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For they treated lawlessly those who were shut out and powerless. "Your supplication," he says, "is against you. For he who says to a king: you transgress the law, even if he should entreat, will entreat in vain." Then concerning God's knowledge, he says that He knows all things: 34,21a for He himself, he says, is the beholder of all men, 21b and nothing of what they do is hidden from him, 34,22 nor is there a place for those who do lawless things to hide. 34,23b For the Lord oversees all things, 34,24a who comprehends unsearchable things, 24b and glorious and wonderful things, of which there is no number. 34,25a knowing their works 25b and he will turn the night and they will be humbled. But you, observe for me, how he nowhere attacks Job like they did, but says that God is just, and does not say to him that "you have plundered orphans and widows," how he is admonishing, not accusing. 176 Then after many things he says: 34,35a Job, you have not spoken with understanding, 35b and your words are not with knowledge. This is gentle and of forgiveness, but they say: how long will the wordy wind of your mouth be? 34,36a But nevertheless, learn, Job, 36b give no more answer like the foolish, 34,37a that we may not add, he says, to our sins; 37b and lawlessness will be upon us 37c speaking many words before the Lord. He did not say "lawless" nor "impious," but many, showing that one must not even speak many words against God. For if before a king one would not dare to speak many words against him, much more so before God.
35,1 THEN ELIHU TOOK UP AND SAYS: 35,2a what do you think this is in judgment? 2b who are you, that you said: I am righteous before the Lord, 35,3 or will you say: what shall I do having sinned? 35,4a I will give you an answer 4b and to your three friends: 35,5a Look up to heaven and see, 5b observe the clouds and see how high they are from you. That is: "If not from reasoning, then learn from the things that are seen, how far he is from you and how much higher he is. 35,6a If you have sinned, what will you do? 6b And if you have also committed many lawless acts, what can you do? That is: "You will not harm him at all, nor will you benefit him by being righteous." For since he was saying: if I have sinned, what can I do to you? He says: "Why did you say this? Does he care for you when you sin as if he were being wronged? Does he as if he were sustaining harm?" 177 35,7a And if you are righteous, what will you give him? he says, 7b or what will he receive from your hand? 35,8a To a man like you is your impiety 8b and to a son of man your righteousness. 35,9a From the multitude of those who are falsely accused they will cry out, 9b they will cry out from the arm of many. 35,10a And he did not say: Where is God who made me? "Do you not see," he says, "the height, how great it is?" 35,10b Who appoints, he says, the watches of the night. That is: as in a military camp. Do you not see all things arranged and with greater precision each one remaining in its proper order, nothing of all things transgressing its own boundary nor leaping into foreign territories, just as with all the guards occupying, when men are sleeping no one plots against them. See the wild beasts: when one passes by, then these are sleeping. Ought they not to have ravaged the cities, ought they not to have been destroyed? They sleep, having been bound. 35,11a Who distinguishes me, he says, from the four-footed creatures of the earth 11b and from the birds of heaven. 35,12a There they will cry out, and he will not hear, 12b because of the insolence of evil men. 35,13a For the Lord does not wish to see absurd things; 13b for he himself, the Almighty, is the beholder 35,14a of all who commit lawless acts, who will save me. 14b But be judged before him, if you are able to praise him as he is. 35,15a And now, because he is not visiting his wrath 15b and he did not take great notice of transgression, 35,16a Job also opens his mouth in vain, 16b in ignorance he makes his words heavy. "Do you see," he says, "in heaven, like soldiers, the stars, each patrolling its own post?" He spoke also of the particular benefaction: Who distinguishes me, he says, from 178 the four-footed creatures; this is of the
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ἐχρήσαντο γὰρ ἀνόμως ἐκκλειομένοις καὶ ἀδυνάτοις. «ἡ ἱκετηρία σου», φησίν, «αὐτή σοι ἐναντιοῦται. ὁ γὰρ λέγων βασιλεῖ· παρανομεῖς, κἂν δέηται, μάτην δεηθήσεται.» εἶτα περὶ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ γνώσεώς φησιν, ὅτι πάντα οἶδεν· 34,21a αὐτὸς γάρ, φησίν, ὁρατής ἐστι πάντων ἀνθρώπων, 21b λέληθε δὲ αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ὧν πράσσουσιν, 34,22 οὐδέ ἐστι τόπος τοῦ κρυβῆναι τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὰ ἄνομα. 34,23b ὁ γὰρ κύριος τὰ πάντα ἐφορᾷ, 34,24a ὁ καταλαμβάνων ἀνεξιχνίαστα, 24b ἔνδοξά τε καὶ ἐξαίσια, ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμός. 34,25a γνωρίζων αὐτῶν τὰ ἔργα 25b καὶ στρέψει νύκτα καὶ ταπεινωθήσονται. σὺ δέ μοι παρατήρει, πῶς οὐδαμοῦ καθικνεῖται καθάπερ ἐκεῖνοι τοῦ Ἰώβ, ἀλλά φησιν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς δίκαιός ἐστιν, καὶ οὐ λέγει αὐτῷ, ὅτι «ἥρπασας ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας», πῶς ἐπιτιμητικός ἐστιν, οὐχὶ κατηγορητικός. 176 εἶτα μετὰ πολλά φησιν· 34,35a ˉ̓Ιώβ, οὐκ ἐν συνέσει ἐλάλησας, 35b τὰ δὲ ῥήματά σου οὐκ ἐν ἐπιστήμῃ. τοῦτο ἠρέμα καὶ συγγνώμης ἐστίν, ἐκεῖνοι δέ φασιν· μέχρι πότε πνεῦμα πολυρῆμον τοῦ στόματός σου; 34,36a οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ μάθε, ˉ̓Ιώβ, 36b μὴ δῷς ἔτι ἀνταπόκρισιν ὥσπερ οἱ ἄφρονες, 34,37a ἵνα μὴ προσθῶμεν, φησίν, ἐφ' ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν· 37b ἀνομία δὲ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἔσται 37c πολλὰ λαλοῦσι ῥήματα ἔναντι κυρίου. οὐκ εἶπεν· "παράνομα" οὐδὲ "ἀσεβῆ", ἀλλὰ πολλά, δεικνύς, ὅτι οὐδὲ πολλὰ ἀντιφθέγγεσθαι χρὴ τῷ θεῷ. εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ βασιλέως οὐκ ἄν τις τολμήσειε πολλὰ ῥήματα ἀντιφθέγξασθαι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ θεοῦ.
