1 There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil.
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VERS. 1.-- « There was a man in the land of Hus. » By Job, Christ is designated, that is, the head and the body: therefore, after the history, having seen in the head what we are to believe, let us see from the body what by seeing we are to hold. GREG. Job in the land of Hus, etc., *as far as* afterwards also cunning things were gathered. The person is first described as fitting, before his combat is told, so that such a one may be seen able to conquer. « Simple. » It is needful that the cunning of the serpent instruct the simplicity of the dove, and that simplicity temper the cunning; whence the Spirit appeared in a dove and in fire, because they who are full of him so serve the meekness of simplicity that against evils they are kindled with zeal for uprightness. « Fearing God. » Solomon: « He who fears God neglects nothing. » Likewise Solomon: « He who offends in one thing shall lose many good things. » Those animals are called lawful, that is, clean according to the law, which both chew the cud and divide the hoof: of which the camels have the one, but the other is lacking to them, and so they both agree with the law and differ from it.
2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3 And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among all the people of the east.
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VERS. 3.-- « And a great household. » An innumerable crowd of thoughts, which, like maidservants, when the mistress, that is reason, is absent, desert the work and make an uproar; but when she returns they work in silence. If we rule these well, neither is the mind overcome by their multitude. « Among all, » that is, among the angels that cleave to the rising light, we are great, their fellows. Orientals are all who by faith are in Christ, of whom the Prophet: « The Orient is his name: » and the Man who is God surpasses them all.
4 And his sons went, and made a feast by houses, every one in his day. And sending, they called their three sisters, to eat and drink with them.
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VERS. 4.-- « And they made a feast, » etc. The sons make feasts, etc., *as far as* because he who trembles at everything grows sluggish in good works. « Through the houses, each one, » etc. Through the houses, as Peter through Rome, Philip in Samaria; on his own day, that is, according to the measure of understanding, because Paul made one instruction among the Greeks, Peter another among the Romans, although they did not disagree in the faith. « Three sisters, » that is, faith, hope, charity: into everything that they do they call the virtues, that they may rejoice in it. They take strength as from food, when by good works they become more confident; they are made drunk as from drink after food, when they long to be steeped in the dew of contemplation. But out of these very good things evils also arise, such as elation; or when gladness comes to the mind on account of them, a certain security is also present, and thence sluggishness. Therefore he adds: « And when the days had passed round in their circuit. » When the feast is over, to sanctify the sons is, after the perception of the virtues, to direct the intention of the heart, and to cleanse everything that is done by strict re-examination, lest one be deceived by the quality of an evil, so that things which are evil be thought good; or by the quantity of a good, so that it be believed sufficient when it is not made perfect. But this he finds better by praying than by scrutinizing. For the mind, lifted up by compunction, judges more surely of all things beneath it.
5 And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early, offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days.
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VERS. 5.-- « And when in their circuit, » etc. The days of the feast pass round in their circuit when by preaching the mysteries are accomplished; and when all is accomplished Job offers for his sons, because for the apostles returning from preaching Christ prayed the Father, and by sending the Holy Spirit sanctified them, cleansing away whatever of fault could be in them. He rises at daybreak who of compunction, etc., *as far as* which, when accomplished, stand in need of expiation. A holocaust is called wholly burnt, etc., *as far as* may cover before the eyes of God even to the end of life.
6 Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them.
