Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia in Iob)

For ' his robbers' are evil spirits, who busy themselves in hunting out the deaths of men; and these ' make themselves a way' in the hearts of the afflicted, when, amidst the adversities that are undergone outwardly, they do not cease to infuse bad thoughts likewise ; of whom it is yet further added ; And encamp round about my tabernacle. For they ' encamp round about our tabernacle,' when they ^Iist. encircle the mind on every side with their temptings ; which by most wicked prompting they persuade one while to mourn for things temporal, at another time to despair of things eternal, now to go headlong into impatience, and to cast words of blasphemy against God. Yet these words, as we have already said before, agree with blessed Job even taken historically ; who, whilst he heaped before his eyes the ills he was enduring, judged himself to be not like a son that must be corrected, but as an enemy stricken with affliction. Through whom even ' His robbers made themselves a way,' in that the evil spirits obtained against him the leave to smite. ' Round about whose tabernacle they encamped,' in that after his substance and his children were taken away, they bruised his whole body too with wounds. But it is very extraordinary, why, when he spoke of the ' robbers,' he added His. clearly with a view to shew that these same robbers belonged to God ;

on which point, if we make a distinction between the power and the will of evil spirits, it is made evident, why they are called * God's robbers ;' for evil spirits incessantly pant to do us mischief; but while they have a bad will derived from themselves, they have not the power of doing mischief, except the Supreme Will vouchsafes them permission ; and while of themselves indeed they long to hurt us unjustly, yet by 148 Joh, descried by Iris owti, a type of our Lord. Job. 19, Almighty God they are not suffered to hurt any one saving ^.?rzi^ justly; and so whereas the will is unjust in ihem and the power just, they are at once called ' robbers,' and ' God's robbers,' that it should come from themselves, that they aim to bring down evil things unjustly, and from God that the things so desired they do not consummate saving justly; but because, as we have often said already, the holy man set in the midst of the pain of punishment, one while speaks in his own accents, at another time in the accents of the Church, at another time of our Redeemer, and very frequently so describes his own circumstances, that in a figure he delivers those that belong to the Holy Church and to our Redeemer, concern for historical fact being for a little space put aside, let us shew in these things, which he subjoins, how he accords with the accents of our Redeemer.

It goes on ; Alleg. Ver. 13, 14. He hath put my brethren far from me ; and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed J and my familiar friends have forgotten yne. xxxix. 47. We shall shew this the better, if we bring for\Yard the John 1, testimony of John, who says. He came unto His ow)i, and His own received Him not ; for His ' brethren were put far from Him,' and His ' acquaintance were estranged' from Him, Whom the Hebrews that held the Law were taught to prophesy, and never knew to acknowledge when present; whence it is rightly said. My kinsfolk have failed me, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. For the Jews, ' kinsfolk' in the flesh, ' acquaintance' by the teaching of the Law, as it were forgot Him, Whom they had foretold, in that Him they both sung of in the words of the Law, as destined to be made Incarnate, and when made Incarnate denied Him by the words of unbelief It proceeds ; Ver. 15. They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. xl. 48. The inmates of God's house were the Priests, whose 1 origo ^r^^^ 1 QYiCQ set apart in ihe service of God, was henceforth by office continued in that state. But the ' maids' are not improperly taken for the souls of the Levites, servants to the hidden parts of the tabernacle as it were by a more familiar service to the interior of the bedchamber.

Therefore let him say of the Priests, serving with sedulous care, let him Our Lord taken for an alien, and disowned bf/ His servants. 149 say of the Levites attending: on the interior of the house of Book God. They thai dwell in my house, and my maids, have counted me for a stranger; in that the Incarnate Lord, Whom they had for long foretold in the words of the Law, they refused to acknowledge and to reverence. And he yet more plainly shews that He was not known by their wicked will, when he adds ; And I was as it were an alien in. their sight.

