In which there is a brief explanation given of the twentieth
and twenty-first chapter of the Book of Job.
THAT
the friends of blessed Job could never have been bad men, the words of
Zophar the Naamathite bear witness, who on hearing from his lips the
terribleness of the Judgment to come, adds directly;
Ver.
1. Therefore do my thoughts changefully succeed one another, and my mind
is transported diverse ways.
[i]
[LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
1.
As though he said in plain words; ‘Because I see the terribleness of the
last Judgment, therefore I am confounded in a state of consternation by the
tumults of my thoughts.’ For the mind spreads itself wider in its range of
thought, the more it considers how dreadful that is which threatens it. And
‘the mind is transported diverse ways,’ when with anxious alarm she weighs
and considers, one while the evil she has done, at another time the good she
has left undone, now all the blameable practices that she remains in, and
now the right habits that she sees to be lacking to her. But though the
friends of blessed Job, instructed by habituation to his life, knew how to
live well, yet, being uninstructed to form an exact estimate of God’s
judgments, that anyone of the righteous can be susceptible of ills here
below, they did not believe possible. And hence they imagined that holy man
to be wicked, whom they saw scourged, and, in consequence of this suspicion,
it came to pass that they slipt aside into the upbraiding of him as well,
whereunto nevertheless they do not descend, save under the guise of a kind
of respect. Hence Zophar adds in these words;
Ver.
3. The lesson whereby thou dost reproach me I will hear; and the spirit
of my understanding wilt answer me.
[ii]
2.
As though he said in plain words; ‘Thy words indeed I hear, but whether they
were delivered aright, I discern by the spirit of my understanding.’ For
they that disregard the words of the teacher, employ his teaching not for an
assistance but for an occasion of contention, rather that they may criticise
the things heard than to follow them. This then being premised with a sort
of restraint, he now springs out into the open reviling of the blessed man,
when he adds;
Ver.
4, 5. I know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the
triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a
moment.
[iii]
3.
Now it is clear to be seen that being puffed up with the spirit of his
understanding, he warps the sentences, which he pronounces against the
ungodly, to the reproving of blessed Job. For in him whom he first saw
following right ways, and afterwards undergoing punishment, he reckons all
that he saw to have been but hypocrisy, in that he did not believe it
possible for a just servant to be put to distress by a just God. But those
same sentences, which, being right, he did not pronounce in a right way, let
us go through, weighing them with earnest intentness of mind; and setting at
nought what he says untrue against blessed Job, let us consider how true are
the things he speaks, if he were speaking them against the ungodly. I
know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of
the wicked is short. Going to tell the shortness of the present life,
he carried back the eye of the interior to the outset of the commencement,
in order to collect from the past how nothing all things are, that while
they continue to be, seem to be something. For if we carry the eyes of our
imagination from the very commencement of the human race up to the present
time in which we now are, we see how short all was that was of a nature to
come to an end. Let us imagine a man to have lived from the first day of
the world’s creation to this present day, yet on this day to end the life,
which he seemed to have continued to so great a length, lo, the end is come,
the things past are already become nought, in that every thing has passed
away. For the future in this world is nought, in that not a moment, or the
very shortest particle of time remains to our life. Where then is that long
time, which, comprehended between the beginning and the end, is so wasted in
substance, just as if it had not ever been even short in duration?
4.
Therefore because the wicked have their heart centered in this life, surely
they set themselves up therein and seek to win applause. They are lifted up
by the flattery of the lips, having no desire to be good, but only to be
called so. Which praise they think is of a great length while they receive
it, but understand to have been brief when they lose it. Whence it is well
said against these wicked persons, This I know of old, since man was
placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short; and it is
well added, And the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. It often
happens that while the hypocrite passes himself off for holy, without a fear
of letting himself appear wicked, he is honoured of all men, and the high
credit of holiness is awarded to him, by those who can make out the outside,
but have no eyes to look into the interior of things. Whence it happens,
that he triumphs in having the first seat, is overjoyed in getting the first
couch, filled with pride at receiving the first invitation, elevated at the
respectful address of his followers, swoln in the pride of his heart at the
observance of his dependents, as is said of such by the voice of Truth
Himself. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make
broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and
love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
[Matt. 23, 5] But all this joy of theirs, compared with eternity, what will
become of it, when, the crisis of death being upon them, it perishes, as
though it had never been? Of which same joy the mirth is all gone, the
punishment remains, and when the thing is lost, the guilt [causa,
aitia?]
endures. And it is well said; The joy of the hypocrite like a point.
For in making a point the style is lifted up as soon as set down, and there
is no lingering, that it may be drawn along a line to be described. And so
the joy of the hypocrite ‘is like a point,’ in that it appears for a moment,
and is gone for ever; and just as the style, in the case of a point, while
set down is lifted up in one, so the hypocrite, whilst he touches, parts
with the joys of the present life. Concerning whom it is also added;
Ver.
6, 7. Though his pride mount up unto the heavens, and his head reach
unto the clouds: Yet he shall perish at last like the dunghill.
[iv]
5.
The pride of the hypocrite is said to ‘mount up unto the heavens,’ when his
high-mindedness has the appearance of leading a heavenly life; and his ‘head
as it were reaches unto the clouds,’ when the leading part, i.e. his
intellect, is thought to equal the merits of the Saints that have gone
before. Yet he ‘perishes at last like the dunghill,’ because at his death,
when he is led to torments, being full of the dung of evil habits, he is
trodden under foot of evil spirits. For the joys of the present life, which
the unrighteous account great good, righteous men look upon as dung. Whence
it is written; A slothful man is stoned with the dung of oxen. [Ecclus.
22, 2] Thus he that will not follow God is made slothful in the love
of the life everlasting. And as often as he is stricken with the loss of
temporal goods, he is surely troubled on the score of those things, which
the righteous look down upon as ‘dung:’ what else is it with him, then, that
is bruised with the buffeting of things earthly, than that he ‘is stoned
with the dung of oxen’ And the hypocrite is justly described like a
dunghill, in that while he aims to obtain temporal glory, at one time in the
imagination of his heart he swells within himself, at another time he
grudges that same glory to some, and laughs at others having it really. For
all the evil qualities then that he is full of, his breast as it were is
defiled with so much dung, in the eye of the Eternal Judge. Therefore it
may be said, Though his pride mount up unto the heavens, and his head
reach unto the clouds, yet he shall perish at last like the dunghill.
Which same, though he feign to lead a heavenly life, though he shew his view
of truth to accord with the true preachers, yet he ‘perishes like a dunghill
in the end,’ in that his soul is damned for the stench of his evil
qualities. It goes on;
They
which had seen him shall say, Where is he?
[v]
6.
It generally happens that the life of the hypocrite is even by all men
discovered at the end to be damnable, for it to be made appear by plainer
marks now what sort they were of. They then that saw him elate at this
present time shall say of him when dead, Where is he? For neither is he
seen here where he was elated, nor yet in the rest of eternity, which he was
supposed to be of. Concerning the shortness of whose life it is yet further
added with fitness;
Ver.
8. He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall
be chased away as a vision of the night.
[vi]
7.
