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discusses everything, but the book is mystical and looks entirely toward allegory. Therefore, if there is such a beast historically, I am not yet persuaded, but I do not contend. But that the scripture alludes to the devil, has seemed so to many holy men who have also excelled in the church. Therefore, according to this understanding, we will attempt to interpret the passage concerning this. The verses 40, 7 but gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Do not be silent, but gird up your loins like a man, that is: pull yourself together, be a man, shake off your despondency. But with respect to the mind, the temperate man girds his loins because the seeds are said to be in the loins; for which reason also Levi was said to be in the loins of his father when Abraham offered tithes to Melchizedek. And he girds his loins like a man who has his loins girt about 358 with the truth of doctrines, who is rich with temperance and orthodox dogmas, who has done away with childish things and become a man, having received growth in knowledge. I will question you, and you shall answer me: understanding who it is that asks the question, thus you answer. 40, 8 Or do you disown my judgment? Do not refuse to be judged nor flee my judgment. 40, 8 Or do you think I have dealt with you otherwise than so that you might be shown to be righteous? I wish, he says, that you would set forth your righteous deeds. For since Job longed to speak before God of the things he possessed, trusting in His righteous judgment, and was saying that: with God judging I know that I will be shown righteous, God brings these things to his mind, saying, Be judged, be judged by me, you believed well, you hoped well to be shown righteous; for indeed for this reason I permitted the temptations, so that in the end I might deal with you and publish your righteousness to all generations. But see how he did not say: "that you might become righteous"—for he had practiced righteousness exactly—but "that you might be shown," that is: that the things concerning you might be published both for your renown and for the benefit of the world. 40, 9 Or do you have an arm like the Lord's, or do you thunder with a voice like his? Here God shows his own power to Job for the sake of these two reasons. For I allowed you, he says, to be struck not as warring 359 against you nor as being angry, but so that you might be shown righteous; since what strength do you have, that I should even stand against you in war? And in another way: since God said to him, "For this reason I have dealt with you, that you might be shown righteous," lest from this he should become proud, immediately He shows him His own power, suppressing the arrogance that for the most part accompanies those who succeed, even if the blessed Job would not have suffered this. But since the words are for the common good, it is fitting for us always to be humbled, even if we reach the highest peak of virtue, by remembering the ineffable majesty of God. Do you have, he says, therefore, the power to oppose God, or can you thunder like him? 40, 10 Take on height and power, and clothe yourself in glory and honor. Things which indeed by nature belong to God. 40, 11-12 Send forth angels in wrath; humble every insolent man, and extinguish the proud. Make use of the angels, if you can, for the punishment of the insolent and the proud. 40, 12-13 But hide the impious immediately, and make them rot together outside in the earth. But make the impious disappear and send them forth into the lowest parts of the earth and into the outer darkness to rot—instead of "to be punished"—preparing them; and "immediately" instead of: without hindrance, whenever you wish. 360 40, 13 But fill their faces with dishonor. {But hide them in the earth together with the impious.} Understand for me "faces" also as those of the demons, through which they formerly deceived men. 40, 14 Then I will confess that your right hand is able. If you were able to accomplish these things, you will have me confessing to your power. 40, 15 But behold now, beasts beside you eat grass like oxen. From here he introduces the account concerning the intelligible beasts and of Satan himself. Behold now, he says, therefore, there are beasts beside you, wild and untamed, which by my strength are controlled and bridled like the oxen that eat grass. For if God did not bridle their wildness, then