For our Redeemer whereas He was not recognised by the Synagogue, was rendered ' as it were an alien' in His own house. Which the Prophet plainly witnesses, saying. Wherefore shalt thou be as a settler in the land, and as aJer. 14, wayfaring 7nan that turneth aside to tarry? For whereas He was not heard as the Lord, He was taken not as the owner but for ' a settler of the land ;' and He only ' turned aside to tarry as a wayfaring man,' in that He carried off but few out of Juda3a, and going on to the calling of the Gentiles finished the journey He had begun ; and so ' He was an alien' in their sight, in that while they thought only of the things they could see, they were unable to perceive in the Lord the things they could not see ; for whilst they contemn the flesh that was to be seen, they never reached to the unseen Majesty; therefore let it be rightly said; And I was as it were an alien in their sight. Concerning which people it is yet further fitly added ; Ver. 16. / called my servant, and he gave me no answer.

For what was the Jewish people but a * servant,' which never obeyed the Lord with the love of a son, but the fear of a slave ? Contrariwise it is said to us by Paul, For ye Rom. 8 have not received the spirit of bondage agaiii; but ye have^^' received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. And so this ' servant' the Lord ' called,' in that by benefits vouchsafed, as by voices given out. He strove to bring it to Himself; but it ' answered not,' in that it was indifferent to render back deeds corresponding to His gifts. For God ' calls' us, when He presents us with His gifts; and we * answer' to this calling, when we serve Him worthily according to the benefits we have been vouchsafed; therefore because He prevented the people with so many benefits, let him say, / called my servant, and because even after such 150 The Synagogue, wedded to our Lord, shrank from Hhn. Job 19, numberless benefits, it contemned IJim, let him add; and — - — he gave me no answer. It goes on ; / entreated hi?n with my own mouth. xliii. ^^' ^^ though he said more plainly; ^ 1, the Same that before My Incarnation had given it in charge so many precepts to be practised, by the mouths of the Prophets, coming to it Incarnate, entreated it with my own mouth.' And hence Matthew, when he was telling of precepts being Matt.

5, delivered by Him on the Mount, says. And He opened His ^' mouth, and taught. As if he said in plain speech; ' Then He opened His own mouth. Who before had opened the mouths of the Prophets;' it is hence too that it is said of Cant. ijHim by the Spouse longing for His presence, Let Him kiss ^' me ivith the kisses of His mouth; since for all the precepts which she learnt by His preaching. Holy Church, as it were, received so many ' kisses of his mouth.' Now it is well said, / entreated; in that being exhibited in the flesh, whilst He spoke the precepts of life with humility. He, as it were, besought His servant filled with pride that he would come ; and hence it is fitly added; 3Iy wife shuddered at my breath. xliv. 52. What does the ' wife' of the Lord mean save the Synagogue, subject to Him in the Covenant of the Law with a carnal perception ? Now the breath is from the flesh, and the unbelieving people understood the incarnation of the Lord in a carnal manner; in that it took Him for mere man; and so His ' wife shuddered at His breath,' in that the Synagogue was afraid to take Him for God, Whom it saw to be man ; and when it heard the words from His mouth by bodily utterance, it refused to perceive in Him the mysteries of the Divine Nature, and would not believe Him to be Creator, Whom it saw to be created;

and so the carnal * wife shuddered at the breath' of the carnal body, in that being given over to carnal senses, it did not take knowledge of the mystery of the Incarnation. It goes on ; / entreated the children of mine own womb. xlv. 53. In God, Who is not circumscribed by the figure of a body, the members of the body, i. e. the hand, the eye, the womb, are named in such a way, that by the designation of the members, the effects of His Power are represented. As IVise andjoolisli alike despised Him. 151 He is said to have eyes, in that He sees all tbines; He is Book • XIV described as having hands, in that He works all things. Now in the womb the offspring is conceived, which is brought forth in this life; what then are we to take the ' womb' of God for, but His counsel, wherein before time we were conceived by predestination, that being created in time we might be brought into the world ? And so God, Who abides before time, * besought the children of His womb;' in that those, whom He created with power by His Divine nature, coming Incarnate He besought with humility; but because in that same flesh, wherein He appeared, He was contemned in their estimation, it is subjoined; Ver. 18. The foolish too despised me.

