John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job

seem to contribute, much more in these things. If in the carnivorous animals you see some rational wisdom from natural science inherent in each and a foreknowledge, for one of war, for others of the dead, and the vulture carried in the air---.

40,3 THEN JOB ANSWERED AND SAID TO THE LORD: 40,4a why am I still judged

being admonished and reproved by God 4b hearing such things, being nothing 4c I? And what answer shall I give to these things? 4d I will lay my hand on my mouth; 40,5 I have spoken once, but I will not add a second time. Why, he says, am I still judged? From the very beginning and from the start he yielded the first place. "I am defeated," he says, "by you in my right. Why do you press the suit further? For what is it possible to answer?"

40,6 AND FURTHER THE LORD ANSWERED AND SPOKE TO JOB OUT OF THE CLOUD: 40,7a No,

but gird up your loins like a man. 7b I will ask you, and you answer me. Do you see how those who are confident in the abundance of their rights do not even let their fleeing opponents go, so that the victory might be by a surplus? 195 Then he makes his defense to him: "That I care for men is clear from this, that I brought this temptation upon you." 40,8a Do not reject my judgment 8b nor suppose that I have spoken to you for any other reason than that you might appear righteous. Or he means the present utterance: "Not that I may condemn you do I say these things," he says, "but that I may show you to be righteous." Or concerning the temptation he says utterance, meaning the permission, that is: "that I commanded this to happen for some other reason." He did not say "that you might become," but "that you might appear to be what you were, that you might teach others." Or he means the present utterance: "For this reason I said these things, that by uttering these words you might appear righteous, not that I might condemn you." Then again he compares his own strength and his hatred of evil, that "I both can," he says, "and I do and I have used my power against the wicked." 40,9a Or do you have an arm, he says, like the Lord, 9b or do you thunder with a voice of thunder like him? "Do you thunder," he says, "as I do?" 40,11b and humble every insolent man, 40,12a and extinguish the proud. The thunder and the other things are not, then, for display, but for the knowledge of God. See, by how many things he convicts him of the lowliness of his nature, and he does not say, "you are lowly," but "I am great and you cannot do what I do." Then he says: 40,15a Or are there beasts with you 15b that eat grass like oxen? For the wonderful thing is that it is a beast that is not bloodthirsty. 196 Then he speaks about two certain creatures, one of the land and the other of the water and the sea. And we are not unaware that many think these things were said about the devil, taking them allegorically. But it is necessary first to take care of the literal account and then, if anything from the allegory also benefits the hearer, not to overlook it. For let all things be done for edification, he says. Then he says: 40,20a And having gone up to a steep mountain 20b he has made joy for the four-footed beasts in Tartarus. That is: the beasts breathed again toward the high places when that one withdrew. For this reason he made these two great, that you might learn that he is able to make all such things, but does not. For he has made them for your use. See how he keeps his own laws; that part of the sea, which is unnavigable, these creatures graze upon. "What is the need?" someone might perhaps say. For the most part, we are ignorant of their secret need; but if one must say something, it is that it leads us to the knowledge of God. Just as among the stars some are more numerous, and some less, and some are larger, and some small, so it is also with the beasts. If he had made only large ones, you would have said that he could not make small ones. If small ones, the opposite again; if tame, you would have said that he could not make wild ones. There is much variety in existing things, in the inanimate, in those with sensation, in the rational, in the irrational. "And what is the benefit," you say, "of the creation when its works are unknown to us?" For example, these beasts many of us do not know, but those who sail the sea know and report to those who do not,

δοκοῦσι συντελεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν τούτοις. εἰ ἐν τοῖς σαρκοβόροις τινὰ λογικὴν σοφίαν ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐπιστήμης ἐνοῦσαν ἑκάστῳ καὶ πρόγνωσιν, τῷ μὲν πολέμου, τοῖς δὲ τῶν ἀποθανόντων, ὁρᾷς καὶ ἐν ἀέρι φερόμενον τὸν γύπα ---.

40,3 ΥΠΟΛΑΒΩΝ ∆Ε ΙΩΒ ΛΕΓΕΙ ΤΩ ΚΥΡΙΩ· 40,4a τί ἔτι ἐγὼ κρίνομαι

νουθετούμενος καὶ ἐλεγχόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ 4b ἀκούων τοιαῦτα οὐδὲν ὢν 4c ἐγώ; ἀπόκρισιν δὲ τίνα δῶ πρὸς ταῦτα; 4d χεῖρα θήσω ἐπὶ στόματί μου· 40,5 ἅπαξ ἐλάλησα, ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ οὐ προσθήσω. τί ἔτι, φησίν, ἐγὼ κρίνομαι; ἐκ προοιμίων καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρεχώρησε τῶν πρωτείων. «ἥττημαι», φησίν, «παρὰ σοὶ τὸ δικαίωμα. τί περαιτέρω τὴν δίκην ἐπεξάγεις; τί γὰρ δυνατὸν ἀποκρίνασθαι;»

40,6 ΕΤΙ ∆Ε ΥΠΟΛΑΒΩΝ Ο ΚΥΡΙΟΣ ΕΙΠΕ ΤΩ ΙΩΒ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΝΕΦΟΥΣ· 40,7a μή,

