John Chrysostom, Fragments on Job

of the Lord, and the devil came into their midst, to stand before the Lord.” Why does it introduce them as presenting themselves each day? So that we may learn that present things are not without providence, but they give an account of the things that happen each day, and each day the angels are sent forth, administering something, even if we do not know it. “And the Lord said to the devil: 'From where do you come?'” He knew from where he had come, that he was defeated by the just man; but He wishes to see if he will graciously confess his defeat. “And the Lord said to the devil: 'Have you then considered my servant Job? That there is none like him on the earth; a man harmless, true, blameless, devout, abstaining from every evil, and still he holds fast to his guilelessness; but you said to destroy his possessions for nothing.'” The devil, hiding his defeat, uses his former voice; and, “Having gone about the earth,” he says, “I am here.” But God reveals what that one enviously hid; and since, having asked, He did not learn from him of the defeat he had suffered, He Himself exposes it, and makes manifest the victory of the just man; Having walked about the entire world, I am here. What then? For this you came forth? This you asked? Did you not say, 'Give me the possessions of Job'? Why do you hide the contest? In order to obscure the crown of victory. Have you considered my servant? That there is none like him, a harmless man. Do not pass over what was said lightly, but note that in the first testimony, the word, harmless 64.548 was nowhere said; but having not mentioned this name before, He now added to him the crown of guilelessness, since he had borne his misfortunes with thanksgiving. If therefore he seems to utter anything bold in what follows, it is reckoned to his guilelessness. And Job himself says later, But the Lord knows my guilelessness. But in the case of a harmless person, no one reckons the word to wickedness; for we judge not by the deeds, but by the intention of the doers. A son insults his father, and the deed is unholy, and he is condemned as a parricide, because he uttered a defiant word to his father, and dared to defame his own root; but a harmless child, even if he strikes his father or mother, the insult is more desirable than any gladness. Often, therefore, mothers provoke their children to insult, not rejoicing in the insult, but in the guilelessness, in the purity, and simplicity of their character; so God, knowing that he does not speak from malice, accepts the words from Job, being called into judgment by him; for the word is of guilelessness, not of wickedness. In vain, He says, you begrudged his abundance, saying that the man was pious for the sake of his wealth. He was stripped of his possessions, and was not stripped of his piety. You were not willing, O shameless one, to trust me, as God. From the test, at least, should you not have been convinced at last, that my servant does not measure his philosophy by prosperity? But see, He did not say that his possessions were lost for nothing, but, You said to destroy them for nothing; since he himself received no ordinary reward for the loss. “But no, rather, stretch out your hand, and touch his bones and his flesh; surely he will bless you to your face.” Of Chrysostom and Olympiodorus. The beast is cruel and shameless; for it does not endure to be sated only with our flesh, but also wishes to pass through even to the bones and marrow; it is not at a loss for wickedness, it finds another device. It is no great thing, he says, if he lost his possessions, gladly despising all things, in order to save himself. But surely if you do not permit his life to be taken? For he indicated this by asking through his words: He will give everything for his life; at least strike his body. But why did he not ask for this from the beginning? He reasoned that if it should happen that he be defeated, it is better to win the victory from the lesser things; but if not, I will overcome him by means of his body. Of little account, he says, is wealth to men; for they give everything for the salvation of their own soul. And he did not simply say, touch his flesh, but so that the evil might be born even from within, so with

τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἦλθεν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, παραστῆναι ἐναντίον τοῦ Κυρίου.» Τί δήποτε καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν παρισταμένους αὐτοὺς εἰσάγει; ἵνα μάθωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπρονόητα τὰ παρόντα, ἀλλὰ λόγον διδόασι τῶν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν γινομένων, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἀποστέλλονταί τι οἰκονομοῦντες οἱ ἄγγελοι, εἰ καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἴσμεν. «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ διαβόλῳ· Πόθεν σὺ ἔρχῃ;» Ἤδει πόθεν ἦλθεν, ὅτι ἡττηθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου· ἀλλὰ βούλεται ἰδεῖν, εἰ εὐγνωμόνως ὁμολογεῖ τὴν ἧτταν. «Εἶπε δὲ ὁ Κύριος πρὸς τὸν διάβολον· Προσέσχες οὖν τῷ θεράποντί μου Ἰώβ; ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι κατ' αὐτὸν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἄνθρωπος ἄκακος, ἀληθινὸς, ἄμεμπτος, θεοσεβὴς, ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ, ἔτι δὲ ἔχεται ἀκακίας· σὺ δὲ εἶπας ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ διακενῆς ἀπολέσαι.» Ὁ μὲν διάβολος κρύψας τὴν ἧτταν, τῇ πρώτῃ κέχρηται φωνῇ· καὶ Περιελθὼν, φησὶ, τὴν γῆν πάρειμι. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς, ὃ ἔκρυψε φθονῶν ἐκεῖνος, ἐκκαλύπτει· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐρωτήσας οὐκ ἔμαθε παρ' αὐτοῦ τὴν ἧτταν ἣν ὑπέστη, αὐτὸς αὐτὴν στηλιτεύει, καὶ τοῦ δικαίου τὴν νίκην ἐκφαίνει· Ἐμπεριπατήσας τὴν σύμπασαν πάρειμι. Τί οὖν; Εἰς τοῦτο ἐξῆλθες; τοῦτο ᾔτησας; οὐ σὺ εἶπας, ∆ός μοι τὰ ὑπάρχοντα τοῦ Ἰώβ; διὰ τί κρύπτεις τὸν ἀγῶνα; ἵνα ἀφανίσῃς τὸν στέφανον τῆς νίκης. Προσέσχες τῷ θεράποντί μου; ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι κατ' αὐτὸν, ἄνθρωπος ἄκακος. Μὴ παραδράμῃς ἁπλῶς τὸ ῥηθὲν, ἀλλ' ἐπισήμηναι, ὅτι ἐν πρώτῃ μαρτυρίᾳ οὐδαμοῦ ἐλέχθη τὸ, ἄκα 64.548 κος· ἀλλὰ μὴ μνησθεὶς τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου πρότερον, νῦν αὐτῷ προσέθηκε τὸν τῆς ἀκακίας στέφανον, ἐπειδὴ τὰ κακὰ εὐχαρίστως ἤνεγκεν. Εἴ τι οὖν καὶ δοκεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς φθέγγεσθαι τολμηρὸν, τῇ ἀκακίᾳ προσλελόγισται. Φησὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὕστερον ὁ Ἰὼβ, Οἶδε δὲ ὁ Κύριος τὴν ἀκακίαν μου. Τῷ δὲ ἀκάκῳ οὐδεὶς τὸ ῥῆμα εἰς πονηρίαν λογίζεται· οὐ γὰρ τοῖς πράγμασιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ προθέσει τῶν ποιούντων, δικάζομεν. Ὑβρίζει υἱὸς πατέρα, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀνόσιον, καὶ ὡς πατραλοίας κατακρίνεται, ὅτι φωνὴν ἐναντίαν ἔῤῥηξε πατρὶ, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ῥίζαν δυσφημῆσαι ἐτόλμησε· παιδίον δὲ ἄκακον, κἂν τύψῃ τὸν πατέρα, ἢ τὴν μητέρα, ἡ ὕβρις πάσης εὐφροσύνης ποθεινοτέρα. Πολλάκις οὖν μητέρες εἰς ὕβριν τὰ τέκνα διερεθίζουσιν, οὐ τῇ ὕβρει, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀκακίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀκεραίῳ, καὶ ἀφελεῖ τοῦ ἤθους, ἐπαγαλλόμεναι· οὕτω ὁ Θεὸς εἰδὼς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ κακίας φθέγγεται, δέχεται τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ, εἰς κρίσιν καλούμενος παρ' αὐτοῦ· ἀκακίας γὰρ τὸ ῥῆμα, οὐ πονηρίας Μάτην αὐτοῦ, φησὶ, τῇ περιουσίᾳ ἐφθόνησας, εἴπας, προφάσει τῶν χρημάτων εὐσεβεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα. Ἐγυμνώθη τῶν κτημάτων, καὶ οὐκ ἐγυμνώθη τῆς εὐσεβείας. Οὐκ ἐθέλησας, ὦ ἀναίσχυντε, ὡς Θεῷ, μοὶ πιστεῦσαι. Ἀπὸ τῆς πείρας γοῦν, οὐκ ἔδει πιστωθῆναι λοιπὸν, ὅτι μὴ ταῖς εὐπραγίαις τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ὁ ἐμὸς θεράπων μετρεῖ; Ὅρα δὲ, οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι διακενῆς ἀπώλετο τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, ἀλλὰ, Σὺ εἶπας ἀπολέσαι διακενῆς· ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς μισθὸν οὐ τὸν τυχόντα ἔλαβε τῆς ἀπωλείας. «Οὐ μὴ δὲ ἀλλὰ ἀποστείλας τὴν χεῖρά σου, ἅψαι τῶν ὀστῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ· ἦ μὴν εἰς πρόσωπόν σε εὐλογήσει.» Χρυσοστόμου καὶ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου. Ὠμὸν τὸ θηρίον καὶ ἀναίσχυντον· οὐ γὰρ ἀνέχεται μόνον τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐμφορηθῆναι σαρκῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρις ὀστῶν καὶ μυελῶν διελθεῖν βούλεται· οὐκ ἀπορεῖ πονηρίας, εὑρίσκει πάλιν ἐπίνοιαν. Οὐδὲν, φησὶ, μέγα, εἰ ἀπώλεσε κτήματα, ἡδέως πάντων καταφρονήσας, ἵνα ἑαυτὸν σώσῃ. Ἀλλὰ μὴν εἰ τὴν ψυχὴν οὐ δίδως λαβεῖν; Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐνέφηνε ζητῶν διὰ τοῦ λέγειν· Πάντα ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς ἐκτίσει· τὸ γοῦν σῶμα πλῆξον. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ μὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦτο ᾔτησεν; Ἐλογίσατο ὅτι εἰ συμβῇ αὐτὸν ἡττηθῆναι, βέλτιον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων τὴν νίκην ἐνεγκεῖν· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος περιέσομαι. Οὐ πολλοῦ λόγου, φησὶ, τὰ χρήματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· ὑπὲρ γὰρ σωτηρίας τῆς οἰκείας ψυχῆς, ἅπαντα διδόασιν. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ, τῶν σαρκῶν, εἶπεν, ἅψαι, ἀλλ' ὥστε καὶ ἔνδοθεν τεχθῆναι τὸ κακὸν, οὕτω μετὰ