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Not only against the insults of men but also against the plots of nature did he set his care, correcting her failings by the excess of his own alliance. For since he was not able to restore their limbs, eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, he became limbs for them, and through him both those who were maimed in their eyes and those whose legs were cut off, the one group saw, and the other walked. What could be equal to this philanthropy of his? You know his other virtues too, lest by listing everything I make the discourse long: his gentleness, his meekness, his prudence, his exactness; how, though being severe to wrongdoers—for this is the wondrous thing—he was approachable and mild and sweeter than honey itself both to all others and to his own servants, who, bearing a great proof of the love they bore him, used to say: “Who will give us to be filled with his flesh?” But if he was so longed for by his servants, so beloved by those to whom it is often necessary to be fearsome, how much more so by all other people. 10.7 Having therefore gathered these things and more than these within yourself, come, walk with me to the catalogue of his sufferings, and let us see by comparing when he was more glorious: when he was performing those good deeds or when he was suffering painful things that caused him great despondency? When, then, was Job more glorious? When he opened his house to all who passed by, or when, after it had collapsed, he uttered no bitter word, but blessed God? And yet the one was a good deed, but the other a suffering. When was he more resplendent, tell me, when he offered sacrifices for his children and brought them together in harmony, or when, after they were buried and ended their lives in the most bitter manner, he bore what had happened with great philosophy? When did he shine forth more, when the shoulders of the naked were warmed from the shearing of his lambs, or when, on hearing that fire had fallen from heaven and consumed the flock with the shepherds, he was not disturbed, nor was he troubled, but bore the calamity meekly? When was he greater, when he used the health of his body for the protection of the wronged, crushing the jawbones of the unjust and snatching prey from between their teeth and becoming a harbor for them, or when he saw his body, the weapon of the wronged, being eaten by worms and, sitting on the dunghill, he himself scraped it, having taken a potsherd? “For I melt clods of earth by scraping off the discharge,” he says. And yet all those were good deeds, while all these were sufferings; but nevertheless these made him more glorious than those. For this was the most bitter part of the battle-line, requiring greater courage and a more vigorous soul and a more philosophical mind and one having a greater love for God. For this very reason, while those things were happening, although shamelessly and very rashly, nevertheless the devil objected: “Does Job revere God for nothing?” But when these things had happened, having covered his face he withdrew, turning his back, not even having the shadow of any shameless objection to put forward. For this is the summit of the crown, this is the consummation of virtue, this is the clear proof of courage, this is the most exact intensification of philosophy. And this blessed Job himself, showing how much more grievous is the tyranny of despondency than death, called it rest: “For death,” he says, “is rest for a man,” and he asks for it as a favor, so as to be delivered from that, saying: “Oh that my request might come, and that God would grant my hope. May the Lord, having begun, wound me, and utterly destroy me. And let my city be a tomb upon whose walls I have leaped upon it.” So is despondency heavier than all things; but the heavier it is, the greater are the rewards it has.

