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It does not escape him who knows all things. For this is what the opposite of the Lord signifies. 4, 18 If against his children he does not trust, and against his angels he devised something crooked. For the angels, he says, his genuine servants, with respect to the precision of God, are not blameless. For 'he does not trust' means: if he were to examine according to his own precision, he would find them not faithful in all things. And 'he devised something crooked' means: he made their nature changeable, so that it is possible through change to fall into blame, which indeed the apostate powers have also suffered, since they did not inherit an unchangeable nature, having by their own choice slipped from their proper station. And he calls the holy angels and men his children. 58 4, 1921 But those who dwell in houses of clay, from which we ourselves are also from the same clay, he struck them like a moth, and from morning until evening they are no more; because they could not help themselves, they perished; for he breathed on them and they withered, they perished because they had no wisdom. What then, he says, must be said about earthly men? For if angels, being spirits and dwelling in heaven, are not blameless with respect to divine precision, what would we who are earthly and dwell on earth suffer? For if God strikes, we are so easily consumed and do not last even a whole day, as if vegetables eaten by worms or garments consumed by moths; for just as these things, so also are we weak. But God is so powerful and with ease destroys whomever he wishes, because just as it is easy for a man to breathe, so it is for God merely to wish and to wither. And he used the words figuratively, as of a wind blowing and flowers withering, in order to represent the authority of God. Then, so that he might not seem to say that in his authority he does all things and brings on his wrath without judgment, he says that: Men suffer these things not without judgment, but because they have no wisdom, that is, they do not fear God. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. 5, 12 But call, if anyone will answer you, or if you will see any of the holy angels. For wrath destroys the foolish, and jealousy slays the one who has gone astray. 59 Why then, he says, being a man, do you speak beyond your worth? For man is so far removed from God that not only is God invisible and incomprehensible, but also, even if you call upon him ten thousand times, he does not answer you. And what am I to say about God, when even his ministers, the holy angels, happen to be invisible to us. It is therefore characteristic of a wise man to consider these things; but the just impulse of God and his jealousy—that is, God's hatred of evil—destroys the foolish and the one who has gone astray and is insolent toward God. And it is also possible to understand the wrathful man generally as foolish, so that the statement is universal, that for every foolish and wrathful person, his own anger works death. He advises, therefore, not to be insolent toward God. 5, 3 But I have seen the foolish taking root, but immediately their dwelling was devoured. Since it is objected to Eliphaz that the unjust are often in prosperity, and especially that Job himself was previously in good fortune, resolving the objection he said that the unjust man, even if he is in some comfort and thinks he holds his goods securely—for this is what 'taking root' means—, still he does not remain for long. And by 'dwelling' he means their entire house and their life in abundance. Then he adds the results for the impious. 60 5, 45 May their sons be far from salvation. And may they be crushed at the gates of the lesser, and there shall be none to deliver them. For what those men gathered, the righteous shall eat, but they themselves shall not be delivered from evils; may their strength be siphoned away. These things often happen to the impious. For indeed the Hebrew people inherited the land of promise after its former inhabitants were destroyed for their impiety. But these things do not always happen in the present life; for the recompenses are not always here, but also in the age to come, so that not having been stated with this distinction, it was not well said by Eliphaz. But 'may they be far' is not said as a wish, but as something that will certainly happen; for the tenses are used without distinction, and

