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to attack the just man, he immediately resorts to this defense, saying thus: Does Job revere you for nothing? You have fenced in what is within and what is without. For a reward, he says, that man is virtuous, enjoying such great abundance. What then did God do? Wishing to show that the saints do not serve him for a reward, he took away all his abundance, and delivered him to poverty, and allowed him to fall into a grievous sickness. Then, reproving him for having suspected these things without cause, he says that, He still holds fast to his integrity; but you said to destroy his possessions for nothing. For to the saints this is sufficient as a reward and recompense, to serve God; since also for the lover this is sufficient as a reward, to love his own beloved, and he seeks nothing more, nor does he consider anything to be greater than this. If this is so in the case of a man, much more so in the case of God; which God, therefore, wishing to show, gave more than the devil asked. For that one says, Stretch out your hand and touch him; but God did not do so, but, I deliver him to you, he says. For just as in the external contests, those athletes who are vigorous and have well-conditioned bodies do not appear so when they are clothed in a garment drenched all over with oil, but when, having thrown it off, they are dragged naked to the wrestling pits, then especially they astonish the spectators on all sides by the proportion of their limbs, with nothing able to overshadow it any longer; so also Job, when he was clothed with all that wealth, it was not manifest to the many who he was; but when, like an athlete taking off a garment, he cast it off, and entered naked into the contests of piety, thus stripped he astonished all the spectators, so that even the very theater of angels cried out loudly at the endurance of his soul, and applauded that 49.27 victor. For as I said before, he did not appear so to men when he was clothed with all that wealth, as when, casting it off like a garment, he was shown naked, as in a theater, in the midst of the world, and all were astonished at the good condition of his soul; and he was revealed not only by the stripping, but also by the wrestling and the endurance during the sickness. For as I said before, God did not strike him himself, so that the devil might not say again, You spared him, and you did not bring on as great a trial as was necessary; but he delivered to the devil himself both the loss of the cattle and the power over his flesh. I have confidence in the athlete, he says; for this reason I do not prevent you from bringing against him whatever wrestling holds you wish. But just as skilled wrestlers, having confidence both in their art and in the strength of their body, often do not grapple with their opponents upright, nor on equal terms, but offer themselves to be held in the middle by them, so as to make their victory more glorious; so also God gave the holy man to be held in the middle by the devil, so that when he should overcome him after so great an advantage in the encounter, and stretch him out on the ground, the crown might become more glorious. He is proven gold; test him as you wish, try him as you wish, you will not find a blemish in him. But he not only shows us the courage of others, but also brings much other consolation. For what does Christ say? Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake; rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. And again Paul, wishing to console the Macedonians, says, For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea, because you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Jews. And again he exhorts the Hebrews in this way, listing all the just who were in furnaces, in pits, in deserts, in mountains, in caves, who were living in famine, in distress; for the fellowship of sufferings brings a certain

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ἐπισκῆψαι τοῦ δικαίου, πρὸς ταύτην εὐθέως καταφεύγει τὴν ἀπολογίαν, οὕτω λέγων· Μὴ δωρεὰν Ἰὼβ σέβεταί σε; περιέφραξας τὰ ἔσω αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἔξω. Ἐπὶ μισθῷ, φησὶν, ἐστὶν ἐκεῖνος ἐνάρετος, τοσαύτης εὐπορίας ἀπολαύων. Τί οὖν ὁ Θεός, Βουλόμενος δεῖξαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπὶ μισθῷ θεραπεύουσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἅγιοι, περιεῖλεν αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐπορίαν ἅπασαν, καὶ πενίᾳ παρέδωκε, καὶ νοσήματι χαλεπῷ περιπεσεῖν συνεχώρησεν. Εἶτα ἐλέγχων αὐτὸν ὡς εἰκῆ ταῦτα ὑποπτεύσαντα, φησὶν, ὅτι Ἔτι ἔχεται ἀκακίας· σὺ δὲ εἶπας διακενῆς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσαι. Τοῖς γὰρ ἁγίοις ἀρκεῖ τοῦτο εἰς ἀμοιβὴν καὶ ἀντίδοσιν, τὸ θεραπεύειν τὸν Θεόν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τῷ φιλοῦντι τοῦτο ἀρκεῖ εἰς ἀμοιβὴν τὸ φιλεῖν τὸν ἐρώμενον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ἐπιζητεῖ, οὐδὲ ἡγεῖταί τι μεῖζον εἶναι τούτου. Εἰ δὲ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπου τοῦτο, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ Θεὸς δεῖξαι βουλόμενος, πλέον ὧν ᾔτησεν ὁ διάβολος ἔδωκεν. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γάρ φησιν· Ἐξαπόστειλον τὴν χεῖρά σου, καὶ ἅψαι αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ, Σοὶ αὐτὸν παραδίδωμι, φησίν. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀγώνων οἱ σφριγῶντες τὰ σώματα καὶ εὐεκτοῦντες τῶν ἀθλητῶν οὐχ οὕτω φαίνονται, ἐπειδὰν τὸ διάβροχον ἐλαίῳ πάντοθεν ἱμάτιον ὦσι περιβεβλημένοι, ἀλλ' ὅταν αὐτὸ ῥίψαντες γυμνοὶ πρὸς τὰ σκάμματα ἕλκωνται, τότε μάλιστα τοὺς θεατὰς τῇ τῶν μελῶν ἀναλογίᾳ πάντοθεν ἐκπλήττουσιν, οὐδενὸς αὐτὴν ἐπισκιάσαι δυναμένου λοιπόν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἡνίκα μὲν ἦν τὸν πλοῦτον ἅπαντα περιβεβλημένος ἐκεῖνον, οὐκ ἦν κατάδηλος τοῖς πολλοῖς ὅστις ἦν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτὸν, καθάπερ ἱμάτιον ἀποδυσάμενος ὁ ἀθλητὴς, ἔῤῥιψε, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγῶνας γυμνὸς εἰσῆλθεν, οὕτω γυμνωθεὶς τοὺς θεατὰς ἐξέπληξεν ἅπαντας, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων θέατρον ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καρτερίᾳ μέγα ἀνακεκραγέναι, καὶ κροτῆσαι τὸν 49.27 στεφανίτην ἐκεῖνον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἕφθην εἰπὼν, οὐχ οὕτως ἐφαίνετο τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πάντα τὸν πλοῦτον περιβεβλημένος ἐκεῖνον, ὡς ὅτε καθάπερ ἱμάτιον ῥίψας αὐτὸν, γυμνὸς ἐδείχθη, ὥσπερ ἐν θεάτρῳ, μέσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, καὶ πάντες αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐεξίαν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξεπλάγησαν· οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς γυμνώσεως δὲ μόνον ἐδείκνυτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πάλης καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν ὑπομονῆς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἕφθην εἰπὼν, οὐκ αὐτὸς αὐτὸν ἐπάταξεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα μὴ πάλιν ὁ διάβολος λέγῃ, ὅτι ἐφείσω, καὶ οὐχ ὅσον ἔδει, τοσοῦτον ἐπήγαγες πειρασμόν· ἀλλ' αὐτῷ παρέδωκε τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τὴν τῶν θρεμμάτων ἀπώλειαν, καὶ τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἐξουσίαν. Θαῤῥῶ τῷ ἀθλητῇ, φησί· διὰ τοῦτο οὐ κωλύω προσαγαγεῖν αὐτῷ ὅσα ἂν θέλῃς παλαίσματα. Ἀλλὰ καθάπερ οἱ δόκιμοι τῶν παλαιστῶν καὶ τῇ τέχνῃ καὶ τῇ ῥώμῃ τοῦ σώματος θαῤῥεῖν ἔχοντες, οὐκ ὀρθοὶ συμπλέκονται τοῖς ἀνταγωνισταῖς πολλάκις, οὐδὲ ἐξ ἴσης, ἀλλὰ μέσους ἑαυτοὺς παρέχουσι κατασχεῖν ἐκείνοις, ὥστε λαμπροτέραν ποιήσασθαι τὴν νίκην· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μέσον ἔδωκε τῷ διαβόλῳ κατασχεῖν τὸν ἅγιον, ἵνα ὅταν αὐτοῦ μετὰ τὴν τοσαύτην τῆς συμβολῆς πλεονεξίαν κρατήσῃ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκτείνῃ, λαμπρότερος ὁ στέφανος γένηται. Χρυσίον ἐστὶ δόκιμον· ὡς βούλει δοκίμασον, ὡς βούλει βασάνισον, οὐχ εὑρήσεις ἐν αὐτῷ κηλῖδα. Οὐ τὴν ἑτέρων δὲ ἡμῖν ἀνδρείαν δείκνυσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέραν παραμυθίαν κομίζει πολλήν. Τί γάρ φησιν ὁ Χριστός; Μακάριοί ἐστε, ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς ἄνθρωποι, καὶ διώξωσι, καὶ εἴπωσι πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα καθ' ὑμῶν ψευδόμενοι, ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ· χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· οὕτω γὰρ ἐποίουν καὶ τοῖς προφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ Παῦλος βουλόμενος παραμυθήσασθαι τοὺς Μακεδόνας, Ὑμεῖς γὰρ, φησὶ, μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε ἀδελφοὶ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπάθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμφυλετῶν, καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων. Καὶ Ἑβραίους πάλιν οὕτω παρακαλεῖ, καταλέγων τοὺς δικαίους ἅπαντας τοὺς ἐν καμίνοις, τοὺς ἐν λάκκοις, τοὺς ἐν ἐρήμοις, τοὺς ἐν ὄρεσι, τοὺς ἐν σπηλαίοις, τοὺς ἐν λιμῷ, τοὺς ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ διάγοντας· ἡ γὰρ κοινωνία τῶν παθῶν φέρει τινὰ