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my blood; when I begin to speak, they pierce me. But you make light of my words, he says, being at ease and not considering how the punishments inflicted by God on my body—for he calls the punishments arrows—with a certain vehemence consume my blood and use up my strength, not even allowing me to speak without pain, but wounding me at every moment. 6, 5-6 For why? will a wild ass cry out for no reason, unless it is seeking food? Or will an ox utter a sound at the manger when it has its fodder? Will bread be eaten without salt? And is there taste in empty words? He himself, using examples from nature, shows both the reasonableness of his own words and how he was right not to be persuaded by the counsel of Eliphaz, but looked to contradiction. For just as, he says, a wild ass does not cry out in vain, but when it is in need of food, nor an ox at the manger, unless its fodder is lacking, so I would not be despondent, unless I had come to the uttermost of evils. And how shall I be persuaded by your counsel, which has neither reason nor is seasoned for consolation? For just as unsalted bread is not edible, so also empty words that have nothing persuasive or reasonable cannot persuade the hearers; for he calls persuasion "taste," continuing with the trope of bread. For this reason the apostle also said: Let your speech always be 68 with grace, seasoned with salt, as if sweet and savory, both bracing and sweetening the hearers. But Symmachus has rendered it thus: _Does a hungry wild ass groan when grass is present?_ and he stated the natural principle more clearly, that an animal does not seek food when food is present. 6, 7 For my soul cannot cease; for I see my food as a stench, like the smell of a lion. And how can I comfort myself, seeing the very food as full of disgust and foul odor? And this of necessity happens to those who are excessively sick and have no appetite. 6, 8-9 O that my request might be granted, and that the Lord would give me my hope. Let the Lord, having begun, wound me, but let him not destroy me completely. First let us see what Job's hope is, so that we may also examine the present words. We remember, then, what his wife said to him: How long will you endure, saying: ‘Behold, I wait yet a little while, awaiting the hope of my salvation’? It having been made manifest, then, that he hoped to receive salvation from God, it is clear that he prays for this now too and says that: "May the Lord chasten me, but in judgment and not in wrath." Just as David also said: "O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath"—for he was not refusing chastening, but that with wrath, so then he says here that: "Even if he has wounded me, let him not prolong the torments for long; for such is the hope I possess." 69 6, 10 Let my city be a tomb, upon whose walls I leaped. According to the literal meaning, he seems to say that it is better for me to die and to have a tomb for a dwelling instead of the city, in which I, being glorious, lived in prosperity. But according to the deeper meaning, since he was awaiting the hope of salvation, he says that: "May it be that, having received my hope, I may die in the best state and in righteousness, being hedged about by God as before;" for this is what "upon whose walls I leaped" signifies. Therefore, whether through death or through health, he prays for release from his troubles; and he uttered nothing harsh or blasphemous. 6, 10 I will not spare; for I have not spoken falsely the words of my holy God. Therefore, he says, I will not spare my contradiction to you. For I do not endure to hold one thing in my mind and to utter words contrary to my opinion, but what I think, I speak with truth. Because of this opinion of his and his boldness with truth, the Scripture praised him and said: "And that man was true, blameless." But see his Abrahamic kinship, behold the successor of Isaac and Jacob not only according to the flesh, but also according to piety. 70 For concerning them it was said