The wise falling away from faith in the truth, there is an addition rightly made concerning ^ fools' as well ; in that when the Pharisees and the Lawyers despised the Lord, the rabble of the people too followed the example of their incredulousness, which herein, that it saw Him a man, slighted the announcements of the Redeemer of the world. For often by the title of fools, are denoted those who are poor among the common people ; whence too it is said by Jeremiah, ThereJer. 5, fore I said ^ perchance these are poor ^ and foolish ones, that^' know not the vMy of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. But leaving the rich and wise of the world, our Redeemer came to seek the poor and foolish, whence it is now said, as if for the heightening of grief, The foolish despised me. As if it were expressed in plain speech ; * Even those very persons despised Me, for whose healing I took to Me the foolishness of preaching.' As it is written, For after that i Cor. i, in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God,^^' it pleased God by the foolishness q/ preac/iiny to save them that believe. For the * Word' is ' the Wisdom of God,' but ^ the foolishness' of this * Wisdom,' the Flesh of the Word is called; that whereas the carnal severally could not by craft of the flesh attain to the wisdom of God, by the foolishness of preaching, i.

e. by the incarnation of the Word, they might be healed. Therefore he says. The foolish too despised me. As if it were expressed in plain words; ' Even by those very persons I was despised, for whose sake I was not afraid to be counted foolish.' And whereas the Jewish multitude. 15*2 Oar Lord abhorred by the Counfiellors of His people. Job 19, when it saw the miracles of our Redeemer, honoured llim — ^-^ for His miracles, saying, This is the Chrisl; but when it John 7, b^^i^'ld the infirmities of His human nature, it disdained to ^^- ^^account Him the Creator, saying, Naij^ but He deceivelh the people ; it is rightly subjoined ; And when I departed from them, they spake against me. xlvii. 55. For the Lord as it were drew near to the hearts of people, when He displayed miracles to them ; and He as it were ' departed from them,' when He shewed them no signs; but they spake against the Lord so ' departing,' when they refused to yield their faith to Him thus resting from miracles; but what wonder that He met with such treatment from the common folk, when those very persons, who appeared to be teachers of the Law, who gave it out that He was to be made Incarnate in the words of Prophecy, both beheld Him made Incarnate, and yet were parted from Him by the disjoining of unbelief?

Concerning whom it is added; Ver. 19. They that tcere once my counsellors abhorred me, and he whom I loved most turned aivay from me. xlviii. bQ. It is plain to all people, that God does not stand in need of counsellors, Who to man's very counsellors themHom.xi. selves too vouchsafes the counsel of wisdom. Of whom Is. 40 moreover it is written, Who hath known the mind of the 12Lord, or who hatli been His counsellor ? but as when bread or clothing is bestowed on one that lacks them, the Lord bears witness that He Himself has received them; so when right counsel is given to one that is ignorant of it, He Himself receives it, of Whom that man is a member, who is so instructed; for all we, that are of the number of the faithful, are members of our Redeemer; and as He Himself is fed in our persons by the pitying of liberality, so He is Himself aided in our persons by the counselling of instruction; and so the scribes and doctors of the Law who used to instruct the people with respect to life, what else were they but * counsellors' of the Redeemer, Who was to come ? Who, nevertheless, when they beheld the Lord become Incarnate, separated numbers from faith in Him by their counsels, though before they had seemed to teach numbers by the words of the Prophets to believe the mystery of His Incarnation ;

and because with God he is more in His love. The^ skin'' claveiothe^hone,^ when Apostles/led,wo}nen stayed. 1 53 who draws tlie o;reatest number to the love of Hiin, it is Book i'urther added of that same order of the doctors of the Law and the Pharisees; and he ivhom J loved most^ turned away from Die, For that very order, through the prompting of unbelief, was turned aside from iaith in the truth, which before, while serving in the labours of preaching, was most beloved, which same not only to the extent of not believing the Lord, but even of persecuting Him as well, the rabble of the common people followed, and was kindled with the firebrands of cruelty to the very deed of His Passion; in which very Passion too the hearts of the disciples were troubled; whence also it is here added ; Ver. 20. My hone cleaveth to my skin, throiiyh viy Jiesh being uasted.

