταβολαῖς, ἀλλήλοις δὲ κόσμος ὄντες, καὶ τῇ παραθέσει τὴν ἀρετὴν θήγοντες. Τούτοις ὁμιλήσας ὁ μέγας Ἀθανάσιος, ὥσπερ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων μεσίτης καὶ διαλλακτὴς ἦν, τὸν εἰρηνοποιήσαντα τῷ αἵματι τὰ διεστῶτα μιμούμενος· οὕτω καὶ τὸν ἐρημικὸν βίον τῷ κοινωνικῷ καταλλάττει· δεικνὺς, ὅτι ἔστι καὶ ἱερω σύνη φιλόσοφος, καὶ φιλοσοφία δεομένη μυστα γωγίας.

Κʹ. Οὕτω γὰρ ἀμφότερα συνηρμόσατο, καὶ εἰς ἓν ἤγαγε, καὶ πρᾶξιν ἡσύχιον, καὶ ἡσυχίαν ἔμπρακτον, ὥστε πεῖσαι τὸ μονάζειν ἐν τῇ εὐσταθείᾳ τοῦ τρόπου