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"Now they admonish me in turn, whose fathers I scorned; whom I did not consider worthy of my shepherd dogs." But did he say 'scorned'? Not using scorning arrogantly, but clearly knowing them to be wicked; according to the saying: The wicked one is scorned before him; for he considered such men as nothing. And as for: 'They admonish me in turn,' in my opinion, it is not that they were laying down a portion of a good deed, but because he used to admonish others, and now they admonish him; for this reason it is so stated; and as for them not being worthy of dogs, not that they are worse even than this barking animal, but that he judged them not even worthy of tending dogs. For 'I did not consider them worthy,' he says, 'of leading the dogs of my flock.' He therefore rejected their admonition, as they possessed no claim to respect either from age, or from virtue. For they admonished, he says; who? whom? the younger, the one above them; the base, the one who was not so; the insignificant and obscure, the one once brilliant and distinguished. And in what follows and comes next, he also alludes to their weakness, saying: "But I wept for every powerless man; I groaned when I saw a man in distress. But I, waiting for good things, behold, days of evil met me instead." And yet, being wealthy, I did nothing of the sort, I did not rejoice in the misfortunes of others, which I am suffering now, finding many who rejoice at my evils; on the contrary, therefore, I both wept and groaned. And this is no small thing, beloved, to have a sympathetic mind. As for me, the phrase 'I was waiting for good things, but days of evil met me,' I interpret it thus, that because of my sympathy for others I was expecting good things, but the outcome of my hopes turned out the opposite for me. Thus also Symmachus has rendered it: I was expecting good things, but evil came.

CHAPTER 31 "I made a covenant with my eyes, that I should not look upon a virgin." [But Symmachus, And I did not think anything about a virgin.] Job observed evangelical precision; for what Christ commanded when He came later, this man accomplished through his deeds. And since he who looks with lust has already committed adultery, he trained his eye not to gaze upon the beauty of virgins. What would they say, who have spiritual wives, and assert that they cohabit with them dispassionately, and are not harmed? whereas even if this were so, they ought to spare those who are scandalized; for grant that you, even cohabiting with a virgin, are pure of all 64.636 evil passion, but you strike others who are weaker. And yet the blessed Job did not dare to testify to such power and philosophy in himself; but he who had attained every virtue, and had overcome all the snares of the devil, and was the first and only one to show such endurance, and surpassed all iron and adamant in the continence of his soul, and had crushed the power of the devil, so feared such a struggle, and considered it impossible while cohabiting with a virgin to remain unharmed and pure; so that not only did he place himself far and distant from this cohabitation, but also from the simple sight that happens by chance, and he made a law for his own eyes, simply not to look upon a virgin; for, 'I made a covenant with my eyes,' he says, 'that I should not look upon a virgin,' that is, I will not perceive, I will not look; for he knew, he knew clearly, that not only for one cohabiting, but even for one looking inquisitively upon the face of a virgin, it is difficult, and perhaps even impossible, to escape the harm from it. But if

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«Νῦν νουθετοῦσί με ἐν μέρει, ὧν ἐξουδένουν τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν· οὓς οὐχ

