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others will live. 18,20a And the last groaned over him, 20b but wonder seized the first. That is: both the ordinary and the outcast. 18,21a These are the houses of the unrighteous, 21b and this is the place of those who do not know the Lord. 127
19,1 AND JOB ANSWERED AND SAID: 19,2a How long will you vex my soul 2b and destroy me with words? See how they not only offer no comfort, but even do the opposite, cooperating with the devil and allying with him and destroying his strength. Were the past things not enough? See how all three speak the same things as if from one mouth. 19,3a Know only, he says, that the Lord has done this to me. “Let this at least,” he says, “shame you, the dignity of the one who punishes.” For one must not trample on those who are being punished by God, but mourn and be afraid, and above all, not rejoice over anyone who is perishing; for he will not be acquitted. Who would not respect the calamity, if not the dignity. 19,3b And you speak against me, he says, not being ashamed of me, and you press upon me. 19,4a Yes indeed, in truth I have erred, 4b and error lodges in me 4c to speak a word which I ought not. 4d But my words are wandering and not at the right time. This he said by way of concession; and everywhere he does this, granting many things by way of concession. He does not let the argument rest in the same place, but struggles again. “Let us suppose,” he says, “that you condemn my words for much folly and nonsense and untimeliness; but you ought not to have trampled on me, even if this were so, but to respect the calamity, to fear the one who struck, to grant pardon for the magnitude of the terrible things.” 128 19,5a But let it be, that you magnify yourselves against me, he says, 5b and leap upon me with reproach. 19,6a Know that it is the Lord who has troubled me. And what of this? That one must feel respect and fear. It seems to me that he is hinting here that he was not suffering so much because of sins. For if God strikes someone, it is not that he suffers entirely because of sins, just as this one did not, but for the sake of testing and more crowns. 19,6b But His stronghold, he says, He has raised up against me. 19,7a Behold, I speak plainly and I will not speak. That is: openly, plainly, or as conversing with someone. 19,7b I will cry out, and there is no judgment anywhere. This is the great summary of the calamity: “No one listens,” he says, “no one judges, no one speaks against,”—should one not pity this man?—“I see no one, I am surrounded everywhere, I cry out, and no one hears.” 19,8a All around, he says, I have been walled in and I cannot pass, 8b and upon my paths he has set darkness. Either those of the mind or those of the way, that is: “He has darkened me; I do not have where to go, nor do I see, nor am I able.” 19,9a He has stripped the glory from me 9b and taken the crown from my head, 19,10a and He has torn me apart all around, and I am gone. “But He has bound me from all sides,” he says, “I do not see Him, nor anyone else.” 19,10b And He has cut down my hope like a tree. 19,11a He has treated me terribly with wrath, 11b and has considered me as an enemy. 19,12a But his temptations with one accord 129 came upon me; in my ways 12b men in ambush have surrounded me. Those who plotted and took the cattle. Great is the trial of the devil. Those of his household who remained for him made the calamity more grievous than those who had departed. For the latter did nothing anymore, but the former both reproached and disobeyed and spoke against him. 19,13a But from me, he says, brothers have departed, 13b they have known others rather than me. 13c And my friends have become merciless, 19,14a and my nearest kinsmen did not acknowledge me. 14b Those who knew my name have forgotten me. 19,15a Neighbors, household members, men-servants, maid-servants considered me a stranger, 15b I became a foreigner in their sight. 19,16a And I called my servants, and they did not obey me; 16b but my mouth entreated them. 19,17a And I supplicated my wife, 17b and I called upon, flattering, the sons of my concubines, 19,18a but they rejected me forever. 18b whenever I stand up,
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ζήσονται ἕτεροι. 18,20a ἐπ' αὐτῷ δὲ ἐστέναξαν ἔσχατοι, 20b πρώτους δὲ ἔσχε θαῦμα. τουτέστιν· καὶ οἱ τυχόντες καὶ οἱ ἀπερριμμένοι. 18,21a οὗτοί εἰσιν οἶκοι ἀδίκων, 21b οὗτος δὲ τόπος τῶν μὴ εἰδότων τὸν κύριον. 127
19,1 ΥΠΟΛΑΒΩΝ ∆Ε ΙΩΒ ΛΕΓΕΙ· 19,2a ἕως τίνος ἔγκοπον ποιήσετε τὴν ψυχήν
