28

and he advises the just man to supplicate God, and he attempts to persuade him through natural examples, that punishments are always brought on account of sin. And he himself has suffered the same error as Eliphaz, having himself also undertaken the supposed advocacy on behalf of God. Either, then, he mentioned the children for this reason, or, having no manifest sin to speak of against Job, he transferred the blame to the children; however, he did not leave him guiltless either, attempting to show that punishments follow not the pious but the unjust. 83 The readings 8, 2-3 How long will you speak these things? A verbose wind from your mouth. Will the Lord do wrong in judging, or will he who made all things pervert justice? He blames Job as one who has spoken nonsense and thinks to silence him by the just judgment of God. For not even he who made all things, he says, in an orderly and harmonious way, has on your account alone disturbed the equality of justice. Gently, then, he strikes him as one who endures according to what is just and on account of sin. 8, 4 If your sons have sinned before him, he has delivered them into the hand of their iniquity. For if your children, he says, have sinned, were they not justly punished? And he said "before him" because nothing escapes God's notice. And "in the hand": in the deed, so that he might say that they received according to their own deeds. 8, 5-7 But you, rise early to pray to the Lord Almighty. If you are pure and true, he will hearken to your prayer. And he will restore to you a dwelling of righteousness; so your first state will be little, but your last state will be immense. I advise you, therefore, he says, to pray to God with earnestness, making supplication more important than anything else; for "rise early" indicates this. And if you are truly genuine and not counterfeit, he will restore to you a life and conduct befitting a just man, so that you will fare so well that your former goods will be considered few. But understand how Bildad thinks that for the 84 just the enjoyment of the goods in this life lies in the category of a blessing. 84 8, 8-9 For inquire of the former generation, and search out the generation of the fathers; for we are of yesterday and know nothing; for our life upon earth is a shadow. For seek, he says, the things of old and search out the things of the fathers; for we were born yesterday and the day before, and our whole life runs by like a shadow, and on account of the shortness of life we are not able to know many things. 8, 10 Will not these teach you and declare to you, and bring forth words from their heart? The fathers, he says, will teach you both through what they did and through what they said. And what does he say, that the fathers will teach you? It is clear: that punishments are because of sins, and that it is not possible for the prosperity of the unjust to prevail. 8, 11-12 Does a papyrus flourish without water, or will a rush grow high without drink? While it is still on its root and not harvested, every plant will wither before it can drink. Just as, he says, it is not possible for a papyrus or a rush to grow or be harvested without having enjoyed the moisture of water, but also every plant, not being irrigated, withers, so without piety it is impossible for a man's prosperity to endure. For which reason he also adds: 85 8, 13-14 So then shall be the end of all who forget the Lord; for the hope of the impious shall perish. For his house shall be uninhabited, and his tent shall become a spider's web. In the same way, therefore, the prosperity of the impious does not endure to the end, but like a spider's web it is dissolved, all his good fortune disappearing. And traces, the goings, the ways he says, so that he might say, that he perishes with his whole household; for this is what "his house uninhabited" signifies. 8, 15 If he should prop up his house, it will not stand; and if he should take hold of it, it will not endure. For if he should seem to act as securely as possible and to arrange his affairs firmly, and God should take hold of him—that is, seize him with a blow—he will not endure. 8, 16 For he is moist under the sun, and from his rottenness his branch will come forth. For just as a papyrus, he says, and a rush, even if they have moisture of water, when a solar heat wave falls upon them, are dried up and their offshoots rot—for this is what he says: "from his rottenness his branch will come forth," so