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VERS. 6.-- « Now on a certain day. » In the opening, the quality and the end of a matter is expressed; as here, the temptation of Job is said to have begun from a day, because it is spoken of unto victory, as also in other places. Now the matter is marked by the quality of the time, as that the angels appear to Abraham at midday, and Judas goes out by night. Now by place: as that Israel, being weak, hears the law not on the mountain but below. Now by the quality of the air, as when it is said: It was winter, when preaching is made to those who will not believe; and it was cold, when Peter's denial was at hand. Now by the posture of the body, as that Stephen saw Jesus standing. Nothing is said to be done before the Lord, etc., *as far as* whereby king Achab, his deserts requiring it, may be deceived. « He was present among them. » On the day the Lord saw Satan, etc., *as far as* just as a blind man does not see the light by which he is lit. « Among them Satan also. » Because he thrusts himself in among the good thoughts of God which are from God, that he may disturb them; but God uncovers him to us when he lies hidden. Whence it is said: « Whence comest thou? » which to say is to lay open his snares to us. « I have gone round about the earth. » He searches carnal hearts, that he may sow evils in them; nor does he fly over, but walks through, because he does not quickly forsake the one he tempts, but tarries, that he may imprint the traces of depravity. Against him Job is praised: « Hast thou considered my servant, » whom God makes good and strengthens, and praises as it were in the ears of Satan. Whence he rages the more grievously against him, saying: « Is it for nothing? » as if to say: why dost thou praise him whom thou protectest? Were I set at nought, he would be worthy of praise if he stood against me by his own strength. Whence he maliciously demands: but stretch forth a little. While good things abound, the mind is somewhat lifted up, as though the good things were from itself; and these good things the devil desires for evil, but God permits the testing for good, so that while man is shaken in those good things, his weakness being known, he may be made firm in God. Whence he adds: « Behold, the whole substance which he hath is in thy hand. »
7 And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.
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VERS. 7.-- « To whom the Lord said, » etc. Not the Lord, etc., *as far as* which is to pant with the heats of his own malice for the affliction of the good. « Whence comest thou? » He does not ask of the good, because we do not ask save what we do not know; and for God not to know is to reprobate, just as a good man too is said not to know how to lie, not because he does not know, but because he contemns it. To say therefore « whence comest thou? is to reprobate his ways as though they were unknown. « I have gone round about the earth. » By the circuit of the round, the anxiety of labour is signified. He went round about the earth in labour who did not stand at rest in heaven; and he does not fly over but walks through, because he fell from the flight of spiritual power, weighed down too heavily by the burden of his own malice. Of his members also it is said: « The wicked walk round about, that is, they are wearied in the labour of outward things. The devil contends not against Job, but against God with Job in the middle. Whence he did not first ask for Job from God, but God praised him in his sight.
8 And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?
9 And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain?
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VERS. 9.-- « Doth Job fear God for nothing? etc. » The devil had perceived that the Redeemer had come; but on account of the lowly things which he suffered, whatever he had suspected concerning his deity came into doubt for him by reason of his own pride, and he believed him not to be God born, but one kept by the grace of God. « Hast thou not hedged him about? » He calls the house hedged about, because by tempting he could not penetrate his conscience; the substance, because he did not presume to invade his elect. « His possession hath increased. » As if to say: because he has received so many good things on earth, he bears himself innocently in return for them; but he would not be innocent if he stood amid adversities. Because he cannot in the day, he wishes to reprove him in the night of adversities. Therefore, knowing that by adversities he would prove not the strength of Job, but each man more truly, he demands that he be tempted. « But stretch forth, » nor does he attribute to himself the power of striking. His will, which is from himself, is always wicked; the power, which is from God, is just. Whence: an evil spirit of the Lord upon Saul; and it is the Lord's by permission, and evil by its own will. « The hand. » He complains that the number of the faithful is increased when the apostles preach: for Satan to say this is to think such things enviously, and to grieve over them with pining.
10 Hast thou not made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth?
11 But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he bless thee not to thy face.
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VERS. 11.-- « Touch. » Because the things he asks to be crushed are outward, and he thinks it not much unless he wound the soul. « To the face. » The face of the Lord is the regard of his grace. He says therefore: if thou withdrawest the given things which he loves, he will not seek the regard, that is, of thy grace, thy favour, but will contemn it by cursing.