What else is the life of the hypocrite but the vision of a phantom, which
exhibits that in semblance which it does not possess in truth? Whence too
it is justly likened to ‘a dream,’ in that all praise and glory is, as it
were, gone from him whilst it is being held. For oftentimes in a ‘vision of
the night,’ some that are poor are full of wonder that they are made rich,
they see honours awarded to them, they behold heaps of riches, a multitude
of attendants, the most beautiful garments, abundance of food presented to
them. They are delighted to have escaped poverty, which they bore with a
grieved spirit; but on a sudden, when they wake, they find how false all the
joy was which they felt, and they are sad that they have awoke, in that real
want gripes them awake. Thus the minds of hypocrites, whilst what they do
is one thing, and what they exhibit to men another, win applause by the mere
exhibiting of holy living; in the esteem of men they are set before numbers
that are better, and whilst they are highminded with the secret thought
within, they exhibit themselves without as humble. And whereas they are
excessively commended by men; they imagine that in the eyes of God also they
are such, as they delight to make themselves known to be to their
fellow-creatures. Hence it comes to pass that they assume that they will
likewise obtain the rewards of eternal life, and they who triumph here
below, upon the commendations of their fellow-creatures, doubt not for a
moment that they will have rest there; but in the midst of this the secret
hour of their call creeps upon them, and while they shut the eyes of the
flesh they open those of the spirit, and so soon as they have gotten eternal
punishments, they there see, that they were rich in the repute for virtues
only in sleep. Well then is it said of such a hypocrite, Yea, he shall
be chased away as a vision of the night. For this, that he sees himself
for a brief space rich in man’s esteem, is of the show of a phantasm, not of
the substance of virtue [al. of reality]. For when his soul wakes up
at the dissolution of the flesh, it learns, assuredly, that it was in a
sleeping state that it saw the partial regards of men about it. It goes on;
Ver.
9. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more: neither shall his
place any more behold him.
[vii]
8.
What is the ‘place’ of the hypocrite, saving the heart of his flatterers?
For there he rests, where he finds partialities towards him. Therefore ‘the
eye that saw him shall see him no more,’ because being removed by death, he
is hidden from his foolish lovers, who were wont to behold him, admiring
him. ‘Neither shall his place any more behold him,’ because the tongues of
his flatterers do not follow him with their partialities to the Judgment.
Yet so long as he lives he does not cease to teach his followers likewise
the things that he practises himself; and through the frowardness of his
erring way he begets others also in a likeness to that false pretension
which he shews forth. Concerning whom it is fitly added in this place,
Ver.
10. His children shall be wasted with poverty.
[viii]
9.
It is written, For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter [Wisd.
1, 4]; and it is declared by the Psalmist, The rich have lacked and been
a hungred [Ps. 34, 10]. For if their want and hunger were spoken of
outward starving, then surely they would be any thing but rich, who were in
want of the bread of the body. But forasmuch as whilst they are increased
without, they are rendered void within, they are described as rich and needy
at one and the same time, in that they never entitle themselves to be filled
with the bread of wisdom. And so the children of this hypocrite are ‘worn
down with want,’ because they that are born in hypocrisy in mimicry of him,
whilst they do not hold the substance of truth, are brought to nought in the
penury of the heart.
And
his hands shall repay him his own grief.
[ix]
10.
What is denoted by ‘hands,’ saving works? Thus ‘his hands will repay him
grief,’ because he will reap just damnation from his wicked course of life.
Now it is well said, not ‘give,’ but ‘repay,’ in that his froward deeds
shall pay him back eternal punishment like a kind of debt. But before he is
brought to eternal punishment, let him add more fully the sort of character
that he shews himself here. It goes on,
His
bones shall be full of the sin of his youth, and shall sleep with him in the
dust.
[x] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
11.
The origin of a bad beginning by preoccupying further multiplies the causes
of sin. For when a man has begun to do evil, by custom he now grows to a
worse height in that which he had begun. What then is the ‘youth’ of this
hypocrite, but the beginning of wickedness, since in youth passion now
begins to kindle? And the hypocrite then has youth, when he begins to long
for and to embrace the passion for glory. Which same, whilst the soft
salves of flatterers redouble it, they give strength to, and as it were turn
it into bones. For what he begins badly, he is daily strengthening for the
worse by custom. Therefore let it be said; His bones shall be full of
the sin of his youth; in that the rigid habits of evil practices in him
are taken from the sin of an ill beginning. Hence it is written in the
Proverbs, The young man according to his own way, when he is old, will
never depart therefrom. [Prov. 22, 6] Which same ‘bones’ truly ‘will
sleep with him in the dust,’ for so long do evil practices endure in him,
until they drag him to the dust of death. Since for his ‘bones,’ or evil
habits, to ‘sleep with him in the dust’ is for these never to quit him even
to the very dust, that is, never to cease from sin even until death.
Therefore bad habits, which are once begun, keep hold of him, and daily
become more hardened. And they ‘sleep with him in the dust,’ because they
are never ended but with his life. But this may be taken in another sense
also.
12.
For the hypocrite occasionally has something in practice that is strong and
vigorous, but whilst he makes believe to have many good points that he is
without, he loses even these which he has. Whence it is well said now;
His bones shall be full of the sin of his youth. For whereas in his
levity and fickleness he does many things like a child, even in strong ones
which he may do he is enervated in sin. Which same ‘bones shall sleep with
him in the dust,’ because as all that hypocrisy which he carries on is dust,
so too whatever he has in him that is strong is robbed of all its solidity,
so that by pretension to virtue he loses that also which there might have
been in him of a virtuous nature. And so for ‘his bones’ to ‘sleep with him
in the dust’ is even if there be things done well, for them to come to
nought together with his evil deeds. It proceeds;
Ver.
12. For when wickedness shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it
under his tongue.
[xi]
13.
‘Wickedness is sweet in the mouth’ of the hypocrite, in that evil tastes
sweet to him in the thought. For ‘the mouth’ of the heart is the thought,
whereof it is written; Deceitful lips spake evil in a double heart.
[Ps. 12, 2] Now the evil that is thus sweet in the mouth of the hypocrite
is hidden under the tongue, in that the harshness of an evil disposition,
which lies hidden in the mind, is concealed under the cloak of a mild
address. For the evil would be on the tongue and not under it, if the
hypocrite in speaking disclosed the mischievousness of his froward heart.
But as is the case with most of the righteous, when they see any persons
acting badly, who deserve to be visited with severe rebukes, they put
harshness on the tongue, but under the tongue cover the kindness of their
feelings; (whence too it is said to Holy Church by the voice of the Spouse;
Honey and milk are under Thy tongue. [Cant. 4, 11] For they that
shrink from disclosing the sweetness of their inward feeling to the weak,
and so in speaking strike them with a degree of harshness, and yet amongst
their harsh words secretly as it were let drop a sprinkling of sweetness,
these persons clearly have sweetness not on the tongue, but under the
tongue, in that amidst the hard words which they utter, they give out some
that are sweet and softened, whereby the wounded mind may be cheered and
refreshed by kindness;) so with the wicked severally, because they have evil
not upon the tongue, but under the tongue, in the words of their mouth they
hold out sweet things, and in the thoughts of their heart are plotting
mischiefs. For it is hence that Joab held the beard of Amasa with his right
hand, whilst secretly putting his left hand to his sword, he shed out his
bowels. [2 Sam. 20, 9] For to hold the chin with the right hand is to
caress as if in kindness. But he puts his left hand to his sword, who in
secret strikes in malice. Hence too it is written concerning their head
himself; Under his tongue is mischief and pain. [Ps. 10, 7] For he
that doth not display openly the ill that he designs, does not put forth on
the tongue the mischief and pain of those, whose destruction he aims at, but
keeps them close under the tongue. Now it is rightly added of this
hypocrite,
Ver.
13. He will spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his
throat.
[xii] [LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
14.
For the evil that he delights in he ‘spares,’ because he does not, by
practising penance, hunt it down in himself. Whence too it is added; and
forsake it not. For if he had the mind to ‘forsake,’ he would not
‘spare’ it, but would pursue it closely. Now he ‘keeps it within his
throat;’ because he so retains it in thought, that he never utters it in
speech. It goes on;
Ver.
14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within
him.
[xiii]
15.
What bread is in the belly, the same is fulness of earthly gratification in
the mind. So let the hypocrite now be filled to the full with the praises
tendered him, let him revel in honours, ‘his bread in his belly is turned
into the gall of asps,’ because the fulness of transitory enjoyment, in the
final Retribution, will be turned to bitterness, in that what here passed
for the praise of greatness is discovered to have been ‘the gall of asps,’
i.e. the prompting of evil spirits. For the wicked then perceive that they
are infected with the venom of the old serpent, when, being delivered over
to avenging flames, they are tormented along with that prompter of theirs.
