60

they will have from wrath; and they will be like chaff before the wind or like dust which a whirlwind has snatched away. he says, from the wrath of divine justice, from which their affairs are so easily blown away and scattered like chaff by the wind or dust by a whirlwind. 21, 19 May his substance fail his sons, he will repay him and he will know. This is the misfortune of fathers, for their children to live in want. when 186 therefore, he says, the ungodly man perceives the divine retribution, then he will know that God also oversees what is done and that there is a punishment laid up for the ungodly. 21, May his eyes see his own slaughter, and from the Lord may he not be saved. By slaughter he means destruction. Therefore, he says, he will become an eyewitness of his own destruction, having no help from God. 21, 21 For his desire is in his house with him. The desire of the ungodly is his ungodliness. Therefore, he says, according to his own desire it will be both for him and for his whole house, that is: according to his own sins he will receive his due. 21, 21 and the number of his months have been divided. But also, he says, the time of his life will be divided, and he will die short-lived. 21, 22 Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge? Therefore, he says, of this seeming anomaly among men, who knows the reasons? Who enters into the judgments of providence? But no one, unless the Lord himself should wish to instruct someone and to grant the knowledge concerning these things. 21, 22 But he judges wise men. Therefore, he says, only the all-wise God knows the causes of these things, he who 187 also judges the wise among men, approving and accepting those wise in God, but rejecting and casting out those who pursue human wisdom. 21, 2326 This one will die in the strength of his folly, while altogether thriving and prosperous. And his inwards are full of fat, and his marrow is moist. But another dies in bitterness of soul, having eaten nothing good. And they sleep together on the earth, and corruption has covered them. Who then knows the reasons for these things, except God? How does one foolish man die in the dominance of his folly, full of all fleshly prosperity—for this is signified through the richness of the flesh and marrow—while another, perhaps even a righteous man, not having tasted sweetness nor having partaken of any good thing among men, ends his life? And both endure the common death and the same decay and dissolution of the body. 21, 2728 Therefore I know you, that you press upon me with boldness, because you will say: Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the shelter of the tents of the ungodly? Considering these things, he says, I know that you are daring and transgressing divine justice by pronouncing against me as against an ungodly man, saying that my possessions have vanished because of sin. 21, 29 Ask, then, those who travel by the way, and their signs will not be estranged. 188 However, he says, even if some anomaly is seen in this life, yet I do not grant that wickedness has an advantage over virtue. For if, he says, the affairs of those who travel by the way are examined, that is, those who walk outside the divine way, it will be known from the things they do that they will not escape divine justice. For "their signs will not be estranged" means this, instead of: their affairs will be known. What affairs are these? 21, 30 That for the day of destruction the wicked man is spared, for the day of his wrath he will be led away. That even if the wicked man is now spared and is exalted in temporary glory, yet a certain day of destruction and divine wrath awaits him. 21, 31 Who will declare his way to his face? And he has done it, who will repay him? He laments the ungodly as not perceiving the punishment that awaits them and that there is a God who renders to them according to the desert of what they have done. 21, 32 And he was carried away to the tombs and he kept watch over the heaps. In common, who will announce to him, and might bring him to awareness, that he will be carried away to the tombs and after all the sleepless cares the bier and tomb await him. 21, 33 The gravel of the winter-brook was sweet to him. As to the literal meaning, then,