By ' bone' we have strength, and by flesh weakness of the body denoted; therefore, whereas Christ and the Church are one person, what is signified by the ' bone' but the Lord Himself? what by the ^ flesh' save the disciples, who in the hour of His Passion were weakly disposed? but by the ' skin,' which in the body remains more outward than the flesh, what is represented but those holy women, who with the view to furnish the stays of the body, served the Lord by outward offices of ministration ? for when His disciples, though not yet firm, were preaching faith to the people, the flesh kept close to its bone ; and when the holy women prepared the outward things that were necessary, they as it were like ' a skin' remained on the body outwards; but when it came to the hour of the Cross, exceeding great fear, caused by the persecution of the Jews, took possession of His disciples : they severally fled, the women ' stuck close,' and so, the ' flesh,' as it were, ' being consumed,' ' the bone of the Lord clave to its skin,' in that His strength, when the disciples fled in the hour of the Passion, had the women close beside it. Peter indeed stood for some time, but yet afterwards being affrighted he denied Him. John too stood, to whom at the very time of the Cross it was said, Be/io/d John 19^ thy motJier.

But he could not persevere; since it is also" written concerning him% And there followed Him a certain '^l^rV =» See the Life of St. John by Cave, but either opinion can be only a con- /)2. who says, that ' the ancients' underjecture. St. John was at least amongst stand it of hiui. Theophylact takes it those v^'ho foraook Han and/led. to mean James the brother of our Lord ; 154 'Lips left to teeth ^ when they despaired, yet spake of Hint. Job 19, young man^ having a linen cloth cast about his naked body, and the young men laid hold of hiim. And he left the linen Alleg. cloth, and fled from them naked; who although afterwards, to hear the words of his Redeemer, he returned at tlie hour of the Cross, yet first he was aflrighted and fled; but the women are related not only not to have been afraid nor to have fled, but even to have stood fast even to the sepulchre ; and so let him say. My bone cleaveth to my skin^ through the flesh being wasted; i. e. ' they that ought to have attached themselves closer to My strength, in the season of My Passion were consumed with dread ; and those whom I set to external ministrations, in My Passion 1 found attached themselves faithfully to Me without fear.' And here it is plainly implied that these words are delivered in mystery, in that it follows ;

And the lips only are left about my teeth. I58. For what do we have ' about our teeth,' but ' lips,' even if we suffer no scourges of affliction? but what is signified by ' the lips' but talk, what by ' teeth' but the holy Apostles ? who are with this intention set in this body of the Church, that they may bite at the life of the carnal by correction, and break it in pieces from the hardness of its obstinacy; and hence it is said to that first of the Acts 10, Apostles, as being set as a tooth in His Body, Kill, and eat. But because, at the time of His Passion, these ' teeth' from fear of death lost the biting of correction, lost the assurance of strength, lost the efficiency of practice of every sort, so that two of them as they walked, after His death Luke24, g^^^j resurrection, talked by the way and said. But we trusted that it should have been he which should have redeemed Israel; it is rightly said here. And the lips only are left about my teeth. They were still conversing about Him, but now they no longer at all believed in Him ; and so ' the lips only remained about His teeth,' in that they had parted with the efficiency of good practice, and only retained words of converse about Him. They had lost the bite of correction, and possessed the mooting of speech.

Therefore, ' the lips only were left about the teeth,' in that to talk about Him indeed they knew still, but to preach Him now, or to bite the bad ways of unbelievers, they were afraid. Therefore these particulars being finished, which he Job beseeches, though ivronged. Persecution hoiu/rom God. 155 spoke in the voice of the Head, blessed Job is brouj^ht back Book to his own words, saying- ; Hist Ver. 21. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends ; for the hand of God hath touched me.