And so this ‘bread’ has one sort of taste in the mouth, and another in the
belly, in that the joy of transitory pleasure is sweet, while it is tasted
here by a chewing of teeth, as it were, but it turns bitter in the belly,
because when the joy is past it is swallowed to his ruing.
16.
Or indeed forasmuch as bread is not unsuitably taken for the sense of the
Holy Scriptures, which refreshes the mind and furnishes it with the sinews
of right practice, and the hypocrite generally makes it his object to be
well instructed in the mysteries of Holy Writ, not that he may live by them,
but that it may appear to the rest of the world how learned he is, his
‘bread in his bowels is turned into the gall of asps,’ in that whilst he
boasts of the knowledge of the Sacred Law, he converts the draught of life
into a cup of poison to himself, and dies in a state of reprobation from the
same cause, whence he appeared to derive instruction unto life. Nor is this
again unfitly taken to be the meaning, that while the hypocrite sometimes
applies himself to the word of instruction for display, being blinded by
God’s judgment, he takes in a wrong sense that very word which he seeks in a
wrong spirit. But when he falls into heretical error, it is his fate, that
as by the ‘gall of asps,’ so the unhappy wretch perishes by ‘bread;’ and in
his own self instruction he finds death, because in the words of life he
never sought life. But it often happens that the sentences of divine
warning, even if they be understood rightly by the hypocrite, forasmuch as
he neglects to observe them in practice, are lost to him even before the
course of the present life is at an end, so that it is taken from him to
know, what while he knew he refused to practise. Hence it is added;
Ver.
15. The riches he hath swallowed down, he shall vomit up, and God shall
cast them out of his belly.
[xiv]
17.
The hypocrite desires to know the revelations of God, yet not to practise
them. He would speak sagely, but not live so. For this reason, then, that
he does not do what he knows, even that which he knows he loses, that
forasmuch as he does not unite pure practice with his knowledge, contemning
purity of right practice he loses the knowledge also. Therefore the
‘riches’ of the Sacred Law, which he ‘swallowed’ in reading, he vomits in
forgetting, and God ‘casts them out of his belly,’ in that what he would not
observe to do, by a righteous judgment He roots out of his recollection,
that at all events he should not keep the precepts of God in the tongue,
which he kept not in his life. Whence it is said by the Prophet; But
unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, and
that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? [Ps. 50, 16] Which
words of instruction if it ever at any time chance that the hypocrite should
seem to retain in his mouth until the end, he will be condemned the more on
the very grounds, whereon not even a bad man is ever deprived of the good
gift of God. For it is written; To those that remember His commandments
to do them. [Ps. 103, 18] He then that keeps His commandments in mind,
but never does them, such an one holds in the words of instruction the
sentences whereby he is condemned.
18.
For hence it is written in Zechariah; What seest thou, Zechariah? And I
answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the
breadth thereof ten cubits. This said he to me; This is the curse that
goeth over the face of the whole earth. For everyone that stealeth shall be
judged as on this side according to it. [Zech. 5, 2. 3.] For
what is a ‘flying roll’ saving Holy Writ, which whilst it tells us of
heavenly themes, lifts up the bent of the mind to things on high; for while
we see that it is above us, we leave minding, i.e. desiring things below.
And it is described as having ‘a breadth of ten cubits’ and a ‘length of
twenty cubits,’ in that the breadth of our practice is single, and the long
expectance of hope is extended to double, since in return for our good
practice both here there is peace of mind, and there eternal joys in store
for us, as Truth bears witness, Who saith; And everyone that hath
forsaken houses or lands, &c. shall receive an hundredfold, and shall
inherit everlasting life. [Matt. 19, 29] For the number one hundred is
completed by the number ten multiplied ten times. Thus he gets back an
hundredfold [perhaps ‘an hundredfold here.’ (reading Hic.)], who,
though he has nothing, by the mere perfection of his mind alone, no longer
seeks to possess any thing in this world. And in this way, since by this
same we have a double measure paid back to us for a single one, that roll is
justly drawn out through twenty cubits in length, which is carried out in
breadth through ten. But because these very sacred oracles stand for
eternal condemnation to those who either will not acquaint themselves with
them, or in any wise when made acquainted with them set them at nought, it
is rightly said of this roll, This is the curse, which goeth forth over
the face of the whole earth. And wherefore it is called a curse is
added; For everyone that is a thief, as it is therein written,
shall be judged. Therefore the hypocrite, as he cares not to live after
the words of the law which he knows, and seeks golden opinions by store of
instruction, will be ‘a thief to be judged,’ since by this, that he speaks
just words, he usurps to himself the praise of the just man’s life.
Concerning whom it is still farther added rightly,
Ver.16. He shall suck the head of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay
him.
[xv]
19.
The ‘asp’ is a small serpent, but the ‘viper’ hath more length of body. And
asps produce eggs, and their young are hatched from the eggs. But when
vipers have conceived, their ‘young ravin in their womb, which bursting the
parents’ sides issue out of their bellies. Hence too it is called the
‘viper,’ because it is a ‘parent [vi parit.] by violence.’ Thus the
viper is so produced that it comes forth by violence, and is brought into
the world by the killing of the mother. What then is represented by the
little asps, saving the hidden suggestions of impure spirits, who steal upon
[Ben. ‘surripiunt,’ Steal from, both others ‘surrepunt.’] the hearts of men
by slight prompting at first, and what by the ‘viper’s tongue’ save the
violent temptation of the devil? For at first he steals upon them gently,
but afterwards he drags them even by force. And so he ‘sucks the poison of
asps,’ in that the little beginning of secret suggestion is first produced
in the heart, but ‘the viper’s tongue slayeth him,’ in that afterwards the
captive soul is killed by the venom of violent temptation. In the first
case unclean spirits speak to the heart of man with their crafty counsels,
and these, while they persuade with gentleness, as it were infuse the poison
of asps. Whence it is written, They break asps eggs, and weave the
spider’s web; He that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is hatched
breaketh out into a basilisk. [Is. 59, 5] Since to ‘break asps’ eggs,’
to wicked men is, to manifest by evil deeds the counsels of evil spirits,
which lurk in their hearts. Moreover, to ‘weave spiders’ webs’ is, on
account of the lust of this world, to be busied in any temporal
employments. Which, whilst they are established with no stedfastness,
assuredly are carried off by the wind of a mortal life. And it is well
added; He that eateth of their eggs dieth. In that he that admits
the counsels of impure spirits kills the life of his soul in him. ‘And that
which is hatched, breaketh out into a basilisk,’ in that the suggestion of
the bad spirit which is covered up in the heart, is nursed unto full
iniquity. For ‘basilisk’ [‘Regulus,’ which is a translation of the Greek
Basiliscov.
see
Plin. viii. 21.] means the king of serpents, and who is the head of the sons
of perdition, save Antichrist? Therefore ‘that, which is hatched, will
break out into a basilisk,’ in that he who harbours in himself the counsel
of the ‘asp’ to nourish them to life, being made a member of the wicked
head, is engrafted into the body of Antichrist. Of which hypocrite it is
said, He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall slay
him, in that when he gladly welcomes the evil suggestion of our old
enemy, afterwards he surrenders himself vanquished to his forcible
temptations. Hence too in Paradise, to man when he was standing, he brought
in words of soft suggestion, but him whom he once caught away to the act of
consent, now henceforth he forces on even resisting him, and conquered by
the gratifications of his corrupt state of being, kills him well nigh by
dint of violence. But perhaps we may be able to make out the meaning of
these same sentences by a contrary mode of interpretation. Thus because the
‘asp’ kills quickly by its venom, but the ‘viper’ more slowly, by the ‘asp’
we have denoted a violent and instantaneous temptation, but by the ‘viper’ a
gentle and prolonged one. And hence to the one death is said to lie in the
‘sucking of the head,’ but to the viper ‘in the tongue,’ in that a sudden
temptation often as soon as it arises kills the soul off its guard, but a
lengthened temptation, because it is longer recommending evil things by the
suggesting of them, kills as does a viper with its tongue. And because
every hypocrite, being penetrated with the suggestion of evil spirits, as
with the poison of serpents, never considers what are the gifts from above
of the Holy Spirit, while he spreads abroad the bent of the heart in golden
opinions without, it is rightly added;
Ver.
