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those who have died do not vanish, awaiting the resurrection.

CHAPTER 15

"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: Will a wise man give for an answer a spirit of understanding, and has he filled his belly with pain, reproving with words which are not fitting, and with speeches in which there is no profit?" Since he had said, "I also have a heart as well as you;" and, "I am not less understanding than you;" from these words he immediately attacks him. For behold, he says, the wise man, who claims to know all things, what sort of answers he gives. And "he has filled his belly with pain," that is, His words are spoken for consolation, and are full of passion. He says these things to Job to shame him, accusing him of two things: first, that a wise man does not put forth wisdom for show; and second, "What you have spoken," as if reproving us, and as if suffering for the truth, and striking the belly of your mind (for this is what "He filled his belly with pain 64.617" signifies), "you have uttered in vain and unprofitably, and to no purpose;" neither of which a wise man does, but all the contrary, and he gives an intelligent answer; and even if, as a zealot, he is pained for the truth, and wishes to reprove some, he does not utter ineffective words, and those which he ought not, so as to fill up the pain of his belly, nor does he speak bitterly, so as to satisfy the pain and the burning of his own mind, which is what you have done. "You have been scourged for a few of your sins." Since Job had said, "What are my sins, teach me;" for this reason Eliphaz reproaches him with a multitude of sins, and says: Know that in comparison to your sins, you have been punished lightly, and you have not paid the penalty worthy of your offenses. Then, since he has no sin of Job to point out, he tries to judge him from his words, saying: "For the death of an impious man is a testimony." That is, A reproof, an accusation, a testimony to other men, that all ought to suffer thus. And it is no wonder, he says; for the end of all the impious is wretched, that is, their death is a proof of men's impiety, that is, their shameful end will show what they were. For as he considered prosperity a sign of righteousness, so too adversity, a mark of wickedness. Or, "the death of an impious man is a testimony," that is, clear, manifest, unknown to no one. But if you wish, understand it also this way, That the consummation of wickedness works death, not the common one, but that of punishment.

CHAPTER 16

"But now he has made me weary, a fool, rotten." Olympiodorus and Chrysostom. It is not enough, he says, that I am punished, but I also seem to be foolish; for the punishment has mangled me, and cut me down, and made me rot, so that I seem to have nearly lost even my natural wits. Or perhaps he means this, that God has allowed my friends to suppose concerning me that I am insensible in my misfortunes; for here he said "fool" instead of "insensible;" wherefore he connected with it the word "rotten," because rotten limbs are deprived of sensation. "May my supplication come to the Lord, and before him may my eye drop tears." He is all but saying: May God hear these things, may God see these things, and having assented to my supplications, and taken pity on me as I weep, may he bear to judge for me that I have suffered 64.620 evil. But this also came to pass for you, O famous one; for the great Judge of the contest was watching your struggles, and he heard your supplication, he looked upon your precious

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τελευτήσαντες οὐκ ἐξαφανίζονται, περιμένοντες τὴν ἀνάστασιν.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΕʹ

«Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ἐλιφὰζ ὁ Θαιμανίτης λέγει· Πότερον σοφὸς ἀπόκρισιν δώσει συνέσεως πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐνέπλησε πόνον γαστρὸς, ἐλέγχων ἐν ῥήμασιν οἷς οὐ δεῖ, καὶ ἐν λόγοις οἷς οὐδὲν ὄφελος;» Ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν, ὅτι Κἀμοὶ καρδία καθ' ὑμᾶς ἐστι· καί· Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀσυνετώτερος ὑμῶν· ἀπὸ τούτων εὐθέως αὐτὸν βάλλει. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ σοφὸς, καὶ λέγων πάντα εἰδέναι, οἷα ἀποκρίνεται. Ἐνέπλησε δὲ πόνον γαστρὸς, τουτέστι, Πρὸς παραμυθίαν αὐτῷ τὰ ῥήματα εἴρηται, καὶ πάθους γέμει. Ἐντρεπτικῶς δὲ ταῦτα λέγει πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ, δύο κατηγορῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι μάλιστα μὲν ὁ σοφὸς οὐκ ἐπιδεικτικῶς προφέρει τὴν σοφίαν· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ Ἃ ἐλάλησας, ὡς ἐλέγχων ἡμᾶς, καὶ ὡς δῆθεν πάσχων ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τὴν τοῦ νοῦ γαστέρα πλησσόμενος (τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ· Ἐνέπλησε πόνον 64.617 γαστρὸς), ματαίως ἐφθέγξω καὶ ἀνωφελῶς, καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν δέον· ὧν οὐδέτερον ὁ σοφὸς ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἅπαν, καὶ ἀπόκρισιν δίδωσι συνετήν· κἂν ὡς ζηλωτὴς περιαλγήσῃ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς, καὶ ἐξελέγχειν τινὰς βούληται, οὐ προφέρει λόγους ἀνηνύτους, καὶ οὓς οὐ δεῖ, ὥστε ἐκπλῆσαι πόνον γαστρὸς, οὐδὲ πικρῶς διαλέγεται, ὥστε ἐκπλῆσαι τὸν πόνον καὶ τὸν καύσωνα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας, ὅπερ σὺ πεποίηκας. «Ὀλίγα ὧν ἡμάρτηκας μεμαστίγωσαι.» Ἐπειδὴ ὁ Ἰὼβ εἶπε· Τίνες εἰσὶν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι μου, δίδαξόν με· τούτου χάριν πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῷ ὀνειδίζει ὁ Ἐλιφὰζ, καί φησιν· Ἴσθι ὡς πρὸς σύγκρισιν τῶν σῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἐλαφρῶς ἐτιμωρήθης, καὶ οὐκ ἀνταξίαν τῶν πλημμελημάτων δέδωκας τὴν δίκην. Εἶτα ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἔχει δεικνύναι τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἁμάρτημα, ἐκ τῶν λόγων αὐτὸν πειρᾶται κρίνειν, λέγων· «Μαρτύριον γὰρ ἀσεβοῦς θάνατος.» Τουτέστιν, Ἔλεγχος, κατηγορία, μαρτύριον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις, ὅτι οὕτως δεῖ παθεῖν πάντας. Καὶ θαυμαστὸν, φησὶν, οὐδέν· οἰκτρὸν γὰρ ἁπάντων τῶν ἀσεβῶν τὸ τέλος, τουτέστι, δεῖγμα τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσεβείας ὁ αὐτῶν θάνατος, τουτέστι, τὸ αἰσχρὸν τέλος δείξει τὰ κατ' αὐτούς. Ὡς γὰρ τὴν εὐημερίαν σημεῖον δικαιοσύνης ἐτίθετο, οὕτω καὶ τὴν δυσπραγίαν, φαυλότητος γνώρισμα. Ἢ μαρτύριον ἀσεβοῦς θάνατος, τουτέστι, δῆλος, καταφανὴς, οὐδενὶ ἄγνωστος. Εἰ δὲ βούλει, καὶ ὧδε νόησον, Ὅτι ἡ τῆς κακίας τελεσιουργία θάνατον ἀπεργάζεται, οὐ τὸν κοινὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῆς κολάσεως.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΣΤʹ

«Νῦν δὲ κατάκοπόν με πεποίηκε, μωρὸν, σεσηπότα.» Ὀλυμπ. καὶ Χρυσοστ. Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ, φησὶν, ὅτι κολάζομαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνόητος εἶναι δοκῶ· ἡ γὰρ τιμωρία κατέσκυλέ με, καὶ κατέκοψέ με, καὶ κατέσηψεν, ὡς μικροῦ δοκεῖν καὶ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐκστῆναι φρενῶν. Ἢ τάχα κἀκεῖνο λέγει, ὅτι συνεχώρησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς φίλους περὶ ἐμοῦ ὑπολαμβάνειν, ὅτι ἀνάλγητός εἰμι ἐν ταῖς συμφοραῖς· μωρὸν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα, ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἀναίσθητον, εἶπε· διὸ συνῆψε τούτῳ, τὸ, σεσηπότα, διὰ τὸ τὰ σεσημμένα τῶν μελῶν ἀφῃρῆσθαι τὴν αἴσθησιν. «Ἀφίκοιτό μου ἡ δέησις πρὸς Κύριον, ἔναντι δὲ αὐτοῦ στάζοι μου ὁ ὀφθαλμός.» Μονονουχὶ λέγει· Ἀκούσοι ταῦτα ὁ Θεὸς, ἴδοι ταῦτα ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπινεύσας τέ μου ταῖς ἱκεσίαις, καὶ δακρύοντα κατελεήσας, ἀνάσχοιτό μοι δικάσαι πεπον 64.620 θότι κακῶς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτό σοι πρὸς ἔργον ἐξέβη, ἀοίδιμε· ἐθεώρει γάρ σου τὰ παλαίσματα ὁ μέγας ἀγωνοθέτης, καὶ ἐπήκουσέ σου τῆς ἱκεσίας, ἐπεῖδέ σου τὰ τίμια