The mind of godly men is used to have this peculiar lito itself, that when it suffers unjust treatment at the hands of enemies, it is not so much moved to wrath as to prayer; that if the wickedness of those persons could be made to subside to a calm, they would choose rather to beseech than to be wrolh; whence it is rightly said in this place, Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. Observe, those by whom he sees that he is ever being treated with insults, he calls * friends,' in that to godly minds the very tijings that seem contrary are made favourable ; for any that are wicked are either converted by the sweetness of the good so as to turn back, and by this alone they are friends, viz. that they are made good, or they persevere in their wickedness, and herein also even against their will they are ' friends,' in that, if there be any transgressions of the good, by their persecutions they purge them away even unknowingly. Observe too, that with these things which are done with God in secret, the words of the blessed man openly spoken are quite of a piece. Thus he had been smitten by Satan, yet he did not ascribe his being smitten to Satan, but he calls himself ' touched by the hand of God,' as Satan himself too had said; But put forth ^'^)^' thine hand now and touch, his bone and his Jlesh, and see if he bless Tliee not to Thy face. For the holy man knew that in that very thing which Satan had done towards him with an evil will, he derived his power not from himself, but from the Lord. It goes on ; Ver. 22. Why do ye persecute me as God; and are filled with my flesJi?

It is not at variance with the style of piety that he tells that he is persecuted by God. For there is a good persecutor; as when the Lord says of Himself by the lips of the Prophet, Him that privily slandereth his neiy hbour, Fs. loi, him did I persecute. But when any Saint is suffered to be^* stricken, he knows that he is undergoing persecution, sent against evil he has been guilty of, from the interior ordering. 156 Men should be sparing where God plainly chastises. Job 19, Now the savage niinds of the persecutors, when tliey desire 1 — the power to smite, are inflamed against tlie life of the good not with the ardour of purifying, but with the firebrands of envy; and they do that indeed, which Ahnighty God allows to be done; in that while there is one cause with God transacted too by their agency, yet there is not one will maintained in that cause, since whilst Ahnighty God, in loving, is enforcing purification, the wickedness of the unjust is exercising malice in raging. This then that is said, IVhtj do ye persecute me as God? he spoke with reference to the external smiting, not to the interior intention, in that though they execute that externally which God ordained to be done, yet in their doing it they do not seek that which God does, viz. that good men should be purified by means of affliction.

Which too may likewise be understood in another sense also. For Almighty God chastens the evil qualities of others so much the more justly in proportion as He has no whit of evil qualities in Himself; but men when they strike others in the course of discipline, ought so to chasten the frailty of another, that they should at the same time have learnt the habit to recall their eyes to their own frailty, so as to consider from themselves how they ought to spare in smiting others, seeing that they are not unaware that they themselves too are worthy of stripes. And so it is said in this case, Why do ye persecute me as God? As if it were expressed in plain words ; ' Ye do so afflict me on the grounds of my frailties, as if ye yourselves after the manner of God owned nought of infirmity :' whence it is to be considered, that if perchance there be persons that need sharpness of correction, hard correction is then to be used to them by us, when the hand of God ceases from using the rod ; but when strokes from above are upon them, from us there is now due no longer correction but consolation, lest, while in their grief we join our reproach, we put smiting to smiting.

