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I have sinned, what can I do for you? That is: I can do nothing so great as to wipe away my sin, unless I obtain your philanthropy. Therefore, Job said more reverently: even if I bring all my power to bear to wipe out my sin, I am unable to do it; for the matter requires your mercies. 35, 4 But I will give you an answer, and to your three friends. Since the three friends were in error and Job did not speak with understanding, he promises to bring forth words better than all of them. 35, 5 Look up to heaven and see, consider the clouds, how high they are above you. Lift up, he says, your eyes, both the physical and those of the mind, and having seen how much heaven surpasses men, yield 301 to the majesty of God and to his unattainable judgments. 35, 6 If you have sinned, what will you do? And if you have committed many iniquities, what can you do? to one so wonderful? 35, 7 Since, therefore, you are righteous, what will you give him? Or what will he receive from your hand? And if you are righteous, what righteousness will you perform, that you may please him? 35, 8 To a man like yourself is your impiety, and to a son of man your righteousness. According to the aforementioned sense, he says this: that with difficulty, having sinned against a man, then having offered him every service, you can equate your righteousness to redeem the sin. But he who has sinned in something against God, what such thing can he do, or what righteousness can he bring in exchange for redemption? It is also possible to understand the preceding verses in another way. For as Job had said: If I have sinned, what can I do to you? and as he said he was righteous, Elihu says that: whether you have sinned or are righteous, God will neither be harmed nor benefited from this. Therefore, do not be lifted up by your righteousness. 35, 9 Because of the multitude, those being falsely accused will cry out. For men, he says, being falsely accused will cry out from the multitude of evils. 35, 9 they will cry out from the arm of many. 302 And from the many terrible things they suffer from the strength—for this is what the arm signifies—of the powerful {who} cry out to God. 35, 10 And he did not say: Where is God who made me? But against those the wronged come crying, against those who do not consider that they have God as their maker. 35, 10 Who appoints the watches of the night. Not considering that he himself set the measures of the night. For since the night is divided into four watches, from these he signified the measures of the night, and he who taught men to praise God in the watches of the night. At midnight, for David says, I arose to confess to you for the judgments of your righteousness. And according to this sense Theodotion has rendered it thus: _who_ _gives_ _praises_ _in_ _the_ _night_. And according to a deeper thought, since the present life is night because of the confusion of sin, God has appointed guards for us, such as commandments and angels who guard us. {And he is the one who appoints the watches of the night.} 35, 11 Who separates me from the four-footed beasts of the earth, and from the birds of the air. The unjust did not consider how they were honored above the irrational creatures on earth and the birds that fly through the air. 35, 12 There they will cry out, and he will not hear, and from the insolence of evil men. Or the wronged there—that is, to God—will cry out from the insolence of evil men, so that the phrase "and he will not 303 hear" is a question, meaning: and God will hear them crying out. Or, if the unjust and arrogant, being wronged by other evil men, cry out to God, they are not heard; for toward such people, he says, God is unyielding. But what follows fits with either sense. 35, 13-14 For the Lord does not wish to see absurd things, for he, the Almighty, is a seer of those who commit lawless acts, and he will save me. Having spoken of God's hatred of evil and how nothing done by men escapes his notice, but that he also watches over the lawless to punish them, he wove a prayer into his speech, saying: and he will save me. 35, 14 But be judged before him, if you are able to praise him as he is. What then do you want with one so great and of such a kind, he says,

