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the names of friends, saying: "And none of them spoke." For a soul, once struck by despondency, is unfit for any hearing. For this reason, they too, seeing the tragedy of that house, and the just man sitting on the dung heap and covered in sores, rent their garments, and cried out loudly, and sat beside him in silence; showing that nothing is so suitable at the beginning for those in pain as quiet and silence; for the suffering was greater than the consolation of words. For they came to console him, but not finding an image from which they might offer comfort, they kept silent; and this they did wisely, consoling him by their actions, by sitting with him, by rending their garments. But all these things were good, and worthy of friends, and proofs of their sympathy; but what came after, no longer so. CHAPTER 3. "After this, Job opened his mouth." Of Polychronius and Chrysostom. And the phrase, "after this," is placed precisely. For seeing many coming to him, and then going away again, he remained steadfast in his sufferings; but when he saw Eliphaz and his companions had come in sincerity, and were remaining for a long time; who also testified by their silence that the things which had happened were terrible; for they did not dare to console him, unless he himself first gave the opening; then indeed, thinking he would be a burden to them because of the silence, he breaks it. Let us see, then, what he utters on opening his mouth. "And he cursed his day, saying: 'Let the day perish on which I was born, and that night in which they said: 'Behold, a male child.''" Let us not, then, examine the words simply, but let us see that they are also spoken from a despondent soul; for if he had not uttered these things, he would have seemed not even to partake of our common nature. "Let that night be darkness, and may the Lord from above not seek it, nor light come upon it; but let darkness and the shadow of death seize it." The just man, seeing how the weight of events had called his friends, and considering the burden of the blow, and judging it grievous that they sat beside him for a long time, and that it was not for these reasons he had previously associated with them; and seeing, so to speak, that everything had turned against him, he neither pushes them away harshly, thinking it unfitting to send away with insult those who had come to honor him, nor does he simply urge them to leave, respecting their friendship. But considering all these things, and being stung by 64.580 all, he came to these words, in a way apologizing to his friends; that he would wish to speak, but is unable, being weighed down by the multitude of his troubles. And what does he say? Let that night be darkness, that is, let it be in obscurity, not remembered, nor may the Lord claim it, nor may it be in the list of nights. For since he was not speaking of a subsistent nature, or of some living being, he did not pray for death or destruction, but for the extension of the opposite of the day; as if the day, being interposed between both nights by the extension of the darkness, might come into oblivion for those wishing to count it. "For why did I not die in the womb? Or come forth from the belly, and not perish at once?" Therefore, just as Christ, when He said, "It were good for him if he had not been born," indicated nothing other than that terrible and harsh things awaited him; so also here Job, in saying, "Would that I had not been born, or having been born, had perished at once," so that death might run concurrent with birth, does not decry the creation of God, but represents the magnitude of his misfortune. But see his piety, how he pours out all his anger upon the day, not daring to overstep this boundary, but always saying these things, "the day," and "the night"; so that he might say that, "At least I would not be experiencing the present evils, even if I were not receiving a reward for my piety." "For now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest." And it seems to me that he is also calming his friends, and persuading them not to consider human affairs to be anything great. See, therefore, even in his misfortune, the words of philosophy. "There the wicked have ceased from raging anger,