28

καὶ παραινεῖ μὲν τῷ δικαίῳ θεὸν ἱκετεύειν, πειρᾶται δὲ διὰ φυσικῶν παραδειγμάτων αὐτὸν πείθειν, ὡς δι' ἁμαρτίας πάντως αἱ κολάσεις ἐπιφέρονται. πέπονθε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ὁμοίαν πλάνην τῷ Ἐλιφάζ, τὴν ὑπὲρ θεοῦ δῆθεν καὶ αὐτὸς συνηγορίαν ἀναδεξάμενος. ἢ οὖν διὰ τοῦτο τῶν παίδων ἐμνήσθη, ἢ ὡς μηδὲν ἔχων φανερὸν ἁμάρτημα λέγειν κατὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐπὶ τοὺς παῖδας τὴν αἰτίαν μετήγαγεν· πλὴν οὐδὲ αὐτὸν ἀθῷον ἀφῆκεν πειρώμενος δεικνύναι, μὴ τοῖς εὐσεβέσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀδίκοις τὰς κολάσεις ἀκολουθεῖν. 83 Αἱ λέξεισ 8, 23 μέχρι τίνος λαλήσεις ταῦτα; πνεῦμα πολυρρῆμον τοῦ στόματός σου. μὴ ὁ κύριος ἀδικήσει κρίνων, ἢ ὁ τὰ πάντα ποιήσας ταράξει τὸ δίκαιον; ὡς φλυαρήσαντα μέμφεται τὸν Ἰὼβ καὶ οἴεται αὐτὸν ἐπιστομίζειν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοκρισίας. οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ τὰ πάντα, φησίν, ποιήσας εὐκόσμως καὶ ἐναρμονίως ἐπὶ σοῦ μόνου τὴν τοῦ δικαίου διετάραξεν ἰσότητα. ἠρέμα οὖν αὐτὸν πλήττει ὡς κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὑπομένοντα. 8, 4 εἰ οἱ υἱοί σου ἥμαρτον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ἀπέστειλεν ἐν χειρὶ ἀνομίας αὐτῶν. εἰ γὰρ τὰ τέκνα σου, φησίν, ἥμαρτον, οὐ δικαίως ἐτιμωρήθησαν; τὸ δὲ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν λανθάνειν τὸν θεὸν εἶπεν. ἐν χειρὶ δέ· ἐν τῇ πράξει, ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι κατὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν πράξεις ἀπέλαβον. 8, 57 σὺ δὲ ὄρθριζε πρὸς κύριον παντοκράτορα δεόμενος. εἰ καθαρὸς εἶ καὶ ἀληθινός, δεήσεως ὑπακούσεταί σου. ἀποκαταστήσει δέ σοι δίαιταν δικαιοσύνης· ἔσται οὖν τὰ μὲν πρῶτά σου ὀλίγα, τὰ δὲ ἔσχατά σου ἀμύθητα. συμβουλεύω σοι τοίνυν, φησίν, δέεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ σπουδῆς, παντὸς προτιμοτέραν τὴν ἱκεσίαν ποιούμενον· τὸ γὰρ ὄρθριζε τοῦτο δηλοῖ. καὶ εἰ ὄντως ἀληθινὸς εἶ καὶ οὐκ ἐπίπλαστος, ἀποκαταστήσει σοι βίον καὶ διαγωγὴν πρέπουσαν δικαίῳ, ἵνα οὕτως εὖ πράξῃς, ὡς ὀλίγα σου νομισθῆναι τὰ πρότερον ἀγαθά. κατανόει δέ, ὡς οἴεται ὁ Βαλδὰδ ἐν μέρει εὐλογίας κεῖσθαι τοῖς 84 δικαίοις τῶν ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. 84 8, 89 ἐπερώτησον γὰρ γενεὰν πρώτην, ἐξιχνίασον δὲ κατὰ γένος πατέρων· χθιζοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν· σκιὰ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. ζήτησον γάρ, φησίν, τὰ παλαιότερα καὶ ἀνερεύνησον τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν πατέρων· ἡμεῖς γὰρ χθὲς καὶ πρώην γεγόναμεν, καὶ ὅλος ἡμῶν ὁ βίος ὡς σκιὰ παρατρέχει, καὶ διὰ τὸ τοῦ βίου ὀλιγοχρόνιον οὐδὲ τὰ πολλὰ γνῶναι δυνάμεθα. 8, 10 ἦ οὐχ οὗτοί σε διδάξουσι καὶ ἀναγγελοῦσι καὶ ἐκ καρδίας ἐξάξουσι ῥήματα; οἱ πατέρες, φησίν, σὲ διδάξουσι καὶ δι' ὧν ἔπραξαν καὶ δι' ὧν ἐλάλησαν. τί δὲ λέγει, ὅτι διδάξουσί σε οἱ πατέρες; εὔδηλον, ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αἱ τιμωρίαι, καὶ ὅτι οὐ δυνατὸν εὐθηνίαν ἀδίκων κρατύνεσθαι. 8, 1112 μὴ θάλλει πάπυρος ἄνευ ὕδατος ἢ ὑψωθήσεται βούτομον ἄνευ πότου; ἔτι ὂν ἐπὶ ῥίζης καὶ οὐ μὴ θερισθῇ, πρὸ τοῦ πιεῖν πᾶσα βοτάνη ξηρανθήσεται. ὥσπερ, φησίν, οὐκ ἐνδέχεται πάπυρον ἢ βούτομον αὔξεσθαι ἢ θερίζεσθαι τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος ἰκμάδος μὴ ἀπολαύσαντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα βοτάνη μὴ ἀρδευομένη ξηραίνεται, οὕτως ἄνευ εὐσεβείας ἀμήχανον ἀνθρώπῳ εὐθηνίαν διαμεῖναι. διὸ καὶ ἐπάγει· 85 8, 1314 οὕτω τοίνυν ἔσται τὰ ἔσχατα πάντων τῶν ἐπιλανθανομένων τοῦ κυρίου· ἐλπὶς γὰρ ἀσεβοῦς ἀπολεῖται. ἀοίκητος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἔσται ὁ οἶκος, ἀράχνη δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποβήσεται ἡ σκηνή. τὸν αὐτὸν τοιγαροῦν τρόπον οὐ μέχρι τέλους ἡ τῶν ἀσεβῶν εὐημερία διαμένει, ἀλλὰ δίκην ἀράχνης διαλύεται πάσης αὐτοῦ τῆς εὐπραγίας ἀφανιζομένης. ἴχνη δὲ τὰς πορείας, τὰς ὁδούς φησιν, ἵνα εἴπη, ὅτι πανέστιος ἀπόλλυται· τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ἀοίκητος αὐτοῦ ὁ οἶκος. 8, 15 ἐὰν ὑπερείσῃ τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ, οὐ μὴ στῇ· ἐπιλαβομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ ὑπομείνῃ. ἐὰν γὰρ ὡς οἷόν τε ἀσφαλῶς δόξῃ πράττειν καὶ ἑδραίως τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν διατίθεσθαι, ἐπιλάβηται δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεόςἀντὶ τοῦ· πληκτικῶς αὐτοῦ περιδράξηται, οὐ μὴ ὑπομείνῃ. 8, 16 ὑγρὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὑπὸ ἡλίου καὶ ἐκ σαπρίας αὐτοῦ ὁ ῥάδαμνος αὐτοῦ ἐξελεύσεται. ὡς γὰρ πάπυρος, φησίν, καὶ βούτομον, κἂν ἰκμάδα ἔχωσιν ὕδατος, ἡλιακοῦ καύσωνος ἐπιπεσόντος ἀποξηραίνονται καὶ αἱ παραφυάδες αὐτῶν σήπονταιτοῦτο γάρ φησι τὸ ἐκ σαπρίας αὐτοῦ ὁ ῥάδαμνος αὐτοῦ ἐξελεύσεται, οὕτω