17. He shall not see the streamlets of the torrent river of honey and
butter.
[xvi]
20.
The Lord saith in the Gospel; He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [John 7,
38. 39.] Where the Evangelist subjoins, saying, But this spake He of the
Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. And so ‘the
streamlets of the river’ are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Charity is ‘a
streamlet of the river,’ faith is ‘a streamlet of the river,’ hope is ‘a
streamlet of the river.’ But because no hypocrite ever loves either God or
his neighbour, when he makes the transitory glory of the world his aim, he
does not see the streamlets of the river, in that he is not watered with the
overflowing of charity. Whereas the hypocrite goes after present gains, he
disregards future blessings, and not having faith, he sees not in the mind
‘the streamlet of the river,’ inasmuch as faith is the evidence of things
not seen. [Heb. 11, 1] And while the hypocrite clings to the things
that are seen, he makes light of those, which are not seen, therefore he
does not see the ‘streamlets of the river’ in desire, in that he is taken up
with visible things alone. And it is written, For what a man seeth, why
doth he yet hope for? [Rom. 8, 24] He then would have seen
‘streamlets of the river’ if he had shut his eyes to the glory of this
world, and opened them to the love of the heavenly country. And observe
that he does not say ‘streams,’ but ‘streamlets.’ For the ‘streamlets of
the river’ may be taken for those spiritual gifts, which trickle in such
fine streams from heavenly sources into the soul of him that loveth, that
they can never be compassed by the mouth of the flesh. For it is often the
case that the spirit of him that loves is filled with such a mighty gift of
contemplation, that it has power to see what it has not power to utter. Now
the ‘torrent river’ is the inundation of the Holy Spirit itself, which in
exuberant outpouring is gathered in the soul of him in contemplation, when
his mind is full beyond what he is able to comprehend. And it is necessary
to be known, that when the grace of the Holy Spirit bathes us, it fills us
with ‘honey and butter’ equally. For ‘honey’ falls from above, but ‘butter’
is drawn from the milk of animals, and so ‘honey’ is from the air, ‘butter’
from the flesh. But the Only-begotten Son of the Most High Father, while He
is God above all things, was made Man one among all things. Who when he
replenished us with the sweetness of His Divine Nature and the mystery of
His Incarnation, satisfied us with ‘honey and butter’ at once. And so
seeing that the Holy Spirit rejoices the soul It has filled, at once with
the sweetness of His divinity and the belief of His Incarnation, these are
described as ‘the streamlets of the torrent river of honey and butter’
together, in that they both refresh the soul with sweetness by the exalted
knowledge of God, and anoint it with the mystery of the Benefit [Charismatis]
by the grace of the Incarnation. But whereas this hypocrite, being
dissipated in outward regards, does not taste these interior gifts, he
adjoins to what after punishments he is tending, in that it is added;
Ver.
18. He shall pay for all the things that he hath done, nor yet shall he
be consumed.
[xvii] [LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
21.
For he ‘pays’ in torment for those desires, which he retained here contrary
to right, and being consigned to avenging flames, he is always dying, in
that he is always kept alive in death. For he is never consumed in death,
in that if his life in dying were consumed, his punishment likewise would be
brought to an end together with his life; but that he may be tormented
without end, he is forced to live on without end in punishment, that he
whose life here was dead in sin, may have his death there living in
punishment. Let him say then; He shall pay for all the things that he hath
done, nor yet shall he be consumed, forasmuch as he is tormented, and not
put out, he dies and lives, he is falling away and holding on, always
finishing, without being finished. These things are very terrible in the
healing of the ear only, how infinitely more terrible in the enduring of
them! Now because the multiplicity of his wickedness demands that he should
never be without punishment, it is fitly added;
According to the multitude of his inventions shall he also suffer.
[xviii]
22.
For whereas he found out many things in order to sin, he is tormented with
new inventions in punishment. Since what he could not have suspected here,
he is made sensible of there, when he is given over to vengeance. For as
the Elect in exercising themselves in good works, sometimes set themselves
to do more than the Lord thought fit to bid them, (for virginity of the
flesh is no where commanded, but only commended; since if it were commanded,
then it would follow that wedlock must henceforth be deemed sin, and yet
there are many strong in the virtue of virginity, so as to render more in
service than they received in command,) so very commonly the wicked are each
practised in bad ways, so that they find out in evil doing more for them to
do than by the practice of the lost they received examples of wickedness.
And hence they are stricken with the torments of an ampler retribution, in
that they too of their own heads invented practices on an ampler scale,
which they deserve to be stricken for. And so it is well said, According to
the multitude of his inventions shall he also suffer. For he would not find
out new wickedness, except he also sought it; and he would not seek it,
except he was eager to do it of set purpose. Therefore in his tormenting
the excessiveness of evil devising is taken into account, and he receives
the pain of a worthy recompense. And although the woe of all the damned is
infinite, yet they have worse torments inflicted upon them, who invented
many things in wicked ways by their desires as well. Now since Zophar has
brought in the punishment of this hypocrite, he immediately adds his sin,
nor does he describe anyone in particular, but that from which all sins have
their origin. For it is written, Covetousness is the root of all evil.
[1 Tim. 6, 10] He then, whom covetousness is described as having dominion
over, surely is proved to be subject to all evil propensities. Thus he
subjoins,
Ver.
19, 20. Because he hath broken down and laid bare the house of the poor,
because he hath violently taken it away and not builded it, neither is he
satisfied in his belly.
[xix]
23.
He ‘breaks in pieces and lays bare the house of the poor,’ who is not
ashamed as well to rob out of avarice him whom he crushes by power. ‘He
violently taketh it away and doth not build it.’ As if it were expressed in
plain words; ‘He that ought to have builded it, he over and above takes it
away.’ For the Lord Who is to come in judgment, shall say to the reprobate,
For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye covered
Me not, &c. [Matt. 25, 42. 43.] as the consequence of which sin it is
added, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels. If then he is sentenced to so great a penalty,
who is convicted merely of not having given away his own, with what
punishment does not that man deserve to be stricken, who is proved to have
taken the things of others also? And so he ‘took it away and did not build
it up,’ in that he not only never gave any thing of his own, but also took
away what was another’s. Now it is well added; Surely his belly shall
not be satisfied. For the ‘belly’ of the wicked man is avarice, in that
there is collected together in it whatsoever is swallowed with wrong desire.
But it is plain that avarice is not extinguished, but increased by the
objects desired. For like fire, when it has got fuel to feed on, it
increases; and from the same cause that the flame appears to be restrained
for a moment, it is seen a little while after to spread itself out. And it
often happens that when Almighty God is greatly wroth with the covetous
soul, He first lets all things accrue to it according to its wish, and
afterwards takes it away in vengeance, that it may undergo eternal
punishments on account of them. And hence it is added;
And
when he shall have that which he desired, he shall not be able to possess
it.
[xx]
24.
For it is a mark of greater indignation, when that thing is given which is
desired amiss, and therefrom there ensues sudden retribution, because he got
that likewise, which he went after when God was wroth the while. And hence
it is said by the Psalmist, where the people are described as having lusted
after flesh for food in a wrong way; But while their meat was yet in
their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the most of them.
[Ps. 78, 30. 31] For the judgments of God are used to be slower in
appearing, when wrong wishes are hindered that they should not be put in
execution. For the quicker that a bad wish is suffered to be fulfilled, it
is usually punished the more speedily in proportion. And so by the very
act, whereby the hypocrite is aggrandized in haste to become powerful, it is
brought to pass with proportionate rapidity, that he should not be. For the
trees too that grow slower, last to number many years, and those which make
way in a short space of time, wither the sooner, and in a manner, whilst
they are hasting to be, they are going the way not to be. It goes on;
Ver.
21. There shall none of his meat be left.
[xxi]
25.
‘His meat’ is all that he coveted with wrong desire; but when the hypocrite
is struck, ‘there is none of his meat left,’ in that when he is himself
carried to eternal punishments, he is parted from all the good things that
he had gotten here. And hence it is yet further added;
Therefore shall nought remain from his goods.
For
if ‘aught did remain of his goods,’ he would take along with him the things
that he had possession of. But because while going after every thing, he
would not fear the Judge, upon being removed out of this life, he goes naked
to the Judge. To which same wicked man, it is but little for his
recompensing that he is tormented in after punishment, if only in this life
he is let to go free. But there is no liberty in sin, seeing that it is
written; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; [2 Cor.
3, 17] and to the wicked soul usually its very own sin becomes its own
punishment. And hence it is rightly added;
In
the fulness of his sufficiency, he shall be in straits.
[xxii]
26.
For first from avarice he pants to heap together things he covets, and when
he has gathered together a great multitude as it were in a kind of belly of
avarice, ‘in the fulness of his sufficiency, he is in straits,’ in that
whilst he is full of anxiety how he may keep the things he has gotten, his
own fulness itself straitens him. For the field of a certain rich man had
brought abundant fruits, but because he had not where to lay up such stores,
he said, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my
fruits. And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and
build greater. [Luke 12, 17. 18.] He then who from being straitened by
his abundance said, What shall I do? was in a fever as if oppressed with a
quantity of food. Let us consider with what longings he desired his land
might produce abundant crops. Behold now his wishes are completed, seeing
that the land did bring him abundant fruits. But forasmuch as there are not
places enough to stow it away, the rich man being greatly aggrandized knows
not what he should do. O straitness caused by ‘fulness of sufficiency!’ By
the abundance of his land the mind of the covetous man is straitened. For
when he says, What shall I do? he clearly shews that, surcharged with
the engrossments of his desires, he went heavily under a kind of bundle of
stores; and so it is well said, In the fulness of his sufficiency he
shall be in straits. Since the mind of the covetous man, which had
before looked for rest from plenty, was afterwards put to worse trouble for
the keeping thereof. And hence it is also yet further added;
He
shall burn with heat, and every woe shall come down upon him.
[xxiii]
27.
For first he had sorrow in the mere wearying of his own concupiscence how to
snatch hold of the things coveted, how to secure one sort by arts of
flattery, another sort by means of threats; but after that having possessed
himself of the gifts of fortune he has attained his desire, another
annoyance wears him down, viz. that it is with fear and anxiety he keeps
safe that which he remembers it cost him infinite trouble to acquire. On
every side he dreads conspirators, and fears to be himself subjected to the
very thing that he has done to others. One more powerful he is afraid of,
lest he be exposed to violence from him; a poor man, when he sees one, he
looks on as a thief. The things themselves which he has hoarded up, he is
at great pains about, lest by the failure of their own inherent nature they
be consumed by neglect. In all these particulars then, because fear by
itself is punishment, the unhappy wretch suffers things as great as he fears
to suffer. And after this he is yet further brought to hell, and given over
to eternal torments. Therefore ‘every woe cometh down upon him,’ who is at
once consumed first here by the punishment of coveting, afterwards by the
trouble of safe keeping, and there at some future time by the punishment of
retributive wrath.
28.
But it is wonderful security of the heart, not to seek what does not belong
to us, but to rest content with each day’s sustenance day by day. From
which same security it is that the Rest everlasting also arises, seeing that
from a good and quiet frame we pass to eternal delights. Contrariwise lost
sinners are at once worn down here in desires, and there in torments. And
from the labour of taking thought there arises to them the labour of pain,
in that by the fever of avarice they are drawn into the fire of hell. And
because, as we have already often said, it often happens that the wicked
man, the sooner he attains his object, is the more easily carried off to
torment, it is added in the form of a wish.
Ver.
23. Would that his belly might be filled, that God might cast the fury
of His wrath upon him, and rain His war upon him.
[xxiv]
29.
The Lord ‘rains His war’ upon this hypocrite, when he smites his deeds with
the swords of His judgments. Thus for God to ‘rain war,’ is His pressing
hard to destruction the life of the wicked man by His strict sentences from
on high. God ‘raining war’ is His smiting the hearts that are lifted up
against Himself, and His wounding the blasted soul with the darts of His
judgments, as with a kind of thickening drops of rain, that when he is now
carried off to judgment, one while he should remind himself how he coveted
wickedly, and more wickedly set himself to heap together the things he
coveted, at another time grieve that he is parted from the things thus
heaped together, and one day feel the very fire of retribution, which, that
he might not live well, he was too indifferent to foresee. It goes on;
Ver.
24. He shall flee from the iron weapons; and rush upon the bow of brass.
[xxv]
30.
We ought to know, that avarice sometimes steals upon men from pride, and
sometimes from apprehension. Thus there are some who whilst they aim to
appear with greater power, are kindled to the going after the things of
others; and there are some, who while they are afraid lest the necessaries
of the aids of life should be wanting to them, freely give their minds to
covetousness, and go after the things of others when they fancy that their
own may not be enough for them. Now all necessity is not unaptly termed
‘iron,’ in that it pains the life of him that wants with the wound of grief,
as it is likewise expressed concerning the necessities of him, who, being
sold by his brethren, led an afflicted life; The iron entered into his
soul. [Ps. 105, 18] What then are ‘the iron weapons’ but necessities of
the present life, which press hard upon, and push to extremity, the life of
the needy? Since iron is consumed by rust, but brass is naturally more
difficult to be consumed by it. Therefore by ‘iron’ there is represented
present necessity which is transient, but by ‘brass’ the eternal doom. And
whereas the judgment Above is not heeded by the mind of the wicked man, it
is justly likened to a ‘bow,’ since it strikes as it were out of ambush,
whilst the person that is struck does not observe it. And thus, He shall
flee from the iron weapons, and rush upon the bow of brass; in that whilst
from dreading present necessities, he seizes things without number, through
maliciousness he is exposing himself before the severe strokes of the final
judgment; and, while he ‘fleeth the weapons of iron,’ he is encountered by
the arrows from the bow of brass, in that, while foolishly providing against
the ills of time, he is struck by eternal doom. For whosoever with guilt
fleeth the hardness of need here, meets there an everlasting duration of
just retribution. But before the time that he is hurried off to judgment,
what are the things which this wicked man is busied in here, he yet further
informs us. It goes on;
Ver.
25. He is drawn and cometh out of his sheath, yea, lightening in his
bitterness.
[xxvi]
31.
This wicked man lays plots in arts of robbery on his neighbours. And whilst
he is plotting mischief in the thoughts of his heart, it is as if ‘the sword
were still in its sheath;’ but when he wickedly executes the mischief, which
he has contrived, he ‘cometh out of his sheath,’ in that he is brought out
to view, from the secresy of his thoughts, in the wickedness of evil doing.
He is shewn to light in the deed, such as he was, hidden from view, in the
thought. And observe that he says, drawn and cometh out; i.e. ‘drawn’ by
the deceiver, but ‘coming out’ by the act of his own free will. For he that
is ‘drawn’ unquestionably follows one that draws him. But he that ‘cometh
forth,’ seems to act according to his own will. That man, then, who is at
once drawn to the several wicked practices by our old enemy, and yet fast
bound in the desire of them by his own free will, is described as ‘drawn and
coming forth from his sheath,’ since this thing, that he issues forth from
the bad thought to the worst enacting, belongs at once to the wickedness of
that spirit that prompted, and of him that consented by an act of his own
will.
32.