μου 2b καὶ καθαιρεῖτέ με λόγοις; ὅρα οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν εἰσφέροντας ἀπὸ τῆς παραμυθίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον ποιοῦντας, συμπράττοντας τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ συμμαχοῦντας καὶ καθαιροῦντας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἰσχύν. οὐκ ἤρκεσε τὰ παρελθόντα; ὅρα πάντας τοὺς τρεῖς ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς στόματος τὰ αὐτὰ φθεγγομένους. 19,3a γνῶτε μόνον, φησίν, ὅτι ὁ κύριος ἐποίησέ μοι οὕτως. «τοῦτο γοῦν ὑμᾶς», φησίν, «ἐντρεπέτω, τὸ ἀξίωμα τοῦ κολάζοντος.» τοῖς γὰρ τοιούτοις ἐπεμβαίνειν οὐ χρὴ τοῖς ὑπὸ θεοῦ τιμωρουμένοις, ἀλλὰ θρηνεῖν καὶ φοβεῖσθαι, μάλιστα μὲν οὖν μηδενὶ ἐπιχαίρειν ἀπολλυμένῳ· οὐκ ἀθῳωθήσεται γάρ. τίς οὐκ ἂν ᾐδέσθη τὴν συμφοράν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀξίωμα. 19,3b καὶ καταλαλεῖτέ μου, φησίν, οὐκ αἰσχυνόμενοί με καὶ ἐπίκεισθέ μοι. 19,4a ναὶ δὴ ἐπ' ἀληθείας ἐπλανήθην, 4b καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ αὐλίζεται πλάνος 4c λαλῆσαι ῥῆμα, ὃ οὐκ ἔδει. 4d τὰ δὲ ῥήματά μου πλανᾶται καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ καιροῦ. τοῦτο κατὰ συνδρομὴν εἶπεν· καὶ πανταχοῦ αὐτὸ ποιεῖ πολλὰ διδοὺς κατὰ συνδρομήν. οὐκ ἀφίησιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπαγωνίζεται πάλιν. «θῶμεν», γάρ φησιν, «ὅτι πολλὴν ἄνοιαν καὶ φλυαρίαν καταγινώσκετε τῶν ἐμῶν ῥημάτων καὶ ἀκαιρίαν· ἀλλ' ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἐχρῆν ἐπεμβαίνειν, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο οὕτως εἶχεν, ἀλλ' αἰδεῖσθαι τὴν συμφοράν, ἀλλὰ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν πλήξαντα, ἀλλὰ συγγνώμην ἀπονεῖμαι τῷ μεγέθει τῶν δεινῶν.» 128 19,5a ἔα δέ, ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμοὶ μεγαλύνεσθε, φησίν, 5b ἐνάλλεσθε δέ μοι ὀνείδει. 19,6a γνῶτε, ὅτι κύριός ἐστιν ὁ ταράξας με. καὶ τί τοῦτο; ὅτι αἰδεῖσθαι χρὴ καὶ φοβεῖσθαι. ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ αἰνίττεσθαι ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι οὐδὲ δι' ἁμαρτήματα τοσοῦτον ἔπασχεν. μὴ γάρ, εἴ τινα ὁ θεὸς πλήττει, οὗτος δι' ἁμαρτήματα πάντως πάσχει, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ οὗτος, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ δοκιμῆς καὶ πλειόνων στεφάνων. 19,6b ὀχύρωμα δὲ αὐτοῦ, φησίν, ἐπ' ἐμὲ ὕψωσεν. 19,7a ἰδοὺ λαλῶ ἐν εἴδει καὶ οὐ λαλήσω. τουτέστιν· φανερῶς ἐν εἴδει ἢ ὡς πρός τινα διαλεγόμενος. 19,7b κακράξομαι, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ κρίμα. τοῦτο τὸ μέγα τῆς συμφορᾶς κεφάλαιον· «οὐδεὶς ἀκούει», φησίν, «οὐδεὶς δικάζει, οὐδεὶς ἀντιλέγει,»-τοῦτον ἐλεῆσαι οὐ χρή;- «οὐδένα βλέπω, πανταχοῦ περικεκύκλωμαι, κράζω, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀκούει.» 19,8a κύκλῳ, φησίν, περιῳκοδόμημαι καὶ οὐ μὴ διαβῶ, 8b ἐπὶ δὲ ἀτραπούς μου σκότος ἔθετο. ἤτοι τὰς τῆς διανοίας ἤτοι τὰς τῆς ὁδοῦ, τουτέστιν· «ἐσκότωσέ με· οὐκ ἔχω, ποῦ ἀπελθεῖν, οὐδὲ βλέπω, οὐδὲ δύναμαι.» 19,9a τὴν δόξαν ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἐξέδυσε 9b καὶ ἀφεῖλε τὸν στέφανον ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς μου, 19,10a διέσπασε δέ με κύκλῳ καὶ ᾠχόμην. «ἀλλ' ἔδησέ με πάντοθεν», φησίν, «οὐκ αὐτὸν ὁρῶ, οὐκ ἄλλον τινά.» 19,10b ἐξέκοψε δὲ ὥσπερ δένδρον τὴν ἐλπίδα μου. 19,11a δεινῶς μοι ὀργῇ ἐχρήσατο, 11b ἡγήσατο δέ με ὥσπερ ἐχθρόν. 19,12a ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ τὰ πειρατήρια αὐτοῦ 129 ἦλθον ἐπ' ἐμέ, ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου 12b ἐκύκλωσάν με ἐγκάθετοι. οἱ ἐπιβουλεύσαντες καὶ λαβόντες τὰ θρέμματα. πολλὴ ἡ πεῖρα τοῦ διαβόλου. οἱ περιλειφθέντες αὐτῷ τῶν οἰκείων χαλεπωτέραν εἰργάζοντο τὴν συμφορὰν τῶν ἀπελθόντων. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐποίουν λοιπόν, οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ὠνείδιζον καὶ παρήκουον καὶ κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐλάλουν. 19,13a ἀπ' ἐμοῦ δέ, φησίν, ἀπέστησαν ἀδελφοί, 13b ἔγνωσαν ἀλλοτρίους ἢ ἐμέ. 13c οἱ φίλοι δέ μου ἀνελεήμονες γεγόνασιν, 19,14a καὶ οὐ προσεποιήσαντό με οἱ ἐγγύτατοί μου. 14b οἱ εἰδότες μου τὸ ὄνομα ἐπελάθοντό μου. 19,15a γείτονες, οἰκεῖοι, θεράποντες, θεράπαιναι εἰς ἀλλότριον ἐλογίσαντό με, 15b ἀλλογενὴς ἐγενόμην ἐναντίον αὐτῶν. 19,16a θεράποντας δέ μου ἐκάλεσα, καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσάν μου· 16b στόμα δέ μου ἐδεῖτο αὐτῶν. 19,17a καὶ ἱκέτευον τὴν γυναῖκά μου, 17b καὶ προσεκαλούμην κολακεύων υἱοὺς παλλακίδων μου, 19,18a οἱ δὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνά με ἀπείποντο. 18b ὅταν ἀναστῶ,