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φίλων ὀνόματα, λέγων· «Καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν ἐλάλησε.» Ψυχὴ γὰρ ἅπαξ ὑπὸ ἀθυμίας βληθεῖσα, πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀκρόασίν ἐστιν ἀνεπιτήδειος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ οὗτοι τὴν τραγῳδίαν τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης ἰδόντες, καὶ τὸν δίκαιον ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας καθήμενον, καὶ ἡλκωμένον, διέῤῥηξαν τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ μέγα ἀνῴμωξαν, καὶ σιγῇ παρεκάθηντο· δηλοῦντες, ὅτι οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐπιτήδειον παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῖς ὀδυνωμένοις, ὡς ἡσυχία καὶ σιγή· καὶ γὰρ ἦν μεῖζον τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου παραμυθίας τὸ πάθος. Ἦλθον μὲν γὰρ παρακαλέσοντες, οὐχ εὑρίσκοντες δὲ εἰκόνα ἐξ ἧς παραμυθήσονται, ἐσιώπων· καὶ τοῦτο δὲ συνετῶς ἐποίησαν, τοῖς πράγμασιν αὐτὸν παρακαλοῦντες, τῇ προσεδρίᾳ, τῷ διαῤῥῆξαι τὰ ἱμάτια. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν πάντα καλὰ, καὶ φίλων ἄξια, καὶ συμπαθούντων τεκμήρια· τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ, οὐκέτι. ΚΕΦ. Γ. «Μετὰ τοῦτο ἤνοιξεν Ἰὼβ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ.» Πολυχρονίου καὶ Χρυσοστόμου. Ἀκριβῶς δὲ κεῖται τὸ, μετὰ τοῦτο. Πολλοὺς μὲν γὰρ ὁρῶν, ὡς αὐτὸν ἀφικνουμένους, καὶ πάλιν ἀπιόντας, ἔμενε καρτερῶν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσιν· ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς περὶ Ἐλιφὰζ ἐθεάσατο γνησιότητι παραγενομένους, ἐπιπολύ τε προσμένοντας· οἳ καὶ ὅτι δεινὰ τὰ συμβεβηκότα διὰ τῆς σιγῆς ἐμαρτύρουν· οὐ γὰρ ἐτόλμησαν παραμυθήσασθαι, εἰ μὴ πρότερος αὐτὸς ἀρχὴν ἔδωκε· τότε δὴ φορτικὸς λοιπὸν αὐτοῖς ἔσεσθαι ἡγησάμενος διὰ τὴν σιωπὴν, λύει ταύτην. Ἴδωμεν οὖν, τί ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα φθέγγεται. «Καὶ κατηράσατο τὴν ἡμέραν αὐτοῦ, λέγων· Ἀπόλοιτο ἡ ἡμέρα ἐν ᾖ ἐγεννήθην, καὶ ἡ νὺξ ἐκείνη ἐν ᾗ εἶπαν· Ἰδοὺ ἄρσεν.» Μὴ οὖν ἁπλῶς τὰ ῥήματα ἐξετάζωμεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐξ ἀθυμούσης ψυχῆς λέγεται, ἴδωμεν· εἰ γὰρ μηδὲ ταῦτα ἐφθέγξατο, ἔδοξεν ἂν μηδὲ τῆς κοινῆς μετέχειν φύσεως. «Νὺξ ἐκείνη εἴη σκότος, καὶ μὴ ἀναζητήσαι αὐτὴν ὁ Κύριος ἄνωθεν, μηδὲ ἔλθοι εἰς αὐτὴν φέγγος· ἐκλάβοι δὲ αὐτὴν σκότος, καὶ σκιὰ θανάτου.» Ὁρῶν ὁ δίκαιος, ὡς ἡ βαρύτης τῶν συμβάντων, ἐκάλεσε τοὺς φίλους, καὶ τῆς πληγῆς τὸ φορτικὸν ἐννοῶν, καὶ τὸ παρακαθῆσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ πολὺ κρίνων ἐπαχθὲς καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ πρότερον αὐτοῖς συνεγένετο· καὶ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν πάντα, ὁρῶν εἰς τοὐναντίον αὐτῷ περιστάντα, οὔτε ἀπωθεῖται αὐτοὺς ἐμπληκτῶς, ἄτοπον εἶναι νομίζων τοὺς ἐπὶ τιμῇ ἐληλυθότας, τούτους ὕβρει ἀποπέμψασθαι, οὔτε ἁπλῶς ἀπιέναι παρακαλεῖ, αἰδούμενος αὐτῶν τὴν φιλίαν. Ἀλλὰ πάντα ταῦτα ἐννοῶν, καὶ ὑπὸ 64.580 πάντων δακνόμενος, ἐπὶ τούτους ἧκε τοὺς λόγους τρόπον τινὰ τοῖς φίλοις ἀπολογούμενος· ὡς ἐθέλοι μὲν διαλέγεσθαι, οὐ δύναται δὲ τῷ πλήθει τῶν δεινῶν βαρυνόμενος. Τί δὲ λέγει; Ἡ νὺξ ἐκείνη εἴη σκότος, τουτέστιν, ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ εἴη μὴ μνημονευομένη, μηδ' ἀντιποιήσαιτο αὐτῆς ὁ Κύριος, μηδὲ γένοιτο ἐν καταλόγῳ νυκτῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐ περὶ ὑφεστώσης φύσεως διελέγετο, ἤ τινος ζώου, θάνατον, ἢ φθορὰν οὐκ ἐπηύξατο, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐναντίου τῆς ἡμέρας παράτασιν ἔχειν· οἱονεὶ μεσολαβηθεῖσα ἡ ἡμέρα, ἑκατέραις ταῖς νυξὶ τῇ παρατάσει τοῦ σκότους, εἰς λήθην ἔλθοι τοῖς ἀριθμεῖν βουλομένοις. «∆ιατί γὰρ ἐν κοιλίᾳ οὐκ ἐτελεύτησα; ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ ἐξῆλθον, καὶ οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀπωλόμην;» Ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ Χριστὸς εἰπών· Καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐδήλωσεν, ἢ ὅτι δεινὰ αὐτὸν ἀναμένει καὶ χαλεπά· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Ἰὼβ λέγων· Εἴθε μὴ ἐγεννήθην, ἢ γεννηθεὶς εὐθὺς ἀπωλόμην, ὡς σύνδρομον εἶναι τῇ γεννήσει τὸν θάνατον, οὐ τῆς δημιουργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ κατατρέχει, ἀλλὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς παρίστησιν. Ὅρα δὲ τὴν εὐλάβειαν, ὡς ἅπαντα τὸν θυμὸν εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκχέει, οὐ τολμῶν ὑπερβῆναι τοῦτον τὸν ὅρον, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ταῦτα λέγων, ἡ ἡμέρα, καὶ ἡ νύξ· ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι, Τέως τῶν παρόντων οὐκ ἐπειρώμην κακῶν, κἂν μὴ μισθὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐκομιζόμην. «Νῦν ἂν κοιμηθεὶς ἡσύχασα, ὑπνώσας δὲ ἀνεπαυσάμην.» Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ καὶ τοὺς φίλους καταστέλλειν, καὶ πείθειν, μὴ μέγα τι νομίζειν εἶναι τὰ ἀνθρώπινα. Ὅρα οὖν καὶ ἐν τῇ συμφορᾷ τῆς φιλοσοφίας ῥήματα. «Ἐκεῖ ἀσεβεῖς ἐξέκαυσαν θυμὸν ὀργῆς,