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διαλέγεται πάντα, μυστικὴ δέ ἐστιν ἡ βίβλος καὶ ὅλη πρὸς ἀλληγορίαν βλέπει. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔστι τι καὶ τοιοῦτον θηρίον καθ' ἱστορίαν, οὔπω μὲν πείθομαι, πλὴν οὐ φιλονεικῶ. ὅτι δὲ τὸν διάβολον αἰνίττεται ἡ γραφή, πολλοῖς ἁγίοις ἀνδράσι καὶ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ διαπρέψασιν ἔδοξεν. διὸ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ἔννοιαν τὴν περὶ τούτου λέξιν ἑρμηνεῦσαι πειρασώμεθα. Αἱ λέξεισ 40, 7 μή, ἀλλὰ ζῶσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου, ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι. μὴ σιωπήσῃς, ἀλλὰ ζῶσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου, τουτέστιν· ἀνάλαβε σαυτόν, ἄνδρισαι, ἀπόσεισαι τὴν ἀθυμίαν. πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν ζώννυται τὴν ὀσφὺν ὁ σώφρων διὰ τὸ τὰ σπέρματα ἐν τῇ ὀσφύι εἶναι λέγεσθαι· διὸ καὶ Λευὶ ἐλέγετο ἐν τῇ ὀσφύι τοῦ πατρὸς εἶναι, ὅτε τὰς δεκάτας προσήνεγκε τῷ Μελχισεδὲκ ὁ Ἀβραάμ. ζώννυται δὲ τὴν ὀσφὺν ὡς ἀνὴρ ὁ ἀληθείᾳ δογμάτων τὴν ὀσφὺν περιεζωσ 358 μένος, ὁ μετὰ σωφροσύνης καὶ ὀρθοδόξοις πλουτῶν δόγμασιν, ὁ καταργήσας τὰ τοῦ νηπίου καὶ γενόμενος ἀνὴρ ἐν τῇ γνώσει δεξάμενος αὔξησιν. ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι· ἐννοήσας, τίς ὁ τὴν ἐρώτησιν ποιούμενος, οὕτως ἀποκρίνου. 40, 8 ἢ ἀποποιῇ μου τὸ κρίμα; μὴ παραιτοῦ δικάσασθαι μηδὲ ἔκφευγε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν. 40, 8 οἴει δὲ μὴ ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι ἢ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος; θέλω, φησίν, ἵνα παραθῇ τὰ σὰ δίκαια. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ Ἰὼβ ἐπόθει ἐπὶ θεοῦ λέγειν τὰ προσόντα θαρρῶν τῇ αὐτοῦ δικαιοκρισίᾳ καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι· θεοῦ κρίνοντος οἶδα ὅτι ἀναφανοῦμαι δίκαιος, τούτων αὐτὸν εἰς ἔννοιαν ὁ θεὸς ἄγει, δίκασαι, λέγων, κρίθητι παρ' ἐμοί, καλῶς ἐπίστευες, καλῶς ἤλπιζες ἀναφανήσεσθαι δίκαιος· καὶ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο συνεχώρησα τοὺς πειρασμούς, ἵνα ἐπὶ τέλει χρηματίσω σοι καὶ πάσαις δημοσιεύσω ταῖς γενεαῖς τὴν σὴν δικαιοσύνην. ὅρα δέ, ὡς οὐκ εἶπεν· ἵνα γένῃ δίκαιοςἦν γὰρ ἀκριβῶς τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἀσκήσας, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀναφανῇς, τουτέστιν· ἵνα δημοσιευθῇ τὰ κατὰ σὲ εἴς τε σὴν εὔκλειαν καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὠφέλειαν. 40, 9 ἢ βραχίων σοί ἐστι κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἢ φωνῇ κατ' αὐτὸν βροντᾷς; ἐνταῦθα θεὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἐνδείκνυται τῷ Ἰὼβ δύο τούτων αἰτιῶν χάριν. συνεχώρησά σε, γάρ φησιν, πληγῆναι οὐχ ὡς πολεμῶν 359 σοι οὐδὲ ὡς ὀργιζόμενος, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος· ἐπεὶ ποία σοί ἐστιν ἰσχύς, ἵνα καὶ εἰς πόλεμον ἀντικαταστῶ σοι; καὶ ἄλλως δέ· ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός· διὰ τοῦτό σοι κεχρημάτικα, ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος, ἵνα μὴ ἐντεῦθεν μέγα φρονήσῃ, εὐθὺς αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐνδείκνυται δύναμιν καταστέλλων τὴν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ παρεπομένην τοῖς κατορθοῦσιν ὑπεροψίαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰὼβ τοῦτο οὐκ ἂν ἔπαθεν. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ κοινωφελεῖς εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι, ἡμᾶς ἀεὶ καταστέλλεσθαι προσήκει, κἂν εἰς τὸ ἀκρότατον ὕψος τῆς ἀρετῆς φθάσωμεν, τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἄφατον ἐνθυμουμένους μεγαλειότητα. μὴ ἔστι σοι, φησίν, τοιγαροῦν δύναμις ὥστε ἀντιτάξασθαι θεῷ, ἢ δύνῃ βροντῆσαι κατ' αὐτόν; 40, 10 ἀνάλαβε δὲ ὕψος καὶ δύναμιν, δόξαν δὲ καὶ τιμὴν ἀμφίασαι. ἃ δὴ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχει τῷ θεῷ. 40, 1112 ἀπόστειλον δὲ ἀγγέλους ἐν ὀργῇ· πᾶν δὲ ὑβριστὴν ταπείνωσον, ὑπερήφανον δὲ σβέσον. χρῆσαι δὲ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις, εἰ δύνῃ, εἰς τιμωρίαν τῶν ὑβριστῶν καὶ ὑπερηφάνων. 40, 1213 ἀσεβεῖς δὲ παραχρῆμα κρύψον, σῆψον δὲ ὁμοθυμαδὸν εἰς γῆν ἔξω. ἔργασαι δὲ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἀφανεῖς καὶ εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐξώτερον ἔκπεμψον σκότος σήπεσθαιἀντὶ τοῦ τιμωρεῖσθαιαὐτοὺς παρασκευάζων· τὸ δὲ παραχρῆμα ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἀκωλύτως, ὅτε ἂν βουληθῇς. 360 40, 13 τὰ δὲ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ἀτιμίας πλήρωσον. {κρύψον δὲ εἰς γῆν ὁμοθυμαδὸν μετὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν.} πρόσωπα νόει μοι καὶ τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων, δι' ὧν πάλαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἠπάτων. 40, 14 ὁμολογήσω ἄρα, ὅτι δύναται ἡ δεξιά σου. ἐὰν ταῦτα δυνατὸς ἦς ἀπεργάσασθαι, ἕξεις με συνομολογοῦντα τῇ σῇ δυνάμει. 40, 15 ἀλλὰ δὴ ἰδοὺ θηρία παρὰ σοὶ χόρτον ἴσα βουσὶν ἐσθίει. ἐντεῦθεν τὸν περὶ τῶν νοητῶν θηρίων εἰσάγει λόγον καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἰδοὺ δή, οὖν φησιν, θηρία εἰσὶ παρὰ σοὶ ἄγρια καὶ ἀνήμερα, ἅτινα τῇ ἐμῇ ἰσχύι κρατοῦνται καὶ χαλινοῦνται ὡς οἱ βοῦς οἱ τὸν χόρτον ἐσθίοντες. εἰ μὴ γὰρ θεὸς ἐχαλίνου αὐτῶν τὴν ἀγριότητα, ἄρα