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were blended together. But from this understanding, journeying toward piety, let us prefer it above all things, being clearly persuaded that nothing honorable is comparable to it, but it is itself the true wisdom and knowledge furnished by God to men. But if these things are marvelous and admirable, what could anyone conceive {be able to} about the essential wisdom, the only-begotten Son of God, who shone forth timelessly from the Father's bosom, our Lord Jesus Christ? For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, as the holy apostle said. 242 CHAPTER TWENTY The beginning of the saying: And Job added further, speaking in the prologue: Who will set me as in the month of days past, wherein God preserved me? Protheoria of the chapter As Job wonderfully explained the things concerning the power and wisdom of God, and taught that wisdom is more honorable than all honorable things, and that wise man is the one who is pious and guileless, his friends again kept silent, having nothing to say against what had been spoken. Therefore Job again begins his speech from another starting point, desiring to be in his former happiness and under the visitation and overseeing power of God, and teaching that God-given wealth interwoven with almsgiving is lovely, and eminence blended with righteousness is praiseworthy. For circumstances are set before the philosophical reasoning as material, which if anyone uses according to the will of the Logos, he is shown to be at once pious, God-loving, and blessed. And since many of his friends had slandered him for impiety and injustice, he makes a list of his own brave deeds, almost saying what the apostle later said: I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For although it is written: Let another man praise you, and not your own lips, yet necessity often draws out the perfect 243 to such words, explaining their own affairs dispassionately and without pride. And God also ordains these things to happen in this way for our edification, so that having the lives of holy men as polished images of virtue, and gazing upon them, we might regulate our own life. He also dramatizes his own affairs, so that we in our tribulations, looking to the sufferings of Job, might be comforted. And he also teaches a most beautiful doctrine, that one must not lead oneself out of the body, on account of God who bound the soul to the body. Again, not because he is righteous and suffers, does he add himself to the portion of the impious, but he also calls them wretched; and next he makes a list of his own achievements for our instruction and benefit. Having said these things, Job ended his speech; and his friends also kept silent, having nothing to say against what had been spoken. For they themselves were also aware of the righteous man's achievements. For, it says, Job was righteous in their sight. The words 29, 2 Who will set me as in the month of days past, wherein God preserved me? He speaks of a divine visitation and protection, not only the blessing of children and abundance of wealth, but also that in such great eminence he perfectly kept righteousness, being guarded by the visitation of God. Therefore he also prays to be in those circumstances, as one who loves God, longing to be under the protection of God. 244 29, 3 as when his lamp shined upon my head, when by his light I walked through darkness. Your law is a lamp to my feet, said the psalmist somewhere, singing. Therefore, the divine law and word, spoken by God in the mind of Job—for the written law did not yet exist—prepared him to walk in the dark moon of this life as in light and to perform deeds according to virtue, like a lamp shining over his head—that is, from above—and providing a safe journey for those passing through. So he says: And I abounded in all human goods and safely walked the paths of piety, being illuminated by the divine light. 29, 4 when I was heavy-laden on my ways. when on all sides I was weighed down and like fruitful plants I was burdened with good things in every way, on the one hand with external things, on the other hand also with deeds of piety, not