ἀλλὰ ζῶσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου. 7b ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι. ὁρᾷς, πῶς οἱ περιουσίᾳ δικαιωμάτων θαρροῦντες οὐδὲ φεύγοντας τοὺς ἀντιδίκους ἀφιᾶσιν, ὥστε ἐκ περιουσίας γενέσθαι τὴν νίκην; 195 εἶτα αὐτῷ ἀπολογεῖται· «ὅτι μὲν μέλει μοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν, ὅτι τοῦτον ἐπήγαγόν σοι τὸν πειρασμόν.» 40,8a μὴ ἀποποιοῦ μου τὸ κρίμα 8b μηδὲ οἴου με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἀλλ' ἵνα φανῇς δίκαιος. ἢ τὸν παρόντα λέγει χρηματισμόν· «οὐχ ἵνα σε κατακρίνω, λέγω ταῦτα», φησίν, «ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξω δίκαιον.» ἢ περὶ τοῦ πειρασμοῦ φησιν χρηματισμὸν τὴν συγχώρησιν λέγων, τουτέστιν· «προστεταχέναι με δι' ἄλλο τι τοῦτο γενέσθαι». οὐκ εἶπεν "ἵνα γένῃ", ἀλλ' «ἵνα φανῇς, ὅπερ ἦς, ἵνα τοὺς ἄλλους παιδεύσῃς». ἢ τὸν παρόντα λέγει χρηματισμόν· «διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα εἶπον, ἵνα ταῦτα φθεγξάμενος τὰ ῥήματα φανῇς δίκαιος, οὐχ ἵνα σε κατακρίνω.» εἶτα πάλιν ἀντεξετάζει αὑτοῦ τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ τὸ μισοπόνηρον, ὅτι «καὶ δύναμαι», φησίν, «καὶ ποιῶ καὶ τῇ δυνάμει κατὰ τῶν πονηρῶν κέχρημαι.» 40,9a ἢ βραχίων σοί ἐστιν, φησίν, κατὰ κύριον, 9b ἢ φωνῇ βροντῆς κατ' αὐτὸν βροντᾷς; «μὴ βροντᾷς σύ», φησίν, «ὡς ἐγώ;» 40,11b πάντα δὲ ὑβριστὴν ταπείνωσον, 40,12a ὑπερήφανον δὲ σβέσον. οὐκ ἄρα πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν ἡ βροντὴ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεογνωσίαν. ὅρα, δι' ὅσων τὸ ταπεινὸν τῆς αὐτοῦ φύσεως ἐλέγχει αὐτὸν καὶ οὐ λέγει, ὅτι "ταπεινὸς σύ", ἀλλ' ὅτι «μέγας ἐγὼ καὶ οὐ δύνασαι, ἅπερ ἐγώ». εἶτά φησιν· 40,15a ἢ παρὰ σοὶ θηρία 15b ἴσα βουσὶ χόρτον ἐσθίουσιν; τὸ γὰρ θαυμαστόν, ὅτι θηρίον οὐχ αἱμοβόρον ἐστίν. 196 εἶτα λέγει περὶ δύο τινῶν, τοῦ μὲν χερσαίου τοῦ δὲ ἐνύδρου καὶ θαλαττίου. καὶ οὐκ ἀγνοοῦμεν, ὅτι πολλοὶ περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαι νομίζουσι κατὰ ἀναγωγὴν ἐκλαμβάνοντες. δεῖ δὲ πρότερον τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπιμεληθῆναι καὶ τότε, εἴ τι τὸν ἀκροατὴν ὠφελεῖ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀναγωγῆς, μὴ παριδεῖν. πάντα γὰρ πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν γινέσθω, φησίν. εἶτά φησιν· 40,20a ἐπελθὼν δὲ εἰς ὄρος ἀκρότομον 20b ἐποίησε χαρμοσύνην τετράποσιν ἐν τῷ ταρτάρῳ. τουτέστιν· ἀνένευσε τὰ θηρία πρὸς τὰ ὑψηλὰ ἀναχωρήσαντος ἐκείνου. διὰ τοῦτο μεγάλα ἐποίησε ταῦτα τὰ δύο, ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι δύναται πάντα τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐ ποιεῖ. πρὸς γὰρ τὸ χρήσιμόν σοι πεποίηκεν. ὅρα, πῶς φυλάττει τοὺς οἰκείους νόμους· τὸ μέρος τῆς θαλάσσης, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἄπλωτον, ταῦτα ἐπινέμεται. «τίς ἡ χρεία;» ἴσως εἴποι τις ἄν. μάλιστα μὲν ἀγνοοῦμεν τὴν ἀπόρρητον αὐτῶν χρείαν· εἰ δὲ χρή τι εἰπεῖν, ὅτι πρὸς θεογνωσίαν ἡμᾶς ἄγει. καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς ἀστράσιν οἱ μὲν πλείους, οἱ δὲ ἐλάττους, καὶ οἱ μὲν μείζους, οἱ δὲ μικροί, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων. εἰ μεγάλα μόνα ἐποίησεν, εἶπες ἄν, ὅτι μικρὰ οὐκ ἠδύνατο. εἰ μικρὰ τὸ ἐναντίον πάλιν, εἰ ἥμερα, εἶπες ἄν, ὅτι ἄγρια οὐκ ἠδύνατο. πολλὴ ποικιλία ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν, ἐν τοῖς ἀψύχοις, ἐν τοῖς κατ' αἴσθησιν, ἐν τοῖς λογικοῖς, ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις. «καὶ τί τὸ ὄφελος», φῄς, «τῆς δημιουργίας ἀγνοουμένων ἡμῖν τῶν ἔργων;» οἷον ταυτὶ τὰ θηρία οἱ πολλοὶ ἀγνοοῦμεν, ἀλλ' οἱ πλέοντες τὴν θάλασσαν ἴσασι καὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσι τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν,