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he loosed their sin through Job. And the Lord magnified Job, and when he prayed also for his friends, he forgave them their sin; and the Lord gave double, all that Job had before, for a doubling. Indeed, it is a sufficient honor and distinction to entreat God with prayer, for the purpose of loosing sin. Therefore, before speaking of the doubling of his property, it said: And the Lord magnified Job. And the one full of sores and 388 poor and cast off was praying for those who were healthy and rich and distinguished. So that even now, if we see a poor and sick man praying for others and his prayer proceeding to its effect, marveling at the rich grace of God, let us not be discontented when we find ourselves in similar circumstances; perhaps the richly-giving gift of the Lord will come upon us also. But consider here Job's lack of malice; for he was the first to utter this wonderful cry: Lord, do not hold this sin against them, which the protomartyr Stephen also later uttered. For what need is there to speak of my Lord Jesus, who even in defense of those who crucified him said with compassion: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 389 CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Beginning of the passage: And all his brothers and his sisters heard all that had happened to him, and they came to him. Preface to the chapter Just as in his trial his abandonment was so great that even his royal wife served for a wage, so with the coming of divine grace, all things henceforth prosper for the blessed Job, and his relatives and friends run to him, bring gifts, and feast. And everything henceforth was full of gladness for him. The words 42, 11 And all his brothers and his sisters heard all that had happened to him, and they came to him, and all who had known him from the first. The divine scripture is accustomed to call all relatives brothers and sisters. And a good report, by the grace of God, running about and proclaiming the things concerning him, called all his acquaintances to him. But the phrase they heard all that had happened to him does not mean that they were ignorant of his misfortune, but that each one told his neighbor everything, both of the trial and of the divine visitation; and the narrative of the things concerning Job was for all 390 a pleasant and profitable story. 42, 11 And having eaten and drunk with him, they comforted him and marveled at all the things which the Lord had brought upon him. And each one gave him one female lamb and an unstamped gold tetradrachm. Again, the unresentful and loving Job gladly receives those who approach, and does not cast off the things brought by them, nor does he feel what many feel, nor did he say to those who came: Since during my sickness you did not visit me nor help me, neither now do I accept you nor do I have need of what is from you. But he also gladly received those who came together as if he had suffered nothing from them, and he feasted with them and considered the matter a consolation. For since they ran together by the grace of God, he did not cast off the divine gift, but gladly embraced them all, since even the great Abraham his forefather accepted the gifts of Pharaoh, considering the matter a divine gift. 391 CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Beginning of the passage: And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his former days. Preface to the chapter From this point it enumerates the doubling of his property and says that bodily goods are a divine blessing. For to the ancients were promised as a portion of blessings both the begetting of children and the increase of possessions, just as the opposite was reckoned to them as a curse. Since, therefore, being before the law, he lived his life according to the law and at the same time according to the Gospel, he has received the blessings according to the law, and there is also laid up for him the things promised to the saints in the age to come, which are beyond reason and beyond our understanding. But from the phrase "and it is written that he will rise again" to the end, some say that it is not part of this sacred scripture, but has been inserted into the

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ἔλυσε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῖς διὰ Ἰώβ. ὁ δὲ κύριος ηὔξησε τὸν Ἰώβ, εὐξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ ἀφῆκεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· ἔδωκε δὲ ὁ κύριος διπλᾶ, ὅσα ἦν ἔμπροσθεν τῷ Ἰώβ, εἰς διπλασιασμόν. ὄντως ἱκανὴ τιμὴ καὶ περιφάνεια τὸ εὐχῇ δυσωπῆσαι τὸν θεόν, ἐφ' ᾧ λῦσαι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. διὸ πρὶν εἰπεῖν τὰ διπλᾶ τῆς περιουσίας εἶπεν· ὁ δὲ κύριος ηὔξησε τὸν Ἰώβ. καὶ ὁ εἱλκωμένος καὶ 388 πένης καὶ ἀπερριμμένος ὑπὲρ τῶν ὑγιαινόντων καὶ πλουσίων καὶ περιφανῶν ηὔχετο. ὥστε καὶ νῦν, ἐὰν ἴδωμεν ἄνθρωπον πένητα καὶ νοσοῦντα ὑπὲρ ἑτέρων εὐχόμενον καὶ προχωροῦσαν τὴν εὐχὴν εἰς ἔργον, τὴν πλουσίαν τοῦ θεοῦ θαυμάσαντες χάριν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις γενόμενοι μὴ δυσχεράνωμεν· ἴσως καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἡ πλουσιόδωρος τοῦ κυρίου ἐπιφοιτήσει δωρεά. θεώρει δὲ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Ἰὼβ τὸ ἀμνησίκακον· πρῶτος γὰρ οὗτος τὴν θαυμαστὴν ταύτην ἀφῆκε φωνήν· κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην, ἣ καὶ ὁ πρωτομάρτυς ὕστερον ἐφθέγξατο Στέφανος. περὶ γὰρ τοῦ κυρίου μου Ἰησοῦ τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν, ὅπουγε καὶ περὶ τῶν σταυρούντων αὐτὸν ἀπολογούμενος συμπαθῶς ἔλεγεν· πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσιν. 389 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΤΡΙΑΚΟΣΤΟΝ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· ἤκουσαν δὲ πάντες οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτῷ, καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτόν. Προθεωρία τοῦ κεφαλαίου ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ πειρασμῷ τοσαύτη τις γέγονεν αὐτῷ ἐγκατάλειψις ὡς καὶ τὴν βασιλίδα αὐτοῦ γυναῖκα θητεύειν ἐπὶ μισθῷ, οὕτω τῆς θείας ἐπιφοιτησάσης χάριτος πάντα λοιπὸν εὐοδοῦται τῷ μακαρίῳ Ἰώβ, καὶ συντρέχουσι πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγενεῖς, φίλοι, δωροφοροῦσιν, ἑστιῶνται. καὶ πάντα αὐτῷ λοιπὸν ὑπῆρχε θυμηδίας ἀνάμεστα. Αἱ λέξεισ 42, 11 ἤκουσαν δὲ πάντες οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτῷ, καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ πάντες, ὅσοι ᾔδεισαν αὐτὸν ἐκ πρώτου. ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς πάντας τοὺς συγγενεῖς εἴωθεν ἡ θεία προσαγορεύειν γραφή. φήμη δὲ ἀγαθὴ κατὰ θεοῦ χάριν περιτρέχουσα καὶ τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν περιαγγέλλουσα πάντας πρὸς αὐτὸν τοὺς γνωρίμους ἐκάλει. τὸ δὲ ἤκουσαν πάντα τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτῷ οὐχ ὅτι ἠγνόουν τὰ τῆς συμφορᾶς, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον ἅπαντα ἔλεγε τά τε τοῦ πειρασμοῦ καὶ τῆς θείας ἐπισκέψεως· καὶ ἡδὺ πᾶσι 390 καὶ ἐπωφελὲς διήγημα τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰὼβ ἐτύγχανεν. 42, 11 φαγόντες δὲ καὶ πιόντες παρ' αὐτῷ παρεκάλεσαν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐθαύμασαν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ἐπήγαγεν αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος. ἔδωκε δὲ αὐτῷ ἕκαστος ἀμνάδα μίαν καὶ τετράδραχμον χρυσοῦν ἄσημον. πάλιν ὁ ἀμνησίκακος καὶ ἀγαπητικὸς Ἰὼβ ἡδέως δέχεται τοὺς προσιόντας, καὶ οὐκ ἀποσείεται τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν ἐπενεχθέντα οὐδὲ πέπονθεν, ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ πολλοί, οὐδὲ εἶπε τοῖς προσερχομένοις· ἐπειδὴ παρὰ τὴν νόσον οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με οὐδὲ ἐπεκουρήσατέ μοι, οὐδὲ νῦν ὑμᾶς προσίεμαι οὐδὲ τῶν παρ' ὑμῶν ἐπιδέομαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡδέως ἐδέξατο τοὺς συνελθόντας ὡς οὐδέν τι πεπονθὼς παρ' αὐτῶν, καὶ συνευωχήθη καὶ παράκλησιν τὸ πρᾶγμα νενόμικεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ κατὰ θεοῦ χάριν συνέτρεχον, οὐκ ἀπεσείσατο τὴν θείαν δωρεάν, ἀλλ' ἡδέως ἅπαντας περιεπτύξατο, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ μέγας Ἀβραὰμ ὁ τούτου πρόγονος τὰ τοῦ Φαραὼ προσεδέξατο δῶρα θείαν εἶναι δωρεὰν τὸ πρᾶγμα τιθέμενος. 391 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΤΡΙΑΚΟΣΤΟΝ ΤΡΙΤΟΝ Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· ὁ δὲ κύριος ηὐλόγησε τὰ ἔσχατα {τοῦ} Ἰὼβ ἢ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν. Προθεωρία τοῦ κεφαλαίου ἐντεῦθεν καταριθμεῖται τῆς περιουσίας τὸν διπλασιασμὸν καὶ θείαν εὐλογίαν εἶναι λέγει τὰ σωματικὰ ἀγαθά. ἐπηγγέλλετο γὰρ τοῖς παλαιοτέροις εἰς εὐλογιῶν μοῖραν ἥ τε παιδογονία καὶ ἡ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὔξησις, ὥσπερ καὶ τοὐναντίον εἰς κατάραν αὐτοῖς κατελογίζετο. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν πρὸ νόμου τυγχάνων νομικῶς ὁμοῦ καὶ εὐαγγελικῶς ἐπολιτεύσατο, εἴληφε μὲν τὰς κατὰ νόμον εὐλογίας, ἀπόκειται δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐπηγγελμένα ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι, ὅσα ὑπὲρ λόγον καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἔννοιαν. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ γέγραπται δὲ αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναστήσεσθαι ἕως τοῦ τέλους φασὶ μέν τινες μὴ εἶναι ταύτης τῆς ἱερᾶς γραφῆς, ἀλλὰ παρεγγεγράφθαι τῷ