52

«Therefore I have despised myself, and have wasted away; and I consider myself to be earth and ashes.» These things are a defense concerning all that came before; for he does not say these things having been delivered from the trial, but while still in his afflictions he sang a recantation. I consider myself nothing, he says, I make a defense concerning what came before, and I was unworthy of these things. What then of God? Since he condemned himself, then He justified him. Consider the holy men, how when they are deemed worthy of greater things, they acquire more humility; thus also Abraham, when he saw the Lord, said: But I am earth and ashes. «Now then, take seven bullocks, and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and he will make an offering for you.» He would not have commanded this, if there were a law; but he himself becomes a priest, while they bring the sacrifices; and see, he offered for his children, he offers for his friends. You see how, showing his lack of resentment, he makes them witnesses to the virtue of the man; and he shows the greatness of their sin, also through the abundance of the offering; for 64.656 so many victims would not have been needed, had the sins that needed to be loosed not been great. But it makes clear that not even a sacrifice was sufficient; For unless, he says, it were for his sake, I would not have forgiven your sin. For this reason he shows that he also absolved them. «And the Lord gave twice as much as Job had before, as a doubling.» God allowed the devil to display all his power; and when he had emptied all his arrows, and no manner of attack was left, then He brought the athlete up from the wrestling-ground, so that the victory might be brilliant and undisputed. «And he himself was the son of his father Zerah, one of the sons of Esau, and of his mother Bosorrha; so that he was the fifth from Abraham.» When this righteous man was shining, the Jews were still in Egypt; they were about to come up afterwards; so that, if they wished, they would have found no small kindling for piety; for it was not likely to be hidden. For if even now the remains are shown, much more would they have been shown then, when the events were recent, and everyone in Arabia would have known the magnitude of what had happened. «And the friends who came to him were Eliphaz of the sons of Esau, king of the Temanites [But Theodotion gave, Son, Josaphat], Baldad the ruler of the Sauchites [Again Theodotion, Son of Ammon of Chobor], Zophar the king of the Minaeans.» And let each of the readers, as if looking at some archetypal image, this noble athlete, imitate his courage, emulate his patience, so that having walked the same path, and having bravely arrayed himself against all the schemes of the devil, he may be able to attain the good things promised to those who love God; and may the sufferings of this blessed one become remedies for our own evils; and his harsh tossing, a harbor for our misfortunes. And in each of the things that happen to us, let us think upon the Saint; and seeing one body that endured the terrible things of the world, let us be disposed nobly in our individual circumstances; and just as to some loving mother, stretching out her hands from all sides, and receiving and recovering her frightened children, so let us always take refuge in this book; and even if the most pitiful and greatest afflictions come upon us, having in every way received sufficient comfort, thus we will depart by the grace of Christ the true God; with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