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πάντα ἐπιστάμενον οὐ διαλανθάνει. τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ἐναντίον τοῦ κυρίου. 4, 18 εἰ κατὰ παίδων αὐτοῦ οὐ πιστεύει, κατὰ δὲ ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ σκόλιόν τι ἐπενόησεν. οἱ γὰρ ἄγγελοι, φησίν, οἱ γνήσιοι αὐτοῦ θεράποντες, ὅσον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀκρίβειαν οὐκ εἰσὶν ἄμεμπτοι. τὸ γὰρ οὐ πιστεύει ἀντὶ τοῦ· εἰ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀκρίβειαν ἐξετάσοι, εὑρήσει μὴ ἐν πᾶσι πιστούς. τὸ δὲ σκόλιόν τι ἐπενόησεν ἀντὶ τοῦ· τρεπτὴν αὐτῶν τὴν φύσιν κατεσκεύασεν, ὡς ἐνδέχεσθαι διὰ τῆς τροπῆς καὶ μέμψεως ἐντὸς γίνεσθαι, ὅπερ οὖν καὶ πεπόνθασιν αἱ ἀποστατικαὶ δυνάμεις, ἐπεὶ μὴ τὴν φύσιν ἄτρεπτον ἐκληρώσαντο, προαιρετικῶς τῆς οἰκείας στάσεως ἀπολισθήσασαι. παῖδας δὲ αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγγέλους καὶ ἀνθρώπους φησίν. 58 4, 1921 τοὺς δὲ κατοικοῦντας οἰκίας πηλίνας, ἐξ ὧν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ ἐσμεν, ἔπαισεν αὐτοὺς σητὸς τρόπον καὶ ἀπὸ πρωίθεν ἕως ἑσπέρας οὐκέτι εἰσίν, παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοῖς βοηθῆσαι ἀπώλοντο· ἐνεφύσησεν γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐξηράνθησαν, ἀπώλοντο παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς σοφίαν. τί οὖν χρή, φησίν, λέγειν περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν χοϊκῶν; εἰ γὰρ ἄγγελοι πνεύματά τε ὄντες καὶ οὐρανὸν οἰκοῦντες οὐκ ἄμεμπτοι πρὸς τὴν θείαν ἀκρίβειαν, τί ἂν πάθοιμεν ἡμεῖς οἱ γήϊνοι καὶ γῆν οἰκοῦντες; εἰ γὰρ πλήξει θεός, οὕτω ῥᾳδίως δαπανώμεθα καὶ οὐδὲ ὅλην ἡμέραν ἀντέχομεν, ὡσπερανεὶ λάχανα ὑπὸ σκωλήκων βρωθέντα ἢ ἱμάτια ὑπὸ σητῶν δαπανηθέντα· ὥσπερ γὰρ ταῦτα, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν ἀσθενεῖς. θεὸς δὲ οὕτω δυνατὸς καὶ μετ' εὐκολίας ἐξαφανίζων οὓς ἂν ἐθελήσῃ, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπῳ ῥᾴδιον τὸ φυσῆσαι, οὕτω θεῷ τὸ θελῆσαι μόνον καὶ ἀποξηρᾶναι. τροπικῶς δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ ἀνέμου φυσῶντος καὶ ἀνθῶν ξηραινομένων διὰ τὸ παραστῆσαι τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῖς λόγοις ἐχρήσατο. εἶτα, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ λέγειν, ὅτι ἐπ' ἐξουσίας ἅπαντα πράττων ἀκρίτως ἐπιφέρει τὴν ὀργήν, φησὶν ὅτι· ταῦτα δὲ πάσχουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὐκ ἀκρίτως, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν σοφίαν, τουτέστιν· μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θεόν. ἀρχὴ γὰρ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου. 5, 12 ἐπικάλεσαι δέ, εἴ τις σου ὑπακούσεται, ἢ εἴ τινα ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ὄψει. καὶ γὰρ ἄφρονα ἀναιρεῖ ὀργή, πεπλανημένον δὲ θανατοῖ ζῆλος. 59 τί οὖν, φησίν, ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν φθέγγῃ ἄνθρωπος ὤν; τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἀπολιμπάνεται θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἀόρατός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀκατάληπτος, ἀλλ' οὐδ', ἂν μυριάκις αὐτὸν ἐπικαλέσῃ, ἀποκρίνεταί σοι. τί δὲ λέγω περὶ θεοῦ, ὅπουγε καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ λειτουργοί, οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι, ἀόρατοι τυγχάνουσιν ἡμῖν. σοφοῦ μὲν οὖν τὸ ταῦτα διανοεῖσθαι· τὸν δὲ ἄφρονα καὶ πεπλανημένον καὶ κατὰ θεοῦ θρασυνόμενον ἡ δικαία τοῦ θεοῦ κίνησις καὶ ὁ ζῆλοςἀντὶ τοῦ· τὸ μισοπόνηρον τοῦ θεοῦἀναιρεῖ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ καθόλου ἄφρονα νοῆσαι τὸν ὀργίλον, ἵνα ᾖ καθολικὸς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι παντὶ ἄφρονι καὶ ὀργίλῳ ἡ οἰκεία ὀργὴ θάνατον κατεργάζεται. παραινεῖ οὖν, μὴ θρασύνεσθαι κατὰ θεοῦ. 5, 3 ἐγὼ δὲ ἑώρακα ἄφρονας ῥίζας βαλόντας, ἀλλ' εὐθέως ἐβρώθη αὐτῶν ἡ δίαιτα. ἐπειδὴ ἀντιπίπτει τῷ Ἐλιφὰζ τὸ καὶ ἀδίκους πολλάκις ἐν εὐημερίᾳ γίνεσθαι καὶ μάλιστα τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν τὸν Ἰὼβ πρότερον ἐν εὐπραγίᾳ τυγχάνοντα, τὸ ἀντιπῖπτον ἐπιλύων ἔφη, ὅτι ὁ ἄδικος, κἂν γένηται ἐν εὐπαθείᾳ τινὶ καὶ βεβαίως ἔχειν νομίσῃ τὰ ἀγαθάτοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ῥίζας βαλόντας, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ διαμένει. δίαιταν δὲ τὴν πᾶσαν αὐτῶν οἰκίαν καὶ ἐν εὐθηνίᾳ διαγωγήν φησιν. εἶτα ἐπιφέρει τῶν ἀσεβῶν τὰ ἀποτελέσματα. 60 5, 45 πόρρω γένοιντο οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν ἀπὸ σωτηρίας. κολαβρισθείησαν δὲ ἐπὶ θύραις ἡσσόνων καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος. ἃ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι συνήγαγον, δίκαιοι ἔδονται, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐκ κακῶν οὐκ ἐξαιρετοὶ ἔσονται, ἐκσιφωνισθείη αὐτῶν ἡ ἰσχύς. ταῦτα πολλάκις μὲν συμβαίνει τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν. καὶ γὰρ ἐκληρονόμησεν ὁ Ἑβραίων λαὸς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν προτέρων οἰκητόρων δι' ἀσέβειαν ἀναιρεθέντων. οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ ταῦτα συμβαίνει ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ· αἱ γὰρ ἀνταποδόσεις οὐκ ἐνταῦθα πάντως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι, ὥστε μὴ μετὰ διαιρέσεως τεθέντα οὐ καλῶς εἴρηται τῷ Ἐλιφάζ. τὸ δὲ πόρρω γένοιντο οὐκ εὐκτικῶς εἴρηται, ἀλλ' ὡς πάντως συμβαῖνον· οἱ γὰρ χρόνοι ἀδιαφόρως κεῖνται, καὶ