35,1 ΥΠΟΛΑΒΩΝ ∆Ε ΕΛΙΟΥΣ ΛΕΓΕΙ· 35,2a τί τοῦτο ἡγήσω ἐν κρίσει; 2b σὺ τίς
εἶ, ὅτι εἶπας· δίκαιός εἰμι ἔναντι κυρίου, 35,3 ἢ ἐρεῖς· τί ποιήσω ἁμαρτών; 35,4a ἐγώ σοι δώσω ἀνταπόκρισιν 4b καὶ τοῖς τρισί σου φίλοις· 35,5a ἀνάβλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδέ, 5b κατάμαθε δὴ τὰ νέφη καὶ ἰδέ, ὡς ὑψηλὰ ἀπὸ σοῦ. τουτέστιν· «εἰ καὶ μὴ ἀπὸ λογισμῶν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων μάθε, πόσον σου ἀπέχει καὶ πόσον ἐστὶν ὑψηλότερος. 35,6a εἰ ἥμαρτες, τί πράξεις; 6b εἰ δὲ καὶ ἠνόμησας πολλά, τί δύνασαι ποιῆσαι; τουτέστιν· «οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ἀδικήσεις, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὠφελήσεις δίκαιος ὤν.» ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔλεγεν· εἰ ἥμαρτον, τί δύναμαί σοι πρᾶξαι; φησίν· «διὰ τί τοῦτο εἶπες; μὴ γὰρ ὡς ἀδικούμενος φροντίζει σου ἁμαρτόντος; μὴ γὰρ ὡς βλάβην ὑπομένων;» 177 35,7a καὶ εἰ δίκαιος εἶ, τί δώσεις αὐτῷ; φησιν, 7b ἢ τί ἐκ χειρός σου λήψεται; 35,8a ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁμοίῳ σου ἡ ἀσέβειά σου 8b καὶ υἱῷ ἀνθρώπου ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου. 35,9a ἀπὸ πλήθους συκοφαντούμενοι κεκράξονται, 9b βοήσονται ἀπὸ βραχίονος πολλῶν. 35,10a καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν· ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας με; «οὐχ ὁρᾷς», φησίν, «τὸ ὕψος, ὅσον ἐστίν;» 35,10b ὁ κατατάσσων, φησίν, φυλακὰς νυκτερινάς. τουτέστιν· καθάπερ ἐν στρατοπέδῳ. οὐχ ὁρᾷς πάντα διατεταγμένα καὶ μετὰ πλείονος ἀκριβείας ἕκαστον ἐν τάξει μένον τῇ προσηκούσῃ, οὐδὲν τῶν πάντων τὸν οἰκεῖον ὑπερβαῖνον ὅρον οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπιπηδῶν χωρίοις, καθάπερ τὰ πάντα τῶν φυλάκων κατεχόντων καθευδόντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς ἐπιβουλεύει. ὅρα τὰ θηρία· ὅτε διαβαίνει, τότε οὗτοι καθεύδουσιν. οὐκ ἐχρῆν ἐπινέμεσθαι τὰς πόλεις, οὐκ ἐχρῆν αὐτοὺς ἀπολωλέναι, δεδεμένοι καθεύδουσιν. 35,11a ὁ διορίζων με, φησίν, ἀπὸ τετραπόδων γῆς 11b καὶ ἀπὸ πετεινῶν οὐρανοῦ. 35,12a ἐκεῖ κεκράξονται, καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσακούσῃ, 12b ἀπὸ ὕβρεως πονηρῶν. 35,13a ἄτοπα γὰρ ἰδεῖν οὐ βούλεται ὁ κύριος· 13b αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ παντοκράτωρ ὁρατής ἐστι 35,14a πάντων τῶν συντελούντων τὰ ἄνομα, ὃς σώσει με. 14b κρίθητι δὲ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, εἰ δύνασαι αὐτὸν αἰνέσαι ὡς ἔστιν. 35,15a καὶ νῦν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπισκεπτόμενος ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ 15b καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω παραπτώματι σφόδρα, 35,16a καὶ ˉ̓Ιὼβ ματαίως ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, 16b ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ ῥήματα βαρύνει. «ὁρᾷς», φησίν, «ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καθάπερ στρατιώτας τοὺς ἀστέρας τὴν οἰκείαν ἕκαστον περιπολοῦντας τάξιν;» εἶπε καὶ τὴν ἰδιάζουσαν εὐεργεσίαν· ὁ διορίζων με, φησίν, ἀπὸ 178 τετραπόδων· τοῦτο τῆς