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endures. And I will not be afraid, but I will speak. For I am not so conscious of laboring in my soul. Groaning I will release my words against him. I will speak, being constrained by bitterness of soul. He wishes to teach them not to be burdensome nor to attack those who are weary, and to understand that even while being in afflictions he responds with a strengthened mind. Therefore he says that if "the" mediator existed and I happened to be freed. from the painful things which you think were brought upon me because of sins, if according to you I happened to be enslaved to them, I would have spoken fearlessly, being freed from them; and speaking moderately he says: I am not able to think thus, being weary from the pains; but if, as you say, these things were because of sins, I would have spoken groaning, and being constrained by bitterness I would have uttered αποδιξαι 269 demonstrating the purity of my conscience. And I will say to the Lord: Do not teach me to be impious, and why did you judge me so? And I would have said to the Lord, if the only cause of punishments according to you was because of sins: "Do not teach me to be impious." For if even he who has sinned in nothing is punished for sins, sinning would be preferable. And besides, one who is not such is taught to sin, if there is only one cause for suffering. And I would have also said "why did you judge me so," "You who know the hearts," if I were not conscious that I endure these things on account of the one who demanded me. He says these things, in effect suggesting to them a desire for questioning, so that the response about his purity might seem to be from their own prompting and not initiated by him, which would seem to be arrogant. Is it good for you, if I do wrong, that I reject the works of your hands? And this too I would have said, if, as you are disposed, the inflictions were because of sins: Is it good for you, if I do wrong, that I reject one who has sinned in nothing, being the work of your hands? For if the virtuous man 270 is punished in the same way as the wicked, as if he were wicked, the occasion is superfluous according to you. But you have given heed to the counsel of the ungodly. Or do you see as a mortal sees, "or" is your life human, or are your years those of a man? It is possible that he says that you gave heed to the one who demanded him, suggesting the truth that he does not suffer according to the preceding reason, I mean, on account of sins. It is also possible to count these men in the counsel of the ungodly; for they do not speak piously, having understood the affliction in a single way, that everyone who is afflicted is afflicted on account of sins. And I would have also said "do you see as a mortal sees," if as you are disposed, there were one cause of the afflictions, and "is your life human, or are your years those of a man." All these things I would have said, if I happened to be of the same opinion as you; but knowing that there is not one cause of the inflictions, but that it also happens for the sake of a contest, I know that God is not like a man, observing only the appearances, but treading upon the depth of the soul and thus justly testing each thing. It must be noted, as elsewhere, that the noun *bios* (life) has many meanings. For it means possessions, as is said in the Song 271 of Songs: "If a man gives all the substance of his house for love, they will utterly scorn him." And *bios* also means possessions, as when John says: "But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart from him." And both the right and the wicked way of life are also called *bios*, as when we say: he has an active life, or that so-and-so has a wicked life. But here he called the sojourning in this age the life of a man. Therefore he says, that if you had such a life—instead of a circumscribed time—as a man, I would be judged as toward one who is ignorant. But God is eternal; for it has been said: "For you are the same, and your years will not fail." And again: "the years in a generation of generations." The existence of God is uncircumscribed; for it is everlasting. Therefore you are ignorant of nothing concerning me, Job might say. Because you have sought out my iniquity and tracked down my sins. Rebuking them again he says these things, that the misfortune concerning me is that of those who have sinned greatly. Since therefore the friends 272 as suffering on account of sins