60

ἕξουσιν ἀπὸ ὀργῆς· ἔσονται δὲ ὥσπερ ἄχυρα πρὸ ἀνέμου ἢ ὥσπερ κονιορτὸς ὃν ὑφείλετο λαῖλαψ. ἀπὸ ὀργῆς τῆς θείας δίκης φησίν, ἐξ ἧς οὕτω ῥᾳδίως ἀποφυσᾶται καὶ διασκεδάννυται τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς ὥσπερ ἄχυρα ὑπὸ ἀνέμου ἢ κονιορτὸς ὑπὸ λαίλαπος. 21, 19 ἐκλείποι υἱοὺς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ, ἀνταποδώσει πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ γνώσεται. αὕτη πατέρων δυστυχία, τοὺς παῖδας ἐν ἀπορίᾳ διάγειν. ὅταν 186 οὖν, φησίν, ὁ ἀσεβὴς τῆς θείας ἀνταποδόσεως αἰσθηθῇ, τότε γνώσεται, ὡς καὶ θεὸς ἐφορᾷ τὰ πραττόμενα καὶ ἔστι τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἀποκειμένη τιμωρία. 21, ἴδοισαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σφαγήν, ἀπὸ δὲ κυρίου μὴ διασωθείη. σφαγὴν λέγει τὴν ἀπώλειαν. αὐτόπτης οὖν, φησίν, τῆς ἰδίας ἀπωλείας καταστήσεται οὐδεμίαν ἔχων ἐκ θεοῦ βοήθειαν. 21, 21 ὅτι τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ἐν οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ. τὸ θέλημα τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς ἡ ἀσέβειά ἐστιν. κατὰ τοίνυν, φησίν, τὸ ἴδιον θέλημα ἔσται καὶ αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ παντὶ αὐτοῦ οἴκῳ, τουτέστι· κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας ἁμαρτίας ἀπολήψεται. 21, 21 καὶ ἀριθμοὶ μηνῶν αὐτοῦ διῃρέθησαν. ἀλλὰ καὶ διαιρεθήσεται, φησίν, ὁ χρόνος αὐτοῦ τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ ὀλιγοχρόνιος τελευτήσει. 21, 22 πότερον οὐχὶ ὁ κύριός ἐστιν ὁ διδάσκων σύνεσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην; ταύτης οὖν, φησίν, τῆς δοκούσης παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀνωμαλίας τίς τοὺς λόγους οἶδεν; τίς τοῖς τῆς προνοίας ἐμβατεύει κρίμασιν; ἀλλ' οὐδείς, εἰ μή γε αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος θελήσοι συνετίσαι τινὰ καὶ τὴν περὶ τούτων ἐπιστήμην χαρίσασθαι. 21, 22 αὐτὸς δὲ σοφοὺς διακρινεῖ. μόνος οὖν, φησίν, τὰς τούτων αἰτίας οἶδεν ὁ πάνσοφος θεὸς ὁ 187 καὶ τοὺς παρὰ ἀνθρώποις σοφοὺς διακρίνων καὶ τοὺς μὲν θεοσόφους ἐγκρίνων καὶ ἀποδεχόμενος, τοὺς δὲ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην μετιόντας σοφίαν ἀποκρίνων καὶ ἐξωθούμενος. 21, 2326 οὗτος ἀποθανεῖται ἐν κράτει ἀφροσύνης αὐτοῦ, ὅλος δὲ εὐπαθῶν καὶ εὐθηνῶν. τὰ δὲ ἔγκατα αὐτοῦ πλήρης στέατος, μυελὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ διαχεῖται. ὁ δὲ τελευτᾷ ὑπὸ πικρίας ψυχῆς οὐ φαγὼν οὐδὲν ἀγαθόν. ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ ἐπὶ γῆς κοιμῶνται, σαπρία δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐκάλυψεν. τούτων οὖν τοὺς λόγους τίς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ θεός; πῶς ὁ μέν τις ἄφρων ἐν τῇ ἐπικρατείᾳ τῆς ἀφροσύνης ἀποθνήσκει πλήρης πάσης σαρκικῆς εὐημερίαςτοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει διὰ τῆς πιότητος τῶν σαρκῶν καὶ μυελῶν, ἕτερος δὲ ἴσως που καὶ δίκαιος μὴ γλυκανθεὶς μηδὲ μετασχὼν μηδενὸς ἀγαθοῦ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον; καὶ ἀμφότεροι τὸν κοινὸν ὑπομένουσι θάνατον καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τοῦ σώματος σῆψιν καὶ ἀνάλυσιν. 21, 2728 ὥστε οἶδα ὑμᾶς, ὅτι τόλμῃ ἐπίκεισθέ μοι, ὅτι ἐρεῖτε· ποῦ ἐστιν οἶκος ἄρχοντος, καὶ ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ σκέπη τῶν σκηνωμάτων τῶν ἀσεβῶν; ταῦτα, φησίν, ἐννοῶν οἶδα, ὅτι ἀποτολμᾶτε καὶ τὴν θείαν ὑπερβαίνετε δίκην ὡς κατὰ ἀσεβοῦς ἀποφαινόμενοι κατ' ἐμοῦ, λέγοντες, ὅτι δι' ἁμαρτίας ἐξηφανίσθη μου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα. 21, 29 ἐρωτήσατε δὴ παραπορευομένους ὁδὸν καὶ τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπαλλοτριωθήσεται. 188 πλήν, φησίν, εἰ καὶ ἀνωμαλία τις ὁρᾶται ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ, ἀλλ' οὐ δίδωμι πλέον ἔχειν ἀρετῆς κακίαν. ἐὰν γάρ, φησίν, ἐξετασθῇ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς παραπορευομένους ὁδόν, τουτέστι τοὺς ἔξω τῆς θείας ὁδοῦ βαδίζοντας, γνώριμον ἔσται ἐξ αὐτῶν ὧν πράττουσιν, ὅτι τὴν θείαν οὐκ ἐκφεύξονται δίκην. τὸ γὰρ τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπαλλοτριωθήσεται τοῦτο σημαίνει, ἀντὶ τοῦ· γνώριμα ἔσται τὰ κατ' αὐτούς· ποῖα δὴ ταῦτα; 21, 30 ὅτι εἰς ἡμέραν ἀπωλείας κουφίζεται ὁ πονηρός, εἰς ἡμέραν ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπαχθήσεται. ὅτι εἰ καὶ κουφίζεται νῦν καὶ μετεώρισται τῇ προσκαίρῳ δόξῃ ὁ πονηρός, ἀλλ' ἡμέρα τις αὐτὸν ἀπωλείας καὶ θείας ὀργῆς ἀπεκδέχεται. 21, 31 τίς ἀναγγελεῖ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ; καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησε, τίς ἀνταποδώσει αὐτῷ; ἀπολοφύρεται τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ὡς μὴ αἰσθανομένους τῆς ἀπεκδεχομένης αὐτοὺς κολάσεως καὶ ὅτι ἐστὶ θεὸς ὧν ἔπραξαν τὰ κατ' ἀξίαν ἀπονέμων αὐτοῖς. 21, 32 καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς τάφους ἀπηνέχθη καὶ ἐπὶ σορῶν ἠγρύπνησεν. κατὰ κοινοῦ τὸ τίς ἀναγγελεῖ αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰς συναίσθησιν αὐτὸν ἀγάγοι, ὅτι εἰς τάφους ἀπενεχθήσεται καὶ μετὰ πάσας τὰς ἐπαγρύπνους μερίμνας ἡ σορὸς αὐτὸν καὶ τάφος ἐκδέχεται. 21, 33 ἐγλυκάνθησαν αὐτῷ χάλικες χειμάρρου. πρὸς μὲν ῥητὸν οὖν