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Οὐκ ἀνθρώπων δὲ μόνον ἐπηρείαις ἀλλὰ καὶ φύσεως ἐπιβουλαῖς ἀντέστησεν αὐτοῦ τὴν κηδεμονίαν, τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῆς τῇ τῆς οἰκείας συμμαχίας ὑπερβολῇ διορθούμενος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ μέλη αὐτοῖς ἀποδοῦναι οὐκ εἶχε, τοῖς πηροῖς τὰ ὄμματα, τοῖς χωλοῖς τοὺς πόδας, ἀντὶ τῶν μελῶν αὐτοῖς ἐγίνετο καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς πεπηρωμένοι καὶ οἱ τὰ σκέλη ἐκκεκομμένοι, οἱ μὲν ἔβλεπον, οἱ δὲ ἐβάδιζον. Τί ταύτης ἴσον γένοιτ' ἂν αὐτοῦ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας; Οἶσθα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετάς, ἵνα μὴ πάντα καταλέγων μακρὸν ποιήσω τὸν λόγον, τὴν ἐπιείκειαν, τὴν πρᾳότητα, τὴν σωφροσύνην, τὴν ἀκρίβειαν, πῶς σφοδρὸς ὢν τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι-τὸ γὰρ δὴ θαυμαστὸν τοῦτό ἐστι-προσηνὴς καὶ ἥμερος ἦν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ μέλιτος ἡδίων τοῖς τε ἄλλοις ἅπασι καὶ τοῖς οἰκέταις τοῖς αὐτοῦ, οἳ τοῦ ἔρωτος ὃν ἤρων ἐκείνου μέγα ἐκφέροντες δεῖγμα ἔλεγον· «Τίς ἂν δῴη ἡμῖν τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ ἐμπλησθῆναι;» Εἰ δὲ οἰκέταις οὕτω ποθεινὸς ἦν, οὕτως ἐπέραστος οἷς ἀνάγκη πολλάκις καὶ φοβερὸν εἶναι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις. 10.7 Ταῦτα δὴ οὖν καὶ τὰ τούτων πλείονα παρ' ἑαυτῇ συλλέξασα, δεῦρο βάδιζε μετ' ἐμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ κατάλογον καὶ ἴδωμεν συγκρίναντες πότε λαμπρότερος ἦν, ὅτε ἐκεῖνα κατώρθου ἢ ὅτε ἔπασχε τὰ ὀδυνηρὰ καὶ πολλὴν ἐντιθέντα αὐτῷ τὴν ἀθυμίαν; Πότε οὖν λαμπρότερος ἦν ὁ Ἰώβ; ὅτε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ πᾶσι τοῖς παριοῦσιν ἀνέῳξεν ἢ ὅτε κατενεχθείσης αὐτῆς οὐδὲν ἐφθέγξατο ῥῆμα πικρόν, ἀλλ' εὐφήμησε τὸν Θεόν; Καίτοι τὸ μὲν κατόρθωμα ἦν, τὸ δὲ πάθημα. Πότε φαιδρότερος ἦν, εἰπέ μοι, ὅτε ἔθυεν ὑπὲρ τῶν παίδων καὶ πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν αὐτοὺς συνῆγεν ἢ ὅτε καταχωσθέντων καὶ τῷ πικροτάτῳ τρόπῳ τῆς τελευτῆς καταλυσάντων τὸν βίον, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἤνεγκε τὸ συμβάν; Πότε μᾶλλον ἐξέλαμψεν, ὅτε ἀπὸ τῆς κουρᾶς τῶν ἀρνῶν αὐτοῦ ἐθερμάνθησαν τῶν γυμνῶν οἱ ὦμοι ἢ ὅτε ἀκούσας ὅτι πῦρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσε καὶ κατέφαγε τὴν ἀγέλην μετὰ τῶν ποιμένων, οὐ διεταράχθη, οὐδὲ ἐθορυβήθη, ἀλλὰ πρᾴως ἤνεγκε τὴν συμφοράν; Πότε μείζων ἦν, ὅτε τῇ ὑγιείᾳ τοῦ σώματος εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀδικουμένων προστασίαν ἐκέχρητο συντρίβων μύλας ἀδίκων καὶ ἐκ μέσου ὀδόντων αὐτῶν ἐξαρπάζων ἁπράγματα καὶ λιμὴν αὐτοῖς γινόμενος ἢ ὅτε τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, τὸ τῶν ἀδικουμένων ὅπλον, ἑώρα κατεσθιόμενον ὑπὸ σκωλήκων καὶ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτὸ κατέξαινε λαβὼν ὄστρακον; «Τήκω γὰρ βώλακας γῆς ἀπὸ ἰχῶρος ξέων», φησί. Καίτοι ἐκεῖνα μὲν πάντα κατορθώματα, ταῦτα δὲ πάντα παθήματα ἦν· ἀλλ' ὅμως ταῦτα αὐτὸν ἐκείνων λαμπρότερον ἀπέφηνε. Τοῦτο γὰρ μάλιστα τὸ πικρότατον τῆς παρατάξεως μέρος ἦν καὶ μείζονος δεόμενον τῆς ἀνδρείας καὶ εὐτονωτέρας ψυχῆς καὶ φιλοσοφωτέρας διανοίας καὶ πλείονα περὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἐχούσης ἀγάπην. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο, ἐκείνων μὲν γινομένων, εἰ καὶ ἀναισχύντως καὶ σφόδρα ἰταμῶς, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀντεῖπεν ὁ διάβολος· «Μὴ δωρεὰν σέβεται Ἰὼβ τὸν Θεόν;» Τούτων δὲ συμβάντων, ἐγκαλυψάμενος ἀνεχώρησε νῶτα δοὺς καὶ οὐδὲ ἀναισχύντου τινὸς ἀντιλογίας σκιὰν γοῦν ἔχων προβαλέσθαι. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ κολοφὼν τοῦ στεφάνου, τοῦτο ἡ κορωνὶς τῆς ἀρετῆς, τοῦτο ἡ σαφὴς τῆς ἀνδρείας ἀπόδειξις, τοῦτο ἡ ἀκριβεστάτη τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἐπίτασις. ∆ηλῶν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ μακάριος Ἰὼβ ὅσον χαλεπώτερον τυραννὶς ἀθυμίας θανάτου ἀνάπαυσιν αὐτὸν ἐκάλει· «Θάνατος γάρ, φησίν, ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυσις», καὶ ἐν χάριτος αὐτὸν αἰτεῖται μέρει ὥστε ἐκείνης ἀπαλλαγῆναι λέγων· «Εἰ δῴη καὶ ἔλθῃ μου ἡ αἴτησις καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα μου δῴη ὁ Θεός. Ἀρξάμενος ὁ Κύριος τρωσάτω με καὶ εἰς τέλος με ἀνελέτω. Εἴη δὲ ἡ πόλις μου τάφος ἐφ' ἧς ἐπὶ τειχῶν ἡλλόμην ἐπ' αὐτῆς.» Οὕτω πάντων βαρύτερον ἀθυμία· ὅσῳ δὲ βαρύτερον, τοσούτῳ καὶ μείζους ἔχει τὰς ἀντιδόσεις.