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ὑπομένει. καὶ οὐ μὴ φοβηθῶ, ἀλλὰ λαλήσω. οὐ γὰρ οὕτως συνεπίσταμαι κάμνων τῇ ψυχῇ. στένων ἐπαφήσω ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὰ ῥήματά μου. λαλήσω πικρίας ψυχῇ συνεχόμενος. παιδεῦσαι αὐτοὺς βούλεται, μὴ ἔχειν τὸ φορτικὸν μηδὲ ἐπιτίθεσθαι κάμνουσιν συννοῆσαί τε, ὅτι καὶ ἐν θλίψεσιν ὑπάρχων ἐρρωμένῳ τῷ λογισμῷ ἀποκρίνεται. φησὶν οὖν, ὅτι εἰ «ὁ» μεσίτης ὑπῆρχεν ἀπαλλαγείς τε ἐτύγχανον. τῶν ἐπιπόνων, ἃ ὑμεῖς οἴεσθε δι' ἁμαρτίας ἐπῆχθαί μοι, εἰ καθ' ὑμᾶς δουλωθεὶς ἐτύγχανον αὐτοῖς, ἀφόβως ἂν ἐλάλησα, ἀπαλλαγεὶς αὐτῶν· μετριάζων τε λέγει· οὐχ οὕτως νοῆσαι δύναμαι κάμνων ἐκ τῶν πόνων· εἰ δὲ καὶ, ὡς ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι δι' ἁμαρτίας ταῦτα ἦν, στένων ἂν ἐλάλησα καὶ ὑπὸ πικρίας συνεχόμενος ἐφθεγγόμην αποδιξαι 269 τὴν καθαρότητα τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐπιδεικνύμενος. καὶ ἐρῶ πρὸς κύριον· μή με ἀσεβεῖν δίδασκε, καὶ διὰ τί με οὕτως ἔκρινας; ἔλεξα δ' ἂν τῷ κυρίῳ, εἰ μόνη αἰτία καθ' ὑμᾶς ἡ δι' ἁμαρτίας τῶν κολάσεων ὑπῆρχεν· "μή με ἀσεβεῖν δίδασκε." εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὁ μηδὲν ἁμαρτὼν δι' ἁμαρτίας κολάζεται, τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν αἱρετώτερον ἂν εἴη. ἄλλως τε καὶ διδάσκεται ἁμαρτάνειν ὁ μὴ τοιοῦτος, εἰ μία μόνη αἰτία ἐστὶν τοῦ πάσχειν. ἔλεξα δ' ἂν καὶ τὸ "διὰ τί με οὕτως ἔκρινας," "ὁ τὰς καρδίας ἐπιστάμενος", εἰ μὴ συνῄδειν, ὅτι διὰ τὸν ἐξαιτησάμενον ταῦτα ὑπομένω. ταῦτα δὲ λέγει δυνάμει ὑποβάλλων αὐτοῖς πόθον ἐρωτήσεως, ἵνα ἐξ αὑτῶν προτροπῆς δοκοίη εἶναι ἡ περὶ τῆς καθαρότητος αὐτοῦ ἀπόκρισις καὶ μὴ αὐτοῦ ὑπαρξαμένου, ὅπερ ἐδόκει εἶναι ἀλαζονικόν. ἦ καλόν σοι, ἐὰν ἀδικήσω, ὅτι ἀ πείπω ἔργα χειρῶν σοῦ; καὶ τοῦτο δ' ἂν εἶπον, εἰ, ὡς ὑμεῖς διάκεισθε, δι' ἁμαρτίας εἶναι τὰς ἐπαγωγὰς ὑπῆρχεν· καλόν σοι, ἐὰν ἀδικήσω, ὅτι μηδὲν ἁμαρτόντα ἀπείπω, ἔργον χειρῶν σου τυγχάνοντα; εἰ γὰρ ὡσαύτως τιμωρεῖται τῷ φαύλῳ 270 ὁ σπουδαῖος ὡς φαῦλος ὑπάρχων, περιττὴ ἡ ἀφορμὴ καθ' ὑμᾶς. βουλῇ δὲ ἀσεβῶν προσέσχες. ἢ ὥσπερ βροτὸς ὁρᾷ καθορᾷς «ἢ» ὁ βίος σου ἀνθρώπινός ἐστιν ἢ τὰ ἔτη σου ἀνδρός. δυνατὸν λέγειν αὐτόν, ὅτι τῷ ἐξαιτησαμένῳ προσέσχες, ὑποβάλλοντα τὸ ἀληθές, ὅτι οὐ κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον λόγον πάσχει, λέγω δὴ δι' ἁμαρτίας. δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τούτους ἀριθμεῖν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν τῶν ἀσεβῶν· οὐ γὰρ εὐσεβῆ λέγουσι, μονοτρόπως τὴν κάκωσιν ἐκλαβόντες, ὅτι πᾶς θλιβόμενος δι' ἁμαρτίας θλίβεται. ἔλεξα δ' ἂν καὶ τὸ "ὡς βροτὸς ὁρᾷ καθορᾷς", εἰ ὡς ὑμεῖς διάκεισθε, μίαν ἦν αἰτία τῶν θλίψεων, καὶ "ὁ βίος σου ἀνθρώπινός ἐστιν ἢ τὰ ἔτη σου ἀνδρός". πάντα ταῦτα ἂν εἶπον, εἰ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑμῶν γνώμης ἐτύγχανον· ἀλλ' ἐπιστάμενος, ὅτι οὐ μία αἰτία τῶν ἐπαγωγῶν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἀγῶνα τυγχάνουσα, οἶδα, ὅτι οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς τὰ φαινόμενα μόνα σκοπῶν, ἀλλ' ἐπιβατεύων τῷ βάθει τῆς ψυχῆς οὕτως τε ἕκαστα δοκιμάζων δικαίως. σημειωτέον, ὡς καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ, ὅτι πολύσημόν ἐστιν ὁ βίος ὄνομα. σημαίνει γὰρ τὰ χρήματα, καθὰ ἐν τῷ ᾄσματι 271 τῶν ᾀσμάτων εἴρηται· "ἐὰν δῷ ἀνὴρ πάντα τὸν βίον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἐξουδενώσειν ἐξουδενώσουσιν αὐτόν." σημαίνει δὲ καὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ὁ βίος, ὡς ἐὰν λέγῃ ὁ Ἰωάννης· "ὃς δ' ἂν ἔχῃ τὸν βίον τοῦ κόσμου καὶ θεωρῇ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχοντα, κλείσῃ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὰ σπλάγχνα." λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἡ ὀρθὴ πολιτεία καὶ ἡ η φαύλη βίος, ὡς ἐὰν λέγωμεν· βίον ἔχει πρακτικόν, ἢ ὅτι φαῦλον βίον ὁ δεῖνα ἔχει. ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ παρεπιδημίαν βίον ἀνθρώπου εἶπεν. λέγει οὖν, ὅτι εἰ τοσοῦτον βίον εἶχες-ἀντὶ τοῦ χρόνον περιγραφόμενον-ὡς ἄνθρωπος, διεκρινόμην ἂν ὡς πρὸς ἀγνοοῦντα. ὁ θεὸς δὲ αἰώνιος· εἴρηται γάρ· "σὺ γὰρ εἶ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν." καὶ πάλιν· "ἐν γενεᾷ γενεῶν τὰ ἔτη." ἀπερίγραφός ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ὕπαρξις· ἀίδιος γάρ. διόπερ οὐδὲν ἀγνοεῖς τῶν κατ' ἐμέ, λέγοι ἂν ὁ Ἰώβ. ὅτι ἀνεζήτησας τὴν ἀνομίαν μου καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου ἐξιχνίασας. ἐκείνους πάλιν ἐλέγχων ταῦτά φησιν, ὅτι ἡ συμφορὰ ἡ περὶ ἐμὲ πολλὰ ἡμαρτηκότων ἐστίν. ἐπεὶ οὖν οἱ φίλοι 272 ὡς δι' ἁμαρτίας πάσχοντα