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ἥμαρτον, τί σοι δύναμαι ποιῆσαι; ἀντὶ τοῦ· οὐδὲν τοσοῦτον δύναμαι ποιῆσαι ὥστε ἐξαλεῖψαι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, εἰ μὴ τῆς σῆς τύχω φιλανθρωπίας. εὐλαβέστερον οὖν ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἰὼβ ὅτι· κἂν πᾶσάν μου δύναμιν εἰσαγάγω πρὸς τὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἀπαλεῖψαι, ἀμηχανῶ τοῦτο πρᾶξαι· τὸ γὰρ πρᾶγμα τῶν σῶν οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπιδέεται. 35, 4 ἐγὼ δέ σοι δώσω ἀπόκρισιν καὶ τοῖς τρισὶ φίλοις. ὡς καὶ τῶν τριῶν φίλων πεπλανημένων καὶ τοῦ Ἰὼβ οὐκ ἐν συνέσει λαλήσαντος αὐτὸς ὑπισχνεῖται κρείττονας ἁπάντων προφέρειν λόγους. 35, 5 ἀνάβλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδέ, κατάμαθε νέφη ὡς ὑψηλὰ ἀπὸ σοῦ. ἆρον, φησίν, τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, τούς τε σωματικοὺς καὶ τοὺς τῆς διανοίας, καὶ θεωρήσας, πόσον ὑπερέχει ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀνθρώπων, παρα 301 χώρει τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλειότητι καὶ τοῖς ἀνεφίκτοις αὐτοῦ κρίμασιν. 35, 6 εἰ ἥμαρτες, τί πράξεις; εἰ δὲ καὶ πολλὰ ἠνόμησας, τί δύνασαι ποιῆσαι; τῷ οὕτως θαυμαστῷ; 35, 7 ἐπειδὴ οὖν δίκαιος εἶ, τί δώσεις αὐτῷ; ἢ τί ἐκ χειρός σου λήψεται; εἰ δὲ καὶ δίκαιος εἶ, ποίαν δικαιοσύνην σου πράξεις, ἵνα ἀρέσῃς αὐτῷ; 35, 8 ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁμοίῳ σου ἡ ἀσέβειά σου καὶ υἱῷ ἀνθρώπου ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου. κατὰ τὴν εἰρημένην ἔννοιαν τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι· μόγις, εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἁμαρτών, εἶτα πᾶσαν αὐτῷ θεραπείαν προσαγαγών, δύνῃ ἐξισῶσαι τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου εἰς τὸ ἀπολυτρώσασθαι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. ὁ δὲ εἰς θεόν τι ἁμαρτήσας, τί δύναται τοιοῦτον πρᾶξαι, ἢ ποίαν δικαιοσύνην ἀντεισαγαγεῖν εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν; ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως νοῆσαι τὰ προκείμενα. ὡς γὰρ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἰρηκότος· εἰ ἥμαρτον, τί σοι δύναμαι ποιῆσαι; καὶ λέγοντος ἑαυτὸν εἶναι δίκαιον, φησὶν ὁ Ἐλιοὺς ὅτι· κἂν ἥμαρτες κἂν δίκαιος ᾖς, οὐδὲν ἐκ τούτου θεὸς ἢ βλαβήσεται ἢ ὠφεληθήσεται. μὴ οὖν ἐπαίρου ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ δικαιοσύνῃ. 35, 9 ἀπὸ πλήθους συκοφαντούμενοι κεκράξονται. ἄνθρωποι μὲν γάρ, φησίν, συκοφαντούμενοι κεκράξονται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν κακῶν. 35, 9 βοήσονται ἀπὸ βραχίονος πολλῶν. 302 καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ὧν πάσχουσι δεινῶν ἐκ τῆς ἰσχύοςτοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ ὁ βραχίωντῶν δυνατῶν {οἳ} πρὸς θεὸν βοῶσιν. 35, 10 καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν· ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας με; κατ' ἐκείνων δὲ προσέρχονται κράζοντες οἱ ἀδικούμενοι, κατὰ τῶν μὴ λογιζομένων, ὅτι τὸν θεὸν ἔχουσι ποιητήν. 35, 10 ὁ κατατάσσων φυλακὰς νυκτερινάς. μὴ λογιζομένων, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἔταξε μέτρα νυκτί. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰς τέσσαρας φυλακὰς ἡ νὺξ διῄρηται, ἀπὸ τούτων τὰ μέτρα τῆς νυκτὸς ἐσήμανε καὶ ὁ διδάξας ἀνθρώπους αἰνεῖν τὸν θεὸν ἐν ταῖς νυκτεριναῖς φυλακαῖς. μεσονύκτιον, γάρ φησιν ὁ ∆αυίδ, ἐξεγειρόμην τοῦ ἐξομολογήσασθαί σοι ἐπὶ τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου. κατὰ δὲ ταύτην τὴν ἔννοιαν καὶ Θεοδοτίων οὕτως ἐκδέδωκεν· _ὁ_ _δ_ι_δ_ο_ὺ_ς_ _α_ἰ_ν_έ_σ_ε_ι_ς_ _ἐ_ν_ _ν_υ_κ_τ_ί_. κατὰ δὲ βαθυτέραν διάνοιαν νυκτὸς ὄντος τοῦ παρόντος βίου διὰ τὴν σύγχυσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας φύλακας ἡμῖν ἔταξεν ὁ θεός, οἷον ἐντολὰς καὶ ἀγγέλους τοὺς ἡμᾶς φυλάττοντας. {καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ κατατάσσων φύλακας νυκτερινάς.} 35, 11 ὁ διορίζων με ἀπὸ τετραπόδων γῆς, ἀπὸ δὲ πτηνῶν οὐρανοῦ. οὐ διελογίσαντο οἱ ἄδικοι, ὡς ἐτιμήθησαν ὑπὲρ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἄλογα καὶ κατὰ ἀέρα διιπτάμενα πετεινά. 35, 12 ἐκεῖ κεκράξονται καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσακούσῃ καὶ ἀπὸ ὕβρεως πονηρῶν. ἢ οἱ ἀδικούμενοι ἐκεῖἀντὶ τοῦ· πρὸς θεόνἀπὸ τῆς ὕβρεως τῶν πονηρῶν κεκράξονται, ἵνα ᾖ κατ' ἐρώτησιν τὸ καὶ οὐ μὴ 303 εἰσακούσῃ, ἀντὶ τοῦ· καὶ ἀκούσει αὐτῶν βοώντων ὁ θεός. ἢ οἱ ἄδικοι καὶ ὑπερήφανοι ὑπὸ ἑτέρων πονηρῶν ἀδικούμενοι ἐὰν κράξωσι πρὸς θεόν, οὐκ εἰσακούονται· πρὸς γὰρ τοὺς τοιούτους, φησίν, ἀνεπιστρέπτως ἔχει ὁ θεός. πρὸς ἑκατέραν δὲ ἔννοιαν ἁρμόζει τὰ ἐπαγόμενα. 35, 1314 ἄτοπα γὰρ ἰδεῖν οὐ βούλεται ὁ κύριος, αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ παντοκράτωρ ὁρατής ἐστι τῶν συντελούντων τὰ ἄνομα καὶ σώσει με. εἰρηκὼς τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ μισοπόνηρον καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν διαλανθάνει αὐτὸν τῶν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις πραττομένων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφορᾷ κολαστικῶς τοὺς ἀνόμους, εὐχὴν ἐπέπλεξε τῷ λόγῳ φήσας· καὶ σώσει με. 35, 14 κρίθητι δὲ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, εἰ δύνασαι αὐτὸν αἰνέσαι ὡς ἔστιν. τί οὖν πρὸς τὸν τοσοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον θέλεις, φησίν,