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and is taken away. He attempts to make a second request against his body, striving to subject him to incurable pains. Since the verses are the same as the preceding ones, what was said about those must also be applied to these, so that the same things are not said many times, 39 adding only this much, that the diabolical ... is shown exceedingly. And it might be said concerning: "Where do you come from?": that it was said most reprovingly by the Lord to the devil as having no achievement of his own to speak of with confidence and shamefully, because he had been defeated, which he himself shamelessly did not confess. It should be noted that the devil does not now answer in the same way. For then he said: "Having gone about the earth and walked through what is under heaven, I am here," but now: "Having passed through what is under heaven and walked through the whole." And consider whether, as a liar, he did not wish to mention, that he "went about the earth," so that he might be thought not even to have attacked Job in the first place, but then out of shamelessness. For he knows that nothing escapes God's notice. For he did not say: "What you have given me authority over, I have done; I have taken away Job's possessions and killed his children." For it would have been consistent to say this, and: "He remained the same." But he proceeds to a second request, by which he thinks to overturn the holy one's resolve. But even if the devil hides his own intention in having said "the whole" instead of "the earth," yet let us demonstrate from the scriptures, 40 that the earth is often called "the whole." For it is said: "The whole was filled with the knowledge of the Lord." And Job also, in what follows, says concerning God: "He who makes the whole in the highest," showing that God draws from earth to heaven through virtue. "And the Lord said to the devil: Have you considered my servant Job, that there is not a just man like him among those on the earth, God-fearing, blameless, irreproachable, abstaining from every evil. And he still holds fast to his blamelessness." And now the phrase "Have you considered in your mind," as was said before, has an intensified meaning, that after the struggle he was put to shame. For the devil, thinking that Job rejoices in external goods as if they were good things, said: "Have you not put a hedge around the things inside and outside his house?" But when his attack proved futile, the word "Have you considered" is said instead of: "Have you come to know by experience" the courage of one "God-fearing, irreproachable, blameless, and abstaining from every evil." And in addition to these things, the Lord, reproving him, adds: "And he still holds fast to his blamelessness." Have you considered, then, that he will not "bless" me "to my face," as you thought? It should be noted that in the preceding text it is said: "abstaining from every evil deed," but now: "from every evil." From which it is known that what is evil is called wicked. But also what is written: "You who love41 the Lord, hate evil," instead of: hate wickedness. But blamelessness is understood to signify different things; for it indicates both the privation of wickedness and simplicity. For when the holy one says: "Judge me, O God, for I have walked in my blamelessness," by blamelessness he means virtue; for he who has virtue is deprived of wickedness. And in other places: "The blameless and simple adhered to me" he calls the virtuous blameless—for these are simple—, and simplicity is a mark of virtue. But when it says: "they deceive the hearts of the blameless," and: "The blameless believes every word," and again: "to give prudence to the blameless," it signifies the simple-minded. For whom it is also prayed that prudence be given, not that which is equivalent to wickedness, but to wisdom. Job therefore "still had blamelessness" vindicated in every respect. "But you said to destroy his possessions for no reason." The Lord reproves the futile work of the devil against the saints. For he who does something without cause labors in vain. If, therefore, the devil also, hoping to capture the holy one, by attempting the destruction of his possessions and children, found his attempt to be fruitless by the abundance of the holy one's courage, he warred against him in vain; for nothing he had hoped for came to pass. "But the devil answered 42 and said to the Lord: Skin for skin. Whatever