12 Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
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VERS. 12.-- « The Lord said therefore. » God is not overcome, provoked by the devil's petition, but grants to the enemy, unto the enemy's own grief and deception, what may profit his servant. « Behold, all that he hath, » etc. By a merciful dispensation he loosens and reins in: he gives up the substance, he protects the body; and though afterwards he is to hand over the body, yet not all at once, lest heaped together they destroy what divided can be borne. Or: the Lord knew Job's lot, and yet divided the wars, that he might be the more wonderfully victor, when the conquered enemy should refit himself again for new wars. « Behold, all... only upon him, etc., » that is, I grant his goods outwardly to be tempted, but within I keep him for myself. « But stretch forth. » He thought that through sufferings Christ could sin. « Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand. » The hand of Satan is not power but temptation: first Judaea, which had been his possession, was taken away by unbelief and set against him; afterwards his flesh also was crucified. « Having gone forth. » That is, he came to the desires of his own longing. Or he goes forth when what is permitted him with a good intention is carried out by him with a depraved intention. « Satan having gone forth. » Whither did he go out, away from him who is everywhere? But so long as, pressed down by the power of God, Satan could not carry out what he desired, he stood as it were before his face; he goes out when he is let loose to the accomplishment of his desire. « And having gone forth from the face. » Because, while he cannot prevail as far as the heart, being shut out from the inmost parts he wanders outside; and if he troubles the mind, he is outside: because he does not destroy, but instructs. Times agree with temptations. He chose a fit time for tempting, when he found his sons at a feast: the gladness of satiety is the herald of tribulation.
13 Now upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, in the house of their eldest brother,
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VERS. 13.-- « Now when on a certain day the sons and « daughters, etc. » The apostles and all the faithful. The elder son is the Jewish people begotten by the law; the younger, the Gentile called at the end. In the house therefore of the firstborn the apostles feast, because as yet they fed on the delights of sacred Scripture within the gathering of the Jewish people alone, to whom it was then said: « Go not into the way of the Gentiles. » « They should eat and drink, etc. » To eat is to rejoice in good works; to drink wine is to burn with heavenly desire. « Of his firstborn brother, etc. » Wisdom is born first in the heart, etc., *as far as* that what the mind lost when forestalled, it may receive back when afflicted.
14 There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,
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VERS. 14.-- « The oxen were ploughing, etc. » The ploughing oxen, that is, the good who work well; the she-asses, those who live in simplicity; and these are beside the oxen, because they are fed by their understanding. The Sabaeans taking captive, that is, demons; the boys, that is, beginners, not yet of manly steadfastness; with the sword, that is, with despair of eternity. The messenger who escapes is the prophetic word, which says: « My people hath been led captive, because it had not knowledge; » because, while the evils come to pass which it foretold, it returns as it were unhurt to the Lord: for when the weak are led captive, it is known to have foretold true things.
15 And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
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VERS. 15.-- « And the boys. » He calls boys that watchfulness of diligence by which he provides for these things, and which is struck in him also.
16 And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
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VERS. 16.-- « The fire of God fell from heaven. » Heaven, the doctors of the law, the priests, from whom the fire of envy falls upon the sheep and the boys, that is, upon the innocent and the weak. The boy returns unhurt, because it became clear that the prophecy had spoken true things, zeal laid hold of the untaught people. The sheep are the innocence of thoughts. The fire from heaven, that is, from the powers of the air, the flame of spite rushes in, and often kindles clean thoughts with the burning of lust: and this is a fire of God, not as doing it, but as permitting it; and because by a sudden onset the acts of circumspection are overwhelmed, the guardian boys are slain. But discretion alone, that is, reason, announces the losses to the mind, and as it were calls the Lord to lamentation.