52

«∆ιὸ ἐφαύλισα ἐμαυτὸν, καὶ ἐτάκην· ἥγημαι δὲ ἐμαυτὸν γῆν καὶ σποδόν.» Ταῦτα ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ τῶν προτέρων ἁπάντων· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπαλλαγεὶς τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ταῦτά φησιν, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ὢν παλινῳδίαν ᾖσεν. Οὐδὲν, φησὶν, ἐμαυτὸν τίθεμαι, ἀπολογίαν ὑπὲρ τῶν προτέρων ποιοῦμαι, καὶ τούτων ἀνάξιος ἤμην ἐγώ. Τί οὖν ὁ Θεός; Ἐπειδὴ ἑαυτὸν κατεδίκασε, τότε ἐδικαίωσεν αὐτόν. Θεώρει δὲ τοὺς ἁγίους ἄνδρας, πῶς ὅτε μειζόνων ἀξιοῦνται, πλείονα κτῶνται ταπεινοφροσύνην· οὕτω καὶ Ἀβραὰμ, ὅτε εἶδε τὸν Κύριον, εἶπεν· Ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδός. «Νῦν δὲ λάβετε ἑπτὰ μόσχους, καὶ ἑπτὰ κριοὺς, καὶ πορεύθητε πρὸς τὸν θεράποντά μου Ἰὼβ, καὶ ποιήσει κάρπωσιν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν.» Οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο προσέταξεν, εἰ νόμος ἦν· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἱερεὺς γίνεται, ἐκείνων προσαγόντων τὰς θυσίας· καὶ ὅρα, προσήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ τῶν παίδων, προσφέρει ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων. Ὁρᾷς πῶς τὸ ἀμνησίκακον αὐτοῦ δεικνὺς, μάρτυρας αὐτοὺς ποιεῖ γενέσθαι τῆς ἀρετῆς τοῦ ἀνδρός· καὶ δείκνυσι τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ διὰ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς τῆς κατὰ τὴν προσφοράν· οὐ 64.656 γὰρ ἂν τοσούτων ἐδέησεν ἱερείων, μὴ μεγάλων ὄντων τῶν ὀφειλόντων λυθῆναι ἁμαρτημάτων. Ἐμφαίνει δὲ, ὅτι οὐδὲ θυσία ἱκανὴ ἦν· Εἰ μὴ γὰρ, φησὶ, δι' αὐτὸν, οὐκ ἂν εἴασα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῖν διὰ τοῦτο δείκνυσιν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὺς ἔλυσεν. «Ἔδωκε δὲ ὁ Κύριος διπλᾶ ὅσα ἦν ἔμπροσθεν Ἰὼβ εἰς διπλασιασμόν.» Ἀφῆκε τὸν διάβολον ὁ Θεὸς πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ἐπιδείξασθαι· καὶ ὅτε ἐκένωσε τὰ βέλη πάντα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιβολῆς ὑπελίπετο τρόπος, τότε ἐνεβίβασεν ἐκ τοῦ σκάμματος τὸν ἀθλητὴν, ἵνα λαμπρὰ καὶ ἀναμφισβήτητος ἡ νίκη γένηται. «Ἦν δὲ αὐτὸς πατρὸς μὲν Ζαρὲ, ἐκ τῶν Ἡσαῦ υἱῶν υἱὸς, μητρὸς δὲ Βοσόῤῥας· ὥστε εἶναι αὐτὸν πέμπτον ἀπὸ Ἀβραάμ.» Ὅτε ἦν οὗτος λάμπων ὁ δίκαιος, ἔτι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἦσαν Ἰουδαῖοι· ἔμελλον ἀνιέναι λοιπόν· ὡς, εἴγε ἐβούλοντο, οὐ μικρὸν εὕρισκον ἐμπύρευμα εὐσεβείας· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν λαθεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ ἔτι καὶ νῦν δείκνυται τὰ λείψανα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τότε ἐδείχθη ἂν, νεαρῶν ὄντων τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν συμβεβηκότων καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ ἅπαντες ἂν ἔγνωσαν. «Οἱ δὲ ἐλθόντες πρὸς αὐτὸν φίλοι, Ἐλιφὰζ τῶν Ἡσαῦ υἱῶν, Θαιμανῶν βασιλεὺς [Ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων, Υἱὸς, ἐξέδωκεν, Ἰωσαφὰτ], Βαλδὰδ ὁ Σαυχαίων τύραννος [ Πάλιν ὁ Θεοδοτίων, Υἱὸς Ἀμμὼν τοῦ Χωβὸρ], Σωφὰρ ὁ Μιναίων βασιλεύς.» Ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν ἀναγινωσκόντων, ὥσπερ εἰς ἀρχέτυπόν τινα εἰκόνα ὁρῶν τὸν ἀθλητὴν τοῦτον τὸν γενναῖον, μιμείσθω τὴν ἀνδρείαν, ζηλούτω τὴν ὑπομονὴν, ἵνα τὴν αὐτὴν βαδίσας ὁδὸν, καὶ πρὸς ἁπάσας τοῦ διαβόλου τὰς μηχανὰς γενναίως παραταξάμενος, τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπιτυχεῖν δυνηθείη· καὶ γενέσθαι τὰ τοῦ μακαρίου τοῦδε πάθη, φάρμακα τῶν ἡμετέρων κακῶν· καὶ τὸ χαλεπὸν τούτου κλυδώνιον, λιμὴν τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς συμφορῶν. Καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τῶν συμβαινόντων ἡμῖν λογιζώμεθα τὸν Ἅγιον· καὶ ὁρῶντες ἓν σῶμα τὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὑποστὰν δεινὰ, γενναίως ἐπὶ τοῖς κατὰ μέρος διακεώμεθα· καὶ καθάπερ πρὸς μητέρα τινὰ φιλόστοργον, πανταχόθεν τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνουσαν, καὶ τὰ παιδία πεφοβημένα δεχομένην καὶ ἀνακτωμένην, οὕτω πρὸς τὴν βίβλον ταύτην ἀεὶ καταφεύγωμεν· κἂν οἴκτιστά τε καὶ μήκιστα ἡμῖν ἐπίῃ δεινὰ, ἱκανὴν πάντως λαβόντες τὴν παραμυθίαν, οὕτως ἀπελευσόμεθα χάριτι Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ· μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.