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καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται. δευτέραν ἐπιχειρεῖ ἐξαίτησιν κινήσασθαι κατὰ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ πόνοις ἀνηκέστοις ὑποβαλεῖν αὐτὸν σπουδάζων. τῶν αὐτῶν στίχων τοῖς φθάσασι τυγχανόντων, τὰ εἰς ἐκείνους εἰρημένα καὶ τούτοις ἐφαρμοστέον, ἵνα μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ πολλάκις λέγηται, 39 τοσοῦτον μόνον προσθέντας, ὅτι τὸ διαβολικὸν δ̣···ς ὑπερβαλλόντως δείκνυται. λεχθείη δὲ εἰς τό· "πόθεν σὺ ἔρχῃ;"· τὸ ἐλεγκτικώτατα ὑπὸ κυρίου πρὸς τὸν διάβολον εἰρῆσθαι ὡς οὐκ ἔχοντος εἰπεῖν τι ἑαυτοῦ μετὰ παρρησίας κατόρθωμα καὶ ἐντρεπτικόν, ὅτι νενικημένος ἦν, ὅπερ αὐτὸς ἀναισχύντως οὐχ ὡμολόγει. σημειωτέον, ὡς οὐχ οὕτως νῦν ὁ διάβολος ἀποκρίνεται. τότε μὲν γὰρ εἶπεν· "περιελθὼν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐνπεριπατήσας τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν πάρειμι", νῦν δέ· "διαπορευθεὶς τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐνπεριπατήσας τὴν σύμπασαν". καὶ συνεπίσκεψαι, μήποτε ὡς ψευστὴς οὐκ ἠθέλησεν μνημονεῦ σαι, ὅτι "περιῆλθεν τὴν γῆν", ἵνα ὡς μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν προσβαλὼν τῷ Ἰὼβ νομισθῇ, τότε δὲ ἀπ' ἀναισχυντίας. οἶδεν γάρ, ὅτι οὐδὲν λανθάνει θεόν. οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπεν̣ ὅτι· «ὧν δέδωκάς μοι ἐξουσίαν, πεποίηκα· ἀφῄρηκα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα τοῦ Ἰὼβ καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἀνεῖλον.» τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ἀκόλουθον εἰπεῖν, καί· «ὁ αὐτὸς ἔμεινεν.» ἀλλ' ἐπὶ δευτέραν αἴτησιν χωρεῖ, ἐξ ἧς οἴεται ἀνατρέψαι τὴν πρόθεσιν τοῦ ἁγίου. εἰ δὲ καὶ διάβολος κρύπτει τὸ ἑαυτοῦ βούλημα ἐν τῷ ἀντὶ «τῆς γῆς» "τὴν σύμπασαν" εἰρηκέναι, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἐκ τῶν γραφῶν παραστήσωμεν, 40 ὡς ἡ γῆ πολλάκις ἡ σύμπασα καλεῖται. εἴρηται γάρ· "ἐνεπλήσθη ἡ σύμπασα τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν κύριον." καὶ ὁ Ἰὼβ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς περὶ θεοῦ φησιν· "ὁ ποιῶν τὴν σύμπασαν ἐν ὑψίστοις" δηλῶν, ὅτι θεὸς ἀπὸ γῆς δι' ἀρετὴν ἕλκει εἰς οὐρανόν. "εἶπεν δὲ ὁ κύριος τῶι διαβόλωι· προσέσχες τῶι θεράποντί μου Ἰώβ, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν κατ' αὐτὸν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἄνθρωπος δίκαιος, θεοσεβής, ἄκακος, ἄμεμπτος, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. ἔτι δὲ ἔχεται ἀκακίας." καὶ νῦν τό· "προσ έσχες τῇς διανοίᾳ σου" ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἴρηται, ἐπίτασιν ἔχον, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν πάλην κατῃσχύνθη. ὁ μὲν γὰρ διάβολος οἰόμενος, ὅτι ὡς ἐπὶ ἀγαθοῖς χαίρει τοῖς ἔξωθεν ὁ Ἰώβ, ἔλεγεν· "οὐ σὺ περιέφραξας τὰ ἔσω καὶ τὰ ἔξω τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ;" ὅτε δὲ ματαία γέγονεν αὐτοῦ ἡ προσβολή, τὸ "προσέσχες" λέγεται ἀντὶ τοῦ· «ἔγνως τῆι πείραι» ἀνδρείαν "θεοσεβοῦς, ἀμέμπτου, ἀκάκου, ἀπεχομένου τε παντὸς κακοῦ". καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἐλέγχων ὁ κύριος ἐπάγει· "ἔτι δὲ ἔχεται ἀκακίας." προσέσχες οὖν, ὅτι οὐκ "εἰς πρόσωπόν" με "εὐλογήσει", ὡς ἐνόμιζες. σημειωτέον, ὡς ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν εἴρηται· "ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος", νῦν δέ· "ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ". ἐξ οὗ γιγνώσκεται, ὡς τὸ κακὸν πονηρὸν εἴρηται. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ γεγραμμένον· "οἱ ἀγαπῶν41 τες τὸν κύριον μισεῖτε πονηρόν", ἀντὶ τοῦ· μισεῖτε τὴν κακίαν. νοεῖται δὲ ἡ ἀκακία διάφορα σημαίνειν· δηλοῖ γὰρ καὶ τὴν τῆς κακίας στέρησιν καὶ τὴν εὐήθειαν. ὅταν γὰρ λέγῃ ὁ ἅγιος· "κρῖνόν με ὁ θεός, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην", ἀκακίαν λέγει τὴν ἀρετήν· ὁ γὰρ ἀρετὴν ἔχων στερεῖται κακίας. καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις· "ἄκακοι καὶ εὐηθεῖς ἐκολλῶντό μοι" τοὺς ἐναρε´̣τους ἀκάκους φησίν- εὐηθεῖς γὰρ οὗτοι-, τὸ δὲ εὐηθὲς ἀρετῆς ἐστι γνώρισμα. ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ· "ἐξαπατῶσι τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀκάκων", καί· "ἄκακος πιστεύει παντὶ λόγωι", καὶ πάλιν· "ἵνα δῷ ἀκάκοις πανουργίαν", τὸ ἀκέραιον σημαίνει. οἷς καὶ εὔχεται τὸ πανουργίαν δοθῆναι, οὐ τὴν ἰσοδυναμοῦσαν κακίᾳ, ἀλλὰ φρονήσει. ὁ Ἰὼβ οὖν "ἔτι εἶχεν ἀκακίαν" παντὶ λόγωι κατορθουμένην. "σὺ δὲ εἶπας τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ διὰ κενῆς ἀπολέσαι." τὸ ματαιούργημα τοῦ διαβόλου κατὰ τῶν ἁγίων ὁ κύριος ἐλέγχει. ματαίως γὰρ πονεῖ ὁ χωρὶς αἰτίας ἐνεργῶν τι. εἰ οὖν καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἐλπίζων ἑλεῖν τὸν ἅγιον ἐπιχειρῶν τῆι φθορᾶι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων καὶ τέκνων ἀνήνυτον ἔγνω τὸ ἐπιχείρημα τῇ τῆς ἀνδρείας τοῦ ἁγίου περιουσίαι, ματαίως αὐτῶι ἐπολέμησεν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὧν ἤλπιζεν ἀπέβη. "ὑπολαβὼν 42 δὲ ὁ διάβολος εἶπεν τῷ κυρίῳ· δέρμα ὑπὲρ δέρματος. ὅσα