40

you struck me. 10,9a Remember that you formed me from clay, 9b and to dust you will return me again. “So because of the lowliness of my nature, and because I am lowly by nature and because such an end will receive me, was the punishment for these things not enough for me?” 10,10a Have you not poured me out like milk, 10b and curdled me like cheese? 10,11a You have clothed me with skin and flesh, 11b and with bones and sinews you have woven me together, 10,12a You have granted me life and mercy. 101 That is to say: “You who showed such loving-kindness, such wisdom and providence, do you now neglect me?” For through this he speaks little by little of the constitution of man, so that he may show that “having made me from nothing with such providence and wisdom, do you now neglect me?” He shows that man is nothing. 10,12b and your visitation has preserved my spirit. Nature was not sufficient in itself, but it needs much providence concerning us. “Throughout my entire life,” he says, “I have enjoyed your providence.” 10,13a Having these things in myself, I know that you can do all things; 13b and nothing is impossible for you. Do you see that what is known of God is manifest in them, that our creation was sufficient even now to show me what God is, and his power, not only the heavens? For to make such a thing from seed and to sustain it and not to let it fall into dangers is sufficient to show God’s strength, his power, and to preserve a sinner and not punish, and to punish and chastise one who is righteous. 10,14a For if I sin, he says, you will watch me, 14b but from iniquity you will not leave me guiltless. For so that you might not think that watching is salvation, “being condemned,” he says, “you are able to watch.” 10,15a For if I am wicked, woe is me, 15b and if I am righteous, I will not be able to lift up my head. 15c For I am full of dishonor. “My righteousness is not sufficient for my salvation,” he says. 102 10,16a But I am hunted like a lion for slaughter, 16b and turning again you destroy me terribly, 10,17a renewing upon me my accusation. 17b You have used great wrath against me 17c and you have brought temptations upon me. 10,18a Why then did you bring me out of the womb and I did not die immediately, 18b and no eye saw me, 10,19a and I became as if I had not been? 19b And why did I not go from the womb to the tomb? 10,20a Is not the time of my life short? 20b Let me rest a little, 10,21a before I go to a land from which I will not return, 21b to a dark and gloomy land, 10,22a to a land of everlasting darkness, where there is no light 22b nor sight of the life of mortals. But I am hunted, he says, like a lion for slaughter, that is to say: “being held, I do not know.” Then again he recounts his own misfortune, how it is great and strange, and the shortness of life and that after these things there is no hope; for in this way it becomes great.

11,1 THEN ZOPHAR THE MINAEAN ANSWERED AND SAID; 11,2a He who says many things will also

hear a reply? Behold, this one also accuses him of nonsense. For that one says: a wordy spirit of your mouth, but this one: He who says many things will also hear a reply? 11,2b And does the talkative man think he is righteous? “For is it because you are able to speak,” he says, “that you are already righteous?” Then he speaks of nature: 11,2c Blessed is the one born of a woman, short-lived. “Because you are the son of a woman,” he says, “how then are you righteous?” 11,3a Do not be profuse in words. “Do not speak much,” he says. 103 11,3b Or is there no one to answer you? Or he says this: “For is there not one to answer you?”, that is to say: “we,” or “there is no one who knows your evils except God, who, if he wished to convict you, you would already have perished.” See how, though Job nowhere says that he suffers unjustly and has no sins, they bring this charge against him. 11,4a For do not say, I am pure in my works 4b and blameless before him. How so? And yet he himself said: “Of a truth I know that no mortal is pure before the Lord.” Do you see how they bring contradictory accusations? 11,5a But oh that the Lord would speak to you? 5b and open his lips with you; 11,6a Then he would announce to you the power of wisdom, 6b that it will be double what concerns you. 6c And then you will know that what has befallen you from the Lord is worthy of your sins. “But if it were

40

με ἔπαισας. 10,9a μνήσθητι, ὅτι πηλόν με ἔπλασας, 9b εἰς δὲ γῆν με πάλιν ἀποστρέφεις. «ὥστε διὰ τὸ εὐτελὲς τῆς φύσεως, καὶ ὅτι εὐτελής εἰμι κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ὅτι τέλος τοιοῦτον δέξεταί με, οὐκ ἤρκει μοι ἡ τιμωρία ἡ κατὰ ταῦτα;» 10,10a οὐχ ὥσπερ γάλα με ἤμελξας, 10b ἔπηξας δέ με ἴσα τυρῷ; 10,11a δέρμα καὶ κρέας ἐνέδυσάς με, 11b ὀστέοις δὲ καὶ νεύροις ἐνεῖράς με, 10,12a ζωὴν δὲ καὶ ἔλεος ἔθου παρ' ἐμοί. 101 τουτέστιν· «ὁ τοσαύτην φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιδειξάμενος, τοσαύτην σοφίαν καὶ πρόνοιαν, περιορᾷς;» διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο κατὰ μικρὸν λέγει τὴν σύστασιν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι «ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ποιήσας τοσαύτην πρόνοιαν καὶ σοφίαν περιορᾷς;» δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄνθρωπος. 10,12b ἡ δὲ ἐπισκοπή σου ἐφύλαξέ μου τὸ πνεῦμα. οὐκ ἤρκει ἡ φύσις αὑτῇ, ἀλλὰ δεῖ πολλῆς τῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς προνοίας. «παρὰ πάντα», φησίν, «τὸν βίον προνοίας ἀπήλαυσα τῆς σῆς.» 10,13a ταῦτα ἔχων ἐν ἐμαυτῷ οἶδα, ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι· 13b ἀδυνατεῖ δέ σοι οὐδέν. ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ἤρκει ἡ κτίσις ἡμῶν καὶ ἤδη μοι δεῖξαι, τί ἐστιν ὁ θεός, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ὁ οὐρανὸς μόνος; τὸ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος ποιῆσαι τοιοῦτον καὶ διακρατῆσαι καὶ μὴ ἀφεῖναι κινδύνοις περιπεσεῖν ἱκανὸν τοῦ θεοῦ δεῖξαι τὴν ἰσχύν, τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ἁμαρτόντα τηρῆσαι καὶ μὴ κολάσαι, καὶ δίκαιον ὄντα κολάσαι καὶ τιμωρήσασθαι. 10,14a ἐάν τε γὰρ ἁμάρτω, φησίν, φυλάξεις με, 14b ἀπὸ δὲ ἀνομίας οὐκ ἀθῷόν με ἐάσεις. ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τὴν φυλακὴν νομίσῃς σωτηρίαν, «κατάδικον ὄντα», φησίν, «δύνασαι φυλάξαι.» 10,15a ἐάν τε γὰρ ἀσεβήσω, οἴμμοι, 15b ἐάν τε ὦ δίκαιος, οὐ δυνήσομαι ἀνακύψαι. 15c πλήρης γάρ εἰμι ἀτιμίας. «οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μοι πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἡ δικαιοσύνη», φησίν. 102 10,16a ἀγρεύομαι δὲ ὥσπερ λέων εἰς σφαγήν, 16b καὶ πάλιν μεταβαλὼν δεινῶς με ὀλέκεις 10,17a ἐπανακαινίζων ἐπ' ἐμὲ τὴν αἰτίαν μου. 17b ὀργῇ δὲ μεγάλῃ μοι ἐχρήσω 17c καὶ ἐπήγαγες ἐπ' ἐμὲ πειρατήρια. 10,18a ἵνα τί οὖν ἐκ κοιλίας με ἐξήγαγες καὶ οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀπέθανον, 18b ὀφθαλμὸς δέ με οὐκ εἶδεν, 10,19a καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ὢν ἐγενόμην; 19b διὰ τί δὲ ἐκ γαστρὸς εἰς μνῆμα οὐκ ἀπῆλθον; 10,20a ἢ οὐκ ὀλίγος ἐστὶν ὁ χρόνος τοῦ βίου μου; 20b ἔασον δή με ἀναπαύσασθαι μικρὸν 10,21a πρὸ τοῦ με πορευθῆναι εἰς γῆν, ὅθεν οὐκ ἀναστρέφω, 21b εἰς γῆν σκοτεινὴν καὶ γνοφεράν, 10,22a εἰς γῆν σκότους αἰωνίου, οὗ οὐκ ἔστι φέγγος 22b οὐδὲ ὁρᾶν ζωὴν βροτῶν. ἀγρεύομαι δὲ, φησίν, ὥσπερ λέων εἰς σφαγήν, τουτέστιν· «κατεχόμενος οὐκ οἶδα.» εἶτα πάλιν τὴν συμφορὰν διηγεῖται τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, ὡς μεγάλη καὶ παράδοξος, καὶ τὸ ὀλιγοχρόνιον τοῦ βίου καὶ τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα μὴ εἶναι ἐλπίδα· ταύτῃ γὰρ γίνεται μεγάλη.

11,1 ΥΠΟΛΑΒΩΝ ∆Ε ΣΩΦΑΡ Ο ΜΙΝΑΙΟΣ ΛΕΓΕΙ· 11,2a ὁ τὰ πολλὰ λέγων καὶ

ἀντακούσεται; ἰδοὺ καὶ οὗτος φλυαρίαν αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖ. ἐκεῖνος μὲν γάρ φησιν· πνεῦμα πολυρῆμον τοῦ στόματός σου, οὗτος δέ· ὁ τὰ πολλὰ λέγων καὶ ἀντακούσεται; 11,2b καὶ ὁ εὔλαλος οἴεται δίκαιος εἶναι; «μὴ γάρ, ἐπειδὴ φθέγξασθαι δύνασαι», φησίν, «ἤδη καὶ δίκαιος εἶ;» εἶτα τὴν φύσιν φησίν· 11,2c εὐλογημένος γεννητὸς γυναικὸς ὀλιγόβιος. «ὅτι υἱὸς εἶ γυναικός», φησίν, «πῶς οὖν δίκαιος εἶ;» 11,3a μὴ πολὺς ἐν ῥήμασι γίνου. «μὴ πολλὰ φθέγγου», φησίν. 103 11,3b ἢ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενός σοι; ἢ τοῦτό φησιν· «μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενός σοι;», τουτέστιν· «ἡμεῖς», ἢ «οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ εἰδὼς τὰ σὰ κακὰ εἰ μὴ ὁ θεός, ὃς εἰ ἠθέλησέ σε ἐλέγξαι, ἤδη ἂν ἀπώλου». ὅρα, πῶς οὐδαμοῦ τοῦ Ἰὼβ λέγοντος, ὅτι ἀδίκως πάσχει καὶ οὐκ ἔχει ἁμαρτήματα, τοῦτο ἐπιφέρουσιν αὐτῷ. 11,4a μὴ γὰρ λέγε, ὅτι καθαρός εἰμι τοῖς ἔργοις 4b καὶ ἄμεμπτος ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ. πῶς; καὶ μὴν αὐτὸς εἶπεν· «ἐπ' ἀληθείας οἶδα, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι βροτὸς καθαρὸς ἐναντίον κυρίου». ὁρᾷς, πῶς ἐναντία ἐγκαλοῦσιν; 11,5a ἀλλὰ πῶς ἂν ὁ κύριος λαλήσαι πρὸς σέ; 5b καὶ ἀνοίξει χείλη αὐτοῦ μετὰ σοῦ· 11,6a εἶτα ἀναγγελεῖ σοι δύναμιν σοφίας, 6b ὅτι διπλοῦς ἔσται τῷ κατὰ σέ. 6c καὶ τότε γνώσῃ, ὅτι ἄξιά σοι ἀπέβη παρὰ κυρίου ὧν ἥμαρτες. «ἀλλ' εἰ ἦν