The terribleness of whose power is further shewn, where it is immediately
added, Yea, lightening in his bitterness. For when the lightning
comes suddenly from above, when it shines with terribleness before our eyes,
it displays shining brightness, and strikes the object before it. Thus,
thus is it with the wicked man, when he has secured to himself the glory of
the present life: by the same cause by which he is shewn to view bright by
power in the present world, it is brought to pass that he is blasted at the
last. For the wicked man’s as it were ‘lightening,’ is his shining in this
life’s honour; but whereas the splendour of that glory is consigned to the
eternal woes of hell, it is rightly said in this place, ‘Yea, lightening in
his bitterness.’ For he that now seems as though he took delight in
striking by terribleness and brightness, for this cause afterwards undergoes
punishments for everlasting. And indeed it is written of a certain rich man
that he ‘fared splendidly’ every day. Now it is one thing to shew
‘splendidly,’ and another to ‘lighten;’ for sometimes there is splendour
without striking, but splendour with striking is described by the title of
‘lightning.’ He then who being placed in power does injury to others, is
not unaptly entitled ‘lightening,’ in that from the same means whereby he is
himself exalted against the good, as it were by the light of glory, the life
of the good is made to feel torture. It goes on;
Terrible ones shall come and go over him.
[xxvii]
33.
Who are here called ‘terrible ones’ except evil spirits, who are to be
feared and avoided by godly minds? And whereas those same evil spirits are
to be believed to attach themselves severally to certain particular vices,
when this wicked man seems to quit for a moment one set of faults, and
begins to commit another, then surely ‘the terrible ones come and go over
him,’ in that the soul of the bad man though one set of bad habits abandons,
yet another takes possession of it. For you may often see the bad man, who
is set in earthly power, agitated with furious passion, and executing all
that his rage suggests; and when his fury is gone, then directly lust
ravages his soul; when lust is stopped for a time, self-exaltation as on the
ground of continency is immediately made to take its place in his heart, and
that he may be feared by others, he aims to shew himself as an object of
terror. But when the occasion requires that he should say any thing with
double-dealing, laying aside in a certain sort the terribleness of pride, he
flatters with an easy address, and when he ceases to shew himself proud, he
does not dread to turn double-dealing. And so it is rightly said of him, in
whose mind one vice continually takes the place of another, Terrible ones
come and go upon him; since for all the evil habits that he is borne
down with departing and taking each other’s place, his soul is as it were
overrun by as many evil spirits going and returning. But it is these things
which he does in act, that issue outwardly by parts and pieces, for on his
soul he has all things bad tied fast at once and together. Hence it is
added;
Ver.
26. All darkness is hid in his secret places.
[xxviii]
34.
For though the hypocrite exhibits good actions on the surface, yet a certain
‘darkness’ of evil deeds appears in him; yet it less comes forth in act,
than lies buried in his secret thought. For he who does not fulfil all
things at once in execution, does in his heart in silence hold all things
that may do mischief. Thus ‘all darkness’ is said to be ‘hid in his secret
places,’ in that though he does not exhibit to view all things evil in
himself, yet he aims to bring down all upon his fellow-creatures. Now let
him add the retribution, which this soul so reprobate shall be visited
with. It goes on;
A
fire that is not kindled shall consume him.
[xxix]
35.
Most wonderfully in these few words is the fire of hell set forth! For
bodily fire, in order to become fire, stands in need of bodily fuel; and
when it is necessary for it to be preserved, as we well know, it is
nourished by wood heaped upon it, neither can it be, except by being
kindled, nor live, save by being cherished. But contrarily the fire of
hell, whilst it is a bodily fire, and bodily consumes the children of
perdition that are cast into it, is neither kindled by human effort, nor
kept alive by wood, but being once made to be, it lasts unextinguishable: at
one and the same time it needs no kindling, and lacks not heat. And so it
is well said of this wicked one; A fire not kindled shall consume him;
in that the justice of the Almighty, foreseeing future events, did from the
very beginning of the world create the fire of hell, which should once begin
in the punishment of the wicked, but never end its heat even without fuel.
But it is necessary to know, that all the children of perdition, as they
sinned in Spirit and flesh conjointly, are there tormented in spirit and
flesh alike. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, Thou shalt make them as a
fiery oven in the time of Thine anger. [Ps. 21, 9] The Lord shall
confound them in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. For an ‘oven’
is heated within; but he who is ‘devoured by fire’ begins to be consumed
from the outside. Thus that holy Scripture might shew that the lost burn
both within and without, it testifies that they are at once ‘devoured by
fire,’ and ‘made as a fiery oven,’ that by fire they should be tormented in
the body, and by grief burn in spirit. Hence in this place too, when it is
declared of the ungodly man that a fire that is not kindled shall consume
him, it is forthwith added concerning his spirit;
Being
left in his tabernacle, it shall go ill with him.
[xxx]
36.
The ‘tabernacle’ of the wicked man is his flesh, in that he inhabits it in
joyfulness, and, if it were possible, wishes he might never quit it. But
the righteous, as they place their delight in the prospect of heavenly
rewards, and have their conversation in heaven, while they are still in the
flesh are as if they were no longer in the flesh, in that they are not fed
with any gratification of the flesh. And hence it is said to some persons;
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit [Rom. 8, 9]: not that
they were not in the flesh, who by the epistles of their master received
charges of exhortation; but it is in a manner to be no longer ‘in the
flesh,’ not to own aught connected with the love of fleshly objects. But on
the other hand this wicked man, because he set all his delight in a fleshly
life, ‘dwelt in the tabernacle’ of the flesh. Which very flesh when he
shall receive back in the resurrection, he shall burn along with it
delivered over to the fires of hell. Then be longs to be brought out of it;
then he seeks, if he might be able, to escape from his torments; then be
begins to wish he could get quit of that which he loved: but because he
preferred that flesh to God, it is brought to pass by the judgment of God,
that by it he is more fully tormented in the fire. Here then he has no mind
to leave it, and yet is severed from it, and there he wishes to leave it and
yet is kept in it for punishments. And so for the increase of his torments,
he is at once both removed out of the body here against his will, and held
fast in the body there when he would not. Therefore because his spirit in
torment longs [So A.B.C.D.—Ben. ‘shall long.’
lewpetrian
Sept.] to get rid of the flesh, which it set before itself in loving amiss,
and has not the power, it is lightly said here, being left in his tabernacle
it shall go ill with him. Of whose accusing it is directly said;
Ver.
27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up
against him.
[xxxi]
37.
What do we understand by ‘the heavens,’ but the righteous, and what by ‘the
earth,’ but sinners? And hence in the Lord’s prayer we pray; Thy will be
done on earth, as it is in heaven, meaning this, that the will of our
Creator, in the same way as it is accomplished in all the righteous, may
also be fulfilled in all sinners as well. Moreover of the righteous it is
said, The heavens declare the glory of God [Ps. 19, 1]. And to man
when he sinned the sentence is pronounced, Earth thou art, and unto earth
thou shalt return. And so of this ungodly man, when dragged to that
awful judgment; ‘the heavens reveal his iniquity, and the earth rises up
against him,’ that that man, who here never spared either the good or the
bad, should in that tremendous inquest have the life of the righteous and of
sinners alike accusing him. And of the two indeed it is worse if a man
injure the good rather than sinners; and hence it is said by the Prophet,
For her blood is in the midst of her: she poured it upon the smoothest rock
[super limpidissimam petram V.]; she poured it not upon the
ground to cover it with dust: [Ez. 24, 7] by ‘the ground’ and ‘the dust’
indeed denoting sinners, but by the ‘very smooth rock,’ the righteous man,
who is not made rough by the hard grazes of sins; and so ‘the blood is
poured upon the very smooth rock,’ when the wickedness of a bloodthirsty
mind rages in the afflicting of the righteous soul. While then it is worse
unjustly to distress the righteous than the unrighteous, yet it is much
worse to hurt the righteous and unrighteous together; and therefore whereas
the wicked have injured both the good and the bad alike, in the accusing to
damnation, ‘the heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise
up against him, because he at one and the same time set himself against
those who savoured the things of heaven, and oppressed those who savoured of
things below. But it may be that by ‘the earth’ we have denoted not the
sinful and reprobate, but those that being busied in earthly courses, by the
help of alms and of tears attain to eternal life. Concerning whom it is
said by the Psalmist, when the Lord is proclaimed as coming to Judgment,
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth that He may Judge
His people. [Ps. 50. 4] For He ‘calls the heavens from above,’ when
they, who, leaving all that they had, held on the tenour of the heavenly
life, are called to sit with Him in judgment, and come with Him as judges;
but ‘the earth is called from above,’ when they who were tied down to
earthly courses of action, yet sought therein for heavenly more than for
earthly profit and advantage, to which persons it is said, I was a
stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed Me. So ‘the heaven
reveals the wickedness’ of the hypocrite, and ‘the earth rises up against
him,’ in that both they who come in company with God as judges, and they who
through the ordeal of the Judgment are set free, become the witnesses of his
iniquity. Thus nought of the things he has committed is hidden from sight
in the time of condemnation, and if indeed many of his deeds are now
concealed from his fellow-creatures by double-dealing, yet in the day of
condemnation; whatever there was that lay hidden within him, it is brought
to light. Hence it is fitly added;
Ver.