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συνεκεράσθησαν. ἐκ δὲ ταύτης τῆς κατανοήσεως ἐπὶ τὴν θεοσέβειαν ὁδεύοντες πάντων αὐτὴν προτιμήσωμεν πεπεισμένοι σαφῶς, ὡς οὐδὲν μὲν αὐτῇ τῶν τιμίων ἀντιπαραβάλλεται, αὐτὴ δέ ἐστιν ἡ ὄντως σοφία καὶ ἐπιστήμη ἐκ θεοῦ χορηγουμένη ἀνθρώποις. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα θαυμαστὰ καὶ ἀξιάγαστα, τί ἄν τις νοήσαι {δύναται} περὶ τῆς οὐσιώδους σοφίας, τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦ ἐκ τῶν πατρικῶν ἀχρόνως ἀναλάμψαντος κόλπων, τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ; Χριστὸς γὰρ θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεοῦ σοφία, ὡς ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος ἔφη. 242 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΕΙΚΟΣΤΟΝ Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· ἔτι δὲ προσθεὶς Ἰὼβ εἶπε τῷ προοιμίῳ· τίς ἄν με θείη κατὰ μῆνα ἔμπροσθεν ἡμερῶν, ὧν με ὁ θεὸς ἐφύλαξεν; Προθεωρία τοῦ κεφαλαίου θαυμασίως τοῦ Ἰὼβ τὰ περὶ δυνάμεως θεοῦ καὶ σοφίας ἐξηγησαμένου καὶ διδάξαντος, ὡς πάντων τιμίων ἡ σοφία τιμιωτέρα καὶ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ θεοσεβὴς καὶ ἄκακος, οἱ μὲν φίλοι πάλιν ἡσύχασαν οὐδὲν ἀντιλέγειν ἔχοντες πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα. διὸ πάλιν ὁ Ἰὼβ ἐξ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον ἐρῶν μὲν γενέσθαι ἐν τῇ πρώην εὐδαιμονίᾳ καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν καὶ ἐποπτικὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμιν, ἐκδιδάσκων δέ, ὡς ἀξιέραστον ὁ θεόσδοτος πλοῦτος ἐλεημοσύνῃ συμπεπλεγμένος καὶ ἐπαινετὸν ἡ περιφάνεια δικαιοσύνῃ συγκεκραμένη. ὕλη γὰρ τὰ πράγματα τῷ φιλοσόφῳ πρόκεινται λογισμῷ, οἷς ἐάν τις κέχρηται κατὰ τὸ τοῦ λόγου βούλημα, θεοσεβὴς ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλόθεος καὶ μακαριστὸς ἀναδείκνυται. πολλὰ δὲ τῶν φίλων αὐτὸν ἐπ' ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἀδικίᾳ διαβεβληκότων τῶν ἰδίων ἀνδραγαθημάτων ποιεῖται κατάλογον μονονουχὶ λέγων, ὅπερ ὕστερον ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔφη· γέγονα ἄφρων καυχώμενος, ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε. εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγραπται· ἐγκωμιαζέτω σε ὁ πέλας καὶ μὴ τὰ σὰ χείλη, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν τοὺς τελείους 243 πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ἐξάγει λόγους ἡ ἀνάγκη πολλάκις ἀπαθῶς καὶ ἀτύφως τὰ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐξηγουμένους. οἰκονομεῖ δὲ καὶ θεὸς ταῦτα οὕτω γίνεσθαι πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν ἡμετέραν, ἵνα τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν τοὺς βίους ἀπεξεσμένας εἰκόνας ἀρετῆς ἔχοντες καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰς ἐνατενίζοντες τὸν ἡμέτερον ῥυθμίζωμεν βίον. ἐκτραγῳδεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτόν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς ἐν ταῖς περιστάσεσι πρὸς τὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ παθήματα βλέποντες παραμυθώμεθα. διδάσκει δὲ καὶ δόγμα κάλλιστον τὸ μὴ δεῖν ἑαυτὸν ἐξάγειν τοῦ σώματος διὰ τὸν συνδήσαντα θεὸν τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ σώματι. πάλιν δὲ οὐχ, ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστι καὶ πάσχει, προστίθεται τῇ μερίδι τῶν ἀσεβῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταλανίζει τούτους· καὶ ἐφεξῆς κατάλογον ποιεῖται τῶν οἰκείων κατορθωμάτων εἰς ἡμετέραν διδασκαλίαν τε καὶ ὠφέλειαν. ταῦτα εἰρηκὼς ὁ Ἰὼβ τὸν λόγον κατέλυσεν· ἡσύχασαν δὲ καὶ οἱ φίλοι μηδὲν ἀντιλέγειν ἔχοντες πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα. συνηπίσταντο γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ τῷ δικαίῳ τὰ κατορθώματα. ἦν γάρ, φησίν, Ἰὼβ δίκαιος ἐναντίον αὐτῶν. Αἱ λέξεισ 29, 2 τίς ἄν με θείη κατὰ μῆνα ἔμπροσθεν ἡμερῶν, ὧν με ὁ θεὸς ἐφύλαξεν; θείαν ἐπισκοπὴν λέγει καὶ φυλακὴν οὐ μόνον τὴν εὐπαιδίαν καὶ τοῦ πλούτου τὴν περιουσίαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐν τοσαύτῃ περιφανείᾳ τὸ δίκαιον ἄκρως ἐφύλαξεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φρουρούμενος. διὸ καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις εὔχεται γενέσθαι οἷα φιλόθεος ὑπὸ τῆν τοῦ θεοῦ σκέπην εἶναι ποθῶν. 244 29, 3 ὡς ὅτε ηὔγει ὁ λύχνος αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς μου, ὅτε τῷ φωτὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπορευόμην ἐν σκότει. λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου, ἔφη που ψάλλων ὁ μελωδός. ὁ θεῖος οὖν νόμος καὶ λόγος ἐν διανοίᾳ τοῦ Ἰὼβ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λαλούμενοςοὔπω γὰρ ἦν ὁ γραπτὸς νόμοςπαρεσκεύασεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ σκοτομήνῃ τοῦδε τοῦ βίου ὡς ἐν φωτὶ πορεύεσθαι καὶ τὰς κατ' ἀρετὴν ἐκτελεῖν πράξεις οἷά τις λύχνος ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τουτέστιν ἄνωθενλάμπων καὶ ἀσφαλῆ τὴν πορείαν παρέχων ποιεῖσθαι τοῖς διοδεύουσιν. φησὶν οὖν ὅτι· καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ἐκόμων ἀγαθοῖς καὶ ἀσφαλῶς τὰς κατ' εὐσέβειαν ὥδευον τρίβους τῷ θείῳ φωτὶ καταλαμπόμενος. 29, 4 ὅτε ἤμην ἐπιβρίθων ὁδοῖς. ὅτε πανταχόθεν ἔβριθον καὶ ὥσπερ τὰ εὔκαρπα φυτὰ κατεβαρούμην τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς διὰ πάσης ὁδοῦ, τοῦτο μὲν τοῖς ἔξωθεν, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ταῖς κατ' εὐσέβειαν πράξεσιν, οὐ