17 And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them; moreover, they have slain the servants with the sword: and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
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VERS. 17.-- « The Chaldeans made, » etc. The Chaldeans are interpreted *fierce,* etc., *as far as* these struck the boys with the sword, that is, with sinister persuasion, etc. « The camels, etc. » The camel is in part a clean animal, etc., *as far as* and discretion alone reports to the mind what it should bewail. « That I might tell thee, etc. » Evils are announced, both many and sudden, so that, wound being inflicted upon wound, he may bear it impatiently; and the crafty enemy makes trial not so much by the loss of goods as by the order of the messages. First he announces perverse things, then greater, at last the death of the sons: lest to one already bereaved the loss of goods should grow cheap, since there would be no heirs for whom he might keep it. Step by step, therefore, he hears worse things, that every wound may find a place in his heart.
18 He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
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VERS. 18.-- « To thy sons, etc. », The sons and daughters (as has been said) are the apostles and the peoples subject to them, who in Judaea fed upon Scripture. « A wind, » that is, a strong temptation, bursts forth from the desert, that is, from the hearts of the Jews, or from unclean spirits; and it shook the four corners on which the house stands: the priests, the scribes, the elders of the people, the Pharisees. The house, that is, Judaea, falling in the persecution of the Lord, overwhelmed the apostles in despair. And the word concerning the persecuting people is true: « My beloved hath wrought many crimes in my house, » And concerning the apostles: « My neighbours stood afar off. » And: « I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, » etc. « In the house of the brother, » that is, in the feast of the elder brother Satan overwhelmed the sons, because through the negligence of the elders he seeks an entrance to the death of the younger; and he gains greater strength against others when he sees those who by their guardianship are set over others serving mirth. Not indeed that they were given over to the belly; but when amid feasts the good intention of the mind glows less, it foresees less.
19 A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children, and they are dead: and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
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VERS. 19.-- « Suddenly a wind. » He is said secretly to have moved the elements against him, at whose nod they were moved; it being permitted to the devil, power having once been received from God, to shake the elements to the use of his own wickedness, as for those condemned in the mine both fire and water serve for use. « From the region of the desert. » The region of the desert, etc., *as far as* it shows the named wrath in the air, a wind rushed in.
20 Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
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VERS. 20.-- « Then Job rose up, and rent his garments. » The house falling, etc., *as far as* that the whole heart, burning in the love of God, may consume them by the perfection of devotion. « And with his head shorn. » It is thought a great steadfastness, etc., *as far as* and might show that he consented to the divine power. « Falling to the earth. » Falling, he adored, because he offers true prayer who humbly sees that he is dust. Whence he also says: « Naked came I forth from my mother's womb. » Naked in faith the first grace begot him; naked the same grace receives him. When, beaten by vices, he flees as one naked to mercy, and being at some time stripped of some virtue, he is better clothed by that very humility, ascribing not to himself but to God what he has: the Lord gave good things, the Lord also takes them away; and this is done for a time, that being humble he may have better.
21 And said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.
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VERS. 21.-- « Naked came I forth. » The earth brought me forth naked entering hither; the earth will receive me naked going hence. A consolation from the condition of things: that he did not lose what was his own, but calls to mind things received and to be left behind; the time in which he did not yet have these things he foresees, in what state he is to depart. He consoles himself also from the justice of God. « From my mother's womb. » The mother of Christ is the Synagogue, which held him within herself covered by the letter, and did not see him naked in his deity; but from her he came naked to the Gentiles. Behold Joseph, whom the Synagogue, believing him mere man, wished to bind fast in an adulterous embrace; to whom he left the covering of the letter, and showed himself openly to the Gentiles. But he will return naked, when at the end of the world God shall be made known to the remnants of Israel. « The Lord gave. » Judaea, while it believed that he was to come, took [him] away when she herself despised him at his coming. « As it hath pleased the Lord. » When we are troubled, we ought to have recourse to the judgment of God, and to render greater praises, because we know more truly that we are being beaten.
22 In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.
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VERS. 22.-- « In all these things Job sinned not. » A grieving mind ought to guard itself, etc., *as far as* he swelled not in heart, he murmured not with his mouth, his tongue was not insolent.