ἡγησάμην ἀξίους· κυνῶν τῶν ἐμῶν νομάδων.» Ἐξουδένουν δὲ εἶπεν; οὐ χρώμενος ἀλαζονικῶς τῇ ἐξουδενώσει, ἀλλὰ σαφῶς αὐτοὺς εἰδὼς πονηρούς· κατὰ τό· Ἐξουδένωται ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ πονηρευόμενος· τοὺς γὰρ τοιούτους οὐδὲν ἡγεῖτο. Τὸ δέ· Νουθετοῦσί με ἐν μέρει, κατά γε ἐμὲ, οὐχ ὅτι μέρος εὐεργεσίας κατετίθεντο, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς ἄλλους ἐνουθέτει, νῦν δὲ οὗτοι αὐτόν· διὰ τοῦτο οὕτως εἴρηται· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀξίους δὲ εἶναι κυνῶν, οὐχ ὅτι χείρους εἰσὶ καὶ τοῦ ὑλακτικοῦ τοῦδε ζώου, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὐδὲ τοῦ κυνοκομεῖν ἀξίους αὐτοὺς ἔκρινεν. Οὐχ ἡγούμην γὰρ, φησὶν, αὐτοὺς ἀξίους τοῦ ἄγειν τοὺς κύνας τῆς ἐμῆς ποίμνης. Ἀπεποιήσατο μὲν οὖν τὴν νουθεσίαν αὐτῶν, ὡς μήτε ἀπὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐχόντων τὸ αἰδέσιμον, μήτε ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἐνουθέτουν γὰρ, φησί· τίνες; τίνα; οἱ νεώτεροι τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτούς· οἱ φαῦλοι τὸν μὴ τοιοῦτον· οἱ εὐτελεῖς καὶ ἄδοξοι, τὸν λαμπρόν ποτε καὶ ἐπίσημον. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς καταπόδας καὶ ἐφεξῆς, καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτῶν αἰνίττεται, λέγων· «Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ παντὶ ἀδυνάτῳ ἔκλαυσα· ἐστέναξα ἰδὼν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπέχων ἀγαθοῖς, ἰδοὺ συνήντησάν μοι μᾶλλον ἡμέραι κακῶν.» Καίτοιγε ἐν πλούτῳ ὢν, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐποίησα, οὐκ ἐφήσθην ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς, ὅπερ πάσχω νῦν, πολλοὺς εὑρίσκων τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς ἐπιχαίροντας· τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν, καὶ ἔκλαυσα, καὶ ἐστέναξα. Οὐ μικρὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀγαπητὲ, τὸ συμπαθητικὴν ἔχειν διάνοιαν. Ἐγὼ δὲ, τὸ, Ἐπεῖχον ἀγαθοῖς, συνήντησαν δέ μοι ἡμέραι κακῶν, οὕτως ἐκδέχομαι, ὅτι ∆ιὰ τὴν εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους συμπάθειαν προσεδόκων ἀγαθὰ, εἰς τοὐναντίον δέ μοι τὰ τῶν ἐλπίδων ἐξέβη. Οὕτω καὶ Σύμμαχος ἐξέδωκεν· Ἀγαθὰ προσεδεχόμην, ἦλθε δὲ κακά.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΛΑʹ «∆ιαθήκην ἐθέμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, καὶ οὐ συνήσω ἐπὶ παρθένον.» [Ὁ δὲ

Σύμμαχος, Καὶ οὐδὲν ἐνενόησα περὶ παρθένου.] Εὐαγγελικὴν ἀκρίβειαν ὁ Ἰὼβ ἐφύλαττεν· ἃ γὰρ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐλθὼν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπέταξε, ταῦτα οὗτος διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων κατώρθου. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἐμβλέψας πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν, ἐπαιδαγώγει τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν εἰς τὸ μὴ τὰς ὥρας τῶν παρθένων περιεργάζεσθαι. Τί ἂν εἴποιεν οἱ τὰς συνεισάκτους ἔχοντες, καὶ διαβεβαιούμενοι ἀπαθῶς αὐταῖς συνοικεῖν, καὶ μὴ βλάπτεσθαι; ὅπουγε εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἦν, ἔδει τῶν σκανδαλιζομένων φείδεσθαι· ἔστω γὰρ σὲ καὶ συνοικοῦντα παρθένῳ καθαρὸν εἶναι πάσης 64.636 ἐμπαθείας πονηρᾶς, ἀλλ' ἑτέρους πλήττεις ἀσθενεστέρους. Καίτοιγε ὁ μακάριος Ἰὼβ οὐκ ἐτόλμα ἑαυτῷ τοσαύτην μαρτυρῆσαι δύναμιν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν· ἀλλ' ὁ πᾶσαν ἐπελθὼν ἀρετὴν, καὶ πάντων ὑπερενεχθεὶς τῶν τοῦ διαβόλου δικτύων, καὶ πρῶτος, καὶ μόνος τοσαύτην ἐπιδειξάμενος καρτερίαν, καὶ πάντα σίδηρον καὶ ἀδάμαντα τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς παρελθὼν ἐγκρατείᾳ, καὶ κατακόψας τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν ἰσχὺν, οὕτως ἐδεδοίκει τὴν τοιαύτην πάλην, καὶ ἐνόμιζεν ἀδύνατον εἶναι συνοικοῦντα παρθένῳ μένειν ἀσινῆ καὶ καθαρόν· ὡς μὴ μόνον τῆς συνοικήσεως ταύτης πόῤῥω καὶ μακρὰν ἑαυτὸν καταστῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ὄψεως τῆς ἁπλῶς καὶ ἀπὸ συντυχίας γινομένης, καὶ νόμον ἔθηκε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ, ἁπλῶς εἰς παρθένον μὴ ἰδεῖν· ∆ιαθήκην γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐθέμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, καὶ οὐ συνήσω ἐπὶ παρθένον, τουτέστιν, Οὐ κατανοήσω, οὐ βλέψω· ᾔδει γὰρ, ᾔδει σαφῶς, ὅτι οὐ μόνον τὸν συνοικοῦντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βλέποντα περιέργως εἰς ὄψιν παρθενικὴν, δύσκολον, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀδύνατον, τὴν ἐκεῖθεν διαφυγεῖν βλάβην. Εἰ δὲ