28. The shoot of his house shall be disclosed, and he shall be taken
away in the day of God’s wrath.
[xxxii]
38.
‘The shoot of his house is disclosed,’ when every thing bad that sprung up
in his consciousness is shewn to view. For now the ‘shoot of the
hypocrite’s house’ remains hidden from sight, in that though his practice
appears good in the delineation, yet the intent lies hidden. Since it is
one thing what he does, and another thing what he has in view. But when, at
the coming of the Judge, each man’s conscience shall be brought forward for
its testimony, (whence it is written, Their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another, [Rom. 2, 15]) then the ‘shoot of
the hypocrite’s house is herein disclosed,’ because the evil design is laid
bare in his heart. ‘And he shall be taken away in the day of God’s wrath,’
in that when the indignation of the Judge is revealed, being given to
avenging fires, he is parted from His sight. For he that, whilst he lived,
would not take thought of the highest things, being forced down by the
weight of his sins, shall fall from the face of the Judge into the depths of
punishment. But now the Judge both sees and bears with the sinner in his
sins, and because it is the day of forbearance and not as yet the day of
fury, He waits for each one for his conversion. Now in this day of
forbearance the hypocrite as it were remains unmoved, whilst he both commits
many evil deeds, and is chastised by no scourges; but ‘in the day of fury he
shall be taken away,’ in that being carried off to punishment in the season
of vengeance he is cut off from the countenance of the eternal Judge. It
goes on;
Ver.
29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage of
his words from the Lord.
[xxxiii]
39.
For if, while placed in this life, he had been minded to act rightly, he
would have had for his ‘portion’ with the Lord fellowship in the kingdom of
heaven; but because he chose to be subjected to bad desires, his ‘portion
from the Lord’ he found in torment, because he did not seek to obtain a
share in the grace of that Lord. But it is well said, And the heritage
of his words from the Lord. For he that is immersed in punishment for
enormous deeds of wickedness perchance it was thought would never be judged
for the words which he had spoken amiss. But when the strict justice of
Almighty God exacts punishment from lost sinners for their froward deeds, it
renders evil things to them even to the recompensing of their words, that
they who are debtors for great transgressions, being consigned to
punishment, may pay even the very last farthing. For they are spared the
least misdemeanours, who rigorously lamented the greater evils in
themselves. And those whom great sins weigh down even the very least alike
put to pain in hell. Now holy men desire not to receive a portion from the
Lord, but to have the Lord Himself for their portion. Hence the Prophet
prays, saying, God is my portion forever [Ps. 73, 26]: but the wicked
man, because he sought not to have the Lord Himself for his ‘portion,’ found
fire for his ‘portion’ without the Lord, that being shut out from His face,
because he did not seek to find joy in Him, he might be tormented beneath
Him. These things Zophar brought forward in such a way, that by what he
spoke against the hypocrite, he might strike a blow against the life of
blessed Job, thinking that he who was stricken by the Lord, had not done
with a simple heart all the good things which he had done. For him, whom he
saw beneath the rod, he supposed to have displeased God. But the friends of
blessed Job likewise maintain a likeness of heretics in this particular, in
that whilst they see, in Holy Church, some, that live aright, groaning
beneath the rod, they reckon that they have not good merit in good deeds,
and set them down as bad men, whom they see afflicted with the scourge of
God; not knowing, that is to say, that Many are the afflictions of the
righteous [Ps. 43, 19], and that He scourgeth every man whom He
receiveth. [Heb. 12, 6] But blessed Job, after the manner of the Holy
and Universal Church, which bears with patience the darts of words at the
hands of the froward, and, when she hears the sayings of the proud, never
leaves the pathway of her humility, made answer with great humility of
heart, saying,
C.
xxi. Ver. 2. Hear I pray you my speech, and practise penitence.
[xxxiv]
40.
For he that when he said Hear, added, I pray you, shews how
humbly he speaks, whilst he entreats persons, swelling with pride against
him, to bring back their thought to the teaching of saving truth. But
whereas holy men, within the pale of the Universal Church, are not only
ready to teach what is right, but also to undergo things that are done
against them, they do not dread being laughed at. Hence it is added;
Suffer me that I may speak; and after my words, if it shall seem so, laugh.
[xxxv]
41.
For when good men speak, there are two points, which they regard in their
discourse, viz. that they should be of use to themselves and their hearers,
or to themselves alone, if they are unable to be of use to their hearers.
For when the good things they deliver are heard to good purpose, they
benefit both themselves and their hearers; but when they are turned to
ridicule by the hearer, doubtless they were of use to themselves, whom they
made quit of the sin of silence. And so let blessed Job, that he might
serve both himself and his hearers, speak the words; Hear I pray you my
speech, and practise repentance. But that he may discharge himself of
the obligation which he owes, even if he is unable to avail his hearers, he
adds, Suffer me that I speak; and after my words, if it shall seem so,
laugh. I observe that whereas he added, and practise repentance, he
first premised, Hear, but when he added the words, and after my
words, if it shall seem so, laugh, he premised, Suffer me that
I may speak; for ‘hearing’ is of one who acts of free will, but
‘bearing’ of one who acts against his own inclination. And so if his
friends desire to be taught, let them ‘hear,’ but if they are ready to mock,
let them ‘suffer’ the things that are said; seeing that to a proud mind,
instruction in humility is a grievous and onerous weight. It goes on;
Ver.
4. As for me, is my dispute against man, that I should not be justly
sad?
[xxxvi]
42.
Whosoever in pleasing God displeases man, has no grounds for sadness. But
he, who in pleasing man displeases God, or thinks that he displeases both
God and man together, if sadness does not come upon him, proves a stranger
to the excellency of wisdom. Now blessed Job believed that he had
displeased God in the midst of his strokes, and therefore he called back his
mind to sadness, in that He was not to be disregarded, Whom he was afraid
that he had displeased. Now, if he had been pleading against man concerning
the merits of his life, he would have had no occasion to feel sadness, but
seeing that by his present strokes he was made doubtful of his past life, he
justly sought for sadness under the scourge. Hence too it is added;
Ver.
5. Mark me, and be astonished.
[xxxvii]
43.
i.e. Consider what I have done, and be astonished at the things that I
undergo under this infliction of the rod. And he yet further rightly
introduces the words;
And
lay your finger upon your mouth.
As if
he had said in plain speech; ‘Knowing the good things that I have done and
seeing the ills that I am subjected to, your own selves keep even from
offence in words, and in my strokes dread your own hurts.’ Or indeed seeing
that by our fingers we distinguish things severally, discretion is not
unfitly represented by the fingers; and hence it is said by the Psalmist,
Blessed be the Lord my God, Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers
to fight [Ps. 144, 1]; i.e. by the ‘hands’ denoting practice, and by the
‘fingers,’ discretion. And so the finger is laid to the mouth, when the
tongue is bridled by discretion, that by what it utters, it may not fall
into the sin of foolishness. And therefore he says, Lay your finger upon
your mouth; i.e. ‘join the virtue of discretion to your speech, that in
those things which ye say light against the hypocrite, ye may see to what
persons they are proper to be said.’ It goes on;
Ver.
6. Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my
flesh.
[xxxviii]
44.
That blessed Job was not forgetful of his deeds, the last utterance of his
lips proves. Wherefore this which he now says to his friends, Even when
I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh, must
clearly be said in mockery. As if it were in plain words; ‘If I remember
that I have had any thing of the hypocrite in me, directly I tremble in
tears of penitence.’ And ‘if he remembered, his flesh was shaken with
trembling’ he declares, i.e. that the weakness of practice was disheartened
by the dread of vengeance. But as Zophar said many things about the sudden
condemnation of the wicked man, whereby he snapped at the powerful estate of
blessed Job, the holy man subjoins in answer to his words, saying,
Ver.
7. Wherefore do the wicked live, are lifted up, and strengthened by
riches?
[xxxix]
45.
For except the patience of God bore with them, they would never live long in
their sins. For they are ‘lifted up by riches,’ when they first begin to be
powerful, but they are ‘strengthened,’ when they are permitted to continue
long in this life. Since those whose substance uplifts them, length of days
strengthens in the pride of their power. Or surely they are said to be
lifted up and strengthened, in that they are ‘lifted up’ by honours,
‘strengthened’ by substance. But there are very many, who while they are
both ‘lifted up’ by honours and ‘strengthened’ by riches, are vouchsafed the
things which they covet in this life, but deprived of the succession of
children. To these their very power is punishment, when they see themselves
possessed of a large inheritance, but not possessed of heirs to whom they
may leave it. What good then, if every thing be forthcoming, but children
be wanting who may become their heirs? It proceeds;
Ver.
8. Their seed is established in their sight with them.
[xl]
46.
For the increase of exceeding happiness, together with a large patrimony,
they have heirs too given them; and that no unavoidable temporal
circumstance either may remove from their eyes those in whom their soul
delights, it is said of this seed of theirs, Their seed is established in
their sight. But what if children are vouchsafed, yet the children
themselves stricken with barrenness? The family is made extinct in them, in
like sort as it was feared it would be made extinct by the barrenness of
their parents. It goes on;
And a
crowd of kinfolk and grandchildren before their eyes.
Observe, life is theirs, honours and riches are theirs, children are theirs,
grandchildren are theirs. What if any secret fancy gall the mind, and
domestic discord pierce the joys of their security? What is the prosperity
of this world, if it be not joyful? It goes on;
Ver.
9. Their houses are secure and at peace, neither is the rod of God upon
them.
[xli]
47.
Their ‘houses are secure and at peace,’ in that they live on committing sin,
they do things to be mourned over, and they never leave their joys. And the
‘rod’ of discipline from Above ‘does not smite them,’ and they go on the
more unrestrainedly in sin, in proportion as they are punished less for
sin. But as we have heard the things, which go prosperously within, what
prosperity smiles on them in the field too, let us see. It goes on;
Ver.
10. Their ox conceiveth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and loseth
not her calf:
It is
the usage of common talk to call ‘ox [bos]’ masculine, and ‘cow’
feminine, but literary phraseology designates ‘ox’ of the common gender.
Hence it is now said, Their ox conceiveth, and faileth not; their cow
calveth, and loseth not her calf. For to the owner of flocks, the first
good fortune is that the flocks being free from barrenness conceive, next
that the conception come to the birth, and the third that the thing which is
produced be by nourishment reared to a growth. And so in order to shew that
the wicked had them all together, blessed Job declares that ‘their flocks
had conceived and not miscarried, that they had brought forth and were not
deprived of their own offspring.’ But it is inferior good fortune, if
whilst the flocks increase, the keepers of them do not thrive at the same
time. And hence to the fruitfulness of the flocks we have the fruitfulness
of their household [familiae] made to succeed immediately. For it is
said,
Ver.
11. Their little ones go forth like flocks, and their children revel in
sports.
[xlii]
48.
That as there are greater stores bestowed on them to have the possession
of, so great numbers may spring up to keep them safe. But whereas he said,
revel in sports, lest we should imagine that the mere sport of the children
in the house of the wicked by itself was too mean and poor, he adds,
saying;
Ver.
12. They take the timbrel, and harp, and rejoice at the noise of the
organ.
As if
he said in plain speech; ‘Whilst the masters swell with honours and
substance, the dependants rejoice in festive sports.’ But, O blessed man,
wherefore dost thou tell us all these many things of the delights of the
wicked? It is now a long time that thou runnest on in the description of
them; after much said, in one word point out what thou thinkest. It goes
on;
Ver.
13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a point of time go down to
the lower parts.
[xliii]
49.
Yes, O blessed man, thou hadst for long dilated on their joys, how dost thou
now declare that ‘in a point of time they go down to the lower parts,’
saving that all length of time of the present life is then known to be but a
‘point,’ when it is cut short by the end? For when a person is brought to
the last end, he no longer keeps aught of the past, seeing that all the
periods of time have elapsed, he has nought in the future, in that there
remain not to him the moments of a single hour. So the life, which could be
thus narrowed, was but a ‘point’ of time. For as we have before said, we
set down the style in a point, and lift it up; and so he as it were touched
life by a point who received and lost it. By a ‘point’ it is possible that
this also may be understood, that it often happens that they that were long
borne with in wickedness, are seized by sudden death, that it should not
even be granted them to bewail before death the things they have done wrong,
but seeing that occasionally the life of the righteous also is cut short by
a sudden end, we shall understand it better, if we take the words of their
temporal life, in that whatever was capable of passing away was sudden. But
the friends of blessed Job, who believed him to be unrighteous on this
account that they saw him afflicted with scourges, rightly have the truth
shewn them by the voice of that holy man concerning the blooming and ruin of
the wicked, in that prosperity in the present life is no witness to
innocency, since many are brought back to everlasting life by scourges, and
very many die without a scourge to be dragged to infinite woes. Of whom it
is yet further added;
Ver.
14. Who say unto God, Depart from us.
[xliv]
50.
To say this in words even foolish men have not the boldness, yet all wicked
persons say to God, not by their words but by their ways, Depart from us.
For they that do those things which Almighty God forbids, what else are they
doing but shutting up their soul against the Almighty. For just as to think
of His precepts, is to introduce Him into one’s self, so to resist His
commandments is to keep Him away from the dwelling-place of the heart. And
so they say, Depart from us, who refuse to yield Him an approach to
them; and assail Him with wicked deeds, even if they seem to praise Him in
words. Moreover they say;
For
we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.
[xlv]
51.
And that by this alone, that they are too indifferent to acquire the
knowledge of Him. For there be some who from this that ‘Truth’ saith;
And that servant, which knoweth not his Lord’s will, and doth things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with few. But he that knoweth his Lord’s
will, and did not according to it, shall be beaten with many [Luke 12,
47. 48.]; choose not to know what they should do, and reckon as if they will
be beaten less, if they are ignorant of what they ought to have put in
practice. Yet it is one thing not to have known, and another thing not to
have chosen to know. For he knoweth not, who is willing to make the
acquisition, but is not able. But he who, that he may not know, turns away
his ear from the voice of truth, such a person is brought in, not one in
ignorance, but a despiser. Now ‘the way’ of God is peace, ‘the way’ of God
is humility, ‘the way’ of God is patience. But whilst the wicked disregard
all these, they say, We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. For
whilst they are big with pride in this life, whilst they are swollen with
honours, whilst, even if they have not, they covet, they slight ‘the ways’
of God in the thoughts of their hearts. For because God’s way in this world
was humility, this very Lord and God, the Redeemer of us men, came to
reproaches, to mockery, to the Passion; and He underwent the adverse
treatment of this world with patience, resolutely eschewed its good fortune,
that He might both teach the prosperity of the eternal life to be aimed at,
and the adversities of the present life not to be dreaded. But because the
wicked covet the glory of the present life, and eschew disgrace, they are
described as saying, We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. For
they are unwilling to know, what they scorn to do. Whose words are further
continued, where it is said;
Ver.
15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