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μου τὸ αἷμα· ὅταν ἄρξωμαι λαλεῖν, κεντοῦσί με. ἀλλ' ἐκφαυλίζετέ μου, φησίν, τὰ ῥήματα, ἐν ἀνέσει τυγχάνοντες καὶ οὐκ ἐννοοῦντες, ὡς αἱ παρὰ θεοῦ ἐπενεχθεῖσαι τῷ σώματί μου τιμωρίαιβέλη γὰρ τὰς τιμωρίας φησίνμετά τινος σφοδρότητος ἐκδαπανῶσί μου τὸ αἷμα καὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν καταναλίσκουσιν οὐδὲ φθέγγεσθαι ἀνωδύνως συγχωροῦσαι, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πάντα καιρὸν κατατιτρώσκουσαι. 6, 56 τί γάρ; μὴ διὰ κενῆς κεκράξεται ὄνος ἄγριος, ἀλλ' ἢ τὰ σῖτα ζητῶν; εἰ δὲ καὶ ῥήξει φωνὴν βοῦς ἐπὶ φάτνης ἔχων τὰ βρώματα; εἰ βρωθήσεται ἄρτος ἄνευ ἁλός; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστι γεῦμα ἐν ῥήμασι κενοῖς; φυσικοῖς καὶ αὐτὸς κεχρημένος παραδείγμασι καὶ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λόγων τὸ εὔλογον δείκνυσι καὶ ὡς δικαίως οὐκ ἐπείσθη τῇ τοῦ Ἐλιφὰζ παραινέσει, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀντιλογίαν εἶδεν. ὥσπερ γάρ, φησίν, οὐ μάτην ἀνακράζει ὄνος ἄγριος, ἀλλ' ὅταν ἐπιδεὴς γένηται τροφῆς, οὐδὲ βοῦς ἐπὶ φάτνης, εἰ μὴ ἐπιλείποι τὰ βρώματα, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἐγὼ ἠθύμουν, εἰ μὴ πρὸς ἔσχατον ἐληλάκειν κακῶν. πῶς δὲ καὶ πεισθήσομαι τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ παραινέσει μήτε τὸ εὔλογον ἐχούσῃ μήτε πρὸς παραμυθίαν ἐξηρτυμένῃ; ὥσπερ γὰρ ἄναλος ἄρτος οὐ βρώσιμος, οὕτω καὶ λόγοι διακενοὶ καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες τὸ πιθανὸν ἢ τὸ εὔλογον πείθειν οὐ δύνανται τοὺς ἀκούοντας· γεῦμα γὰρ τὴν πειθὼ λέγει ἐπιμείνας τῇ τοῦ ἄρτου τροπῇ. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν πάντοτε 68 ἐν χάριτι, ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος οἱονεὶ ἡδὺς καὶ νόστιμος, ἐπιστύφων τε ὁμοῦ καὶ καταγλυκαίνων τοὺς ἀκούοντας. ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἐκδέδωκεν· _μ_ὴ_ _σ_τ_έ_ν_ε_ι_ _λ_ι_μ_ῶ_δ_ε_ς_ _ὄ_ν_α_γ_ρ_ο_ς_ _π_α_ρ_ούσης χλόης· καὶ σαφέστερον τὸ φυσικὸν εἶπεν, ὅτι οὐ ζητεῖ ζῶον τροφὴν παρούσης τροφῆς. 6, 7 οὐ δύναται γάρ μου παύσασθαι ἡ ψυχή· βρόμον γὰρ ὁρῶ τὰ σῖτά μου ὥσπερ ὀσμὴν λέοντος. πῶς δὲ καὶ ἐμαυτὸν παραμυθήσασθαι δύναμαι ὁ καὶ τὴν τροφὴν αὐτὴν ἀηδίας καὶ δυσωδίας μεστὴν βλέπων; καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἐξ ἀνάγκης συμβαίνει τοῖς ἄγαν νοσοῦσι καὶ ἀνορεκτοῦσιν. 6, 89 εἰ γὰρ δοίη καὶ ἔλθῃ μου ἡ αἴτησις καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα μου δώῃ ὁ κύριος. ἀρξάμενος ὁ κύριος τρωσάτω, εἰς τέλος δὲ μή με ἀνελέτω. πρότερον ἴδωμεν, τίς ἡ ἐλπὶς τοῦ Ἰώβ, ἵνα καὶ τὰ παρόντα ῥήματα κατεξετάσωμεν. μεμνήμεθα τοίνυν, ὣς ἔλεγε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ γυνή· μέχρι τίνος καρτερήσεις λέγων· ἰδοὺ ἀναμένω χρόνον ἔτι μικρὸν προσδεχόμενος τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας μου. προδήλου τοίνυν γεγονότος, ὡς ἤλπιζεν ἐκ θεοῦ σωτηρίας τυχεῖν, εὔδηλον, ὅτι ταύτην καὶ νῦν εὔχεται καί φησιν ὅτι· παιδεύσαι με ὁ κύριος, ἀλλ' ἐν κρίσει καὶ μὴ ἐν θυμῷ. ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ ἔλεγεν· κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς μεοὐ γὰρ τὴν παιδείαν παρῃτεῖτο, ἀλλὰ τὴν μετ' ὀργῆς, τοῦτο τοίνυν κἀνταῦθά φησιν ὅτι· εἰ καὶ ἔτρωσεν, μὴ ἐπὶ πολὺ παρατεινέτω τὰς βασάνους· τοιαύτην γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα κέκτημαι. 69 6, 10 εἴη δέ μου ἡ πόλις τάφος, ἐφ' ἧς ἐπὶ τειχέων ἡλλόμην ἐπ' αὐτῆς. πρὸς μὲν ῥητὸν δοκεῖ λέγειν, ὅτι καὶ βέλτιόν μοι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν καὶ τάφον ἔχειν οἴκησιν ἀντὶ τῆς πόλεως, ἐφ' ἧς ἔνδοξος ὣν ἐν εὐημερίᾳ διῆγον. πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας προσεδέχετο, φησὶν ὅτι· γένοιτο δέ με ἀπολαβόντα μου τὴν ἐλπίδα τῇ ἀρίστῃ πολιτείᾳ καὶ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ἐναποθανεῖν περιφρασσόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τὸ πρότερον· τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ἐφ' ἧς ἐπὶ τειχέων ἡλλόμην ἐπ' αὐτῆς. εἴτε τοίνυν διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, εἴτε διὰ τῆς ὑγείας, ἀπαλλαγὴν εὔχεται τῶν δεινῶν· οὐδὲν δὲ δυσχερὲς οὐδὲ παλίμφημον ἐφθέγξατο. 6, 10 οὐ μὴ φείσομαι· οὐ γὰρ ἐψευσάμην ῥήμασιν ἁγίου θεοῦ μου. τοιγαροῦν, φησίν, τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀντιλογίας οὐ φείσομαι. οὐ γὰρ ἀνέχομαι ἕτερα μὲν ἔχειν κατὰ διάνοιαν, ἐναντία δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ προφέρειν ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ ἃ φρονῶ σὺν ἀληθείᾳ φθέγγομαι. διὰ ταύτην αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην καὶ τὴν σὺν ἀληθείᾳ παρρησίαν ἐπαινοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔφησεν ἡ γραφή· καὶ ἦν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ἀληθινός, ἄμεμπτος. ὅρα δὲ τὴν Ἀβραμιαίαν συγγένειαν, θεώρει τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ τὸν οὐ μόνον κατὰ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν διά 70 δοχον. περὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνων ἔλεγεν