Now it is well added, And are filled with my flesh '? The mind which hungers for the punishing of a neighbour, surely seeks to be ' filled with the flesh* of another. Moreover it is necessary to be known, that those also who feed on the slander of another's life, are as surely ' filled with tlic Slafufer is (he devouring of others' Jieslt. 157 flesh' of another. Whence it is said bv Solomon : Be not Book in the feast ings of ivinebibbers ; nor eat with those, who ' bring together flesh to eat. For to ' bring together flesh to 23 20. eat,' is, in the parlance of disparagement to tell by turns the bad qualities of neighbours; concerning whose punishment it is directly added there, they that are given to cups, and\h. 21. that give a contribution, shall be consumed, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. They are ' given to cups' who make themselves drunk ^ with slander of another's life ;'se debut to ' give a contribution-,' is in the same way that eachs^ymboindividual is used to contribute provisions for his share to be^""^eaten, so in the parlance of slander to contribute words. But ' they that are given to cups and that give a contribution shall be consumed,' in that as it is written, EveryBQ\\.l£.6. slanderer shall be rooted out ; but ' drowsiness shall cover a^r!^®^^ ^^ Frov. man with rags,' in that his death finds him an object of con15, 5.

tempt and empty of all good works, whom the sickly habit^Pg'^^foi^ of detraction took possession of here for the raking out the^misdemeanours of another man's life. But all those hardships which blessed Job undergoes it is not meet should be let pass in silence, and that the obscurity of ignorance should cover them from man's knowledge ; for so many may be edified for the preserving of patience, as they who, by grace from above replenishing them, may be made acquainted with the achievements of his patience. And hence the same blessed Job would have the strokes which he feels carried into an example, in that he immediately adds, saying; Ver. 23, 24. 0 that my loords were now written! O that they were graven in a book with an iron pen.^ and a plate of lead, or surely that they were hewed in the flint!

Whereas all that blessed Job underwent, that heavy Yy^\ Jewish people, being instructed by the strong declaration of the Fathers, was brought to know, they were written with * an iron pen' and ' a plate of lead;' but wdiereas the hard hearts of the Gentiles also were made acquainted with them, what is this but that we see them Mievvn in the flint.?' And observe, that what is written on lead, by the mere softness of the metal, is quickly obliterated; but upon the flint letters may be more slowly stamped indeed, but more hardly obli158 Lead is heavy ^ but fakes no abiding marks. Job 19, terated. Therefore it is not unsuitably that by ' the plate of -r-^ — lead' Juda3a is represented, whieh at once received the precepts of God without labour, and lost them with speed; and rightly by ' the flint' the Gentile world is represented, which could with difficulty receive the words of sacred revelation to keep, but kept them when received fixedly. Now by the ' iron pen"* what else is denoted save the strong sentence of Jer. 17, God? Whence too it is said by the Prophet, The sin of "unffue J'^dah is written with a pen of iron on a diamond nait^. The end of the body is in the nail, and a diamond is so hard a stone, that it cannot be cut with iron. Now by ' an iron pen' there 'is denoted a strong sentence, but by a ' diamond nair the eternal end; so the sin of Judah is said to be written with a * pen of iron upon a diamond nail,' in that the guilt of the Jews is reserved by the strong sentence of God for an end that is endless.

Rightly too by ' a plate of lead' we understand those, whom the load of avarice weighs down, to whom it is said by the Prophet with upbraiding, O ye sons of men, how long heavy in heart 1 For by lead, the nature whereof is of a heavy weight, the sin of avarice is in a special manner denoted, which renders the mind it has infected so heavy, that it can never be raised to aim at things on high. Hence Zech. 5, it is written in Zechariah, Lift up now thine eyes, and see ^~^' what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And 2 Lat. he said, This is an ephah^ that goeth forth. He said morera over. This is their eye throughout all the earth. And behold there was lifted up a talent of lead, and, lo, one woman sitting hi the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness ; and he cast her into the midst of the ephah, ^ ox into and he cast the weight of lead on her face^. And with the . . * mouth reference to this vision of ' the ephah,' and ' the woman,' thereof, ^nd ' the lead,' that he might shew more fully what he had V. 9-11. been made to know, he yet further added going on. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold there came out two women, and a spirit was in their wings, for they had wings like the wings of a kite, and they lifted up the epjhah between the earth and the heaven.

Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah ? And he said, To build it a7i house in the land of Covet ousnefis, the chief wicked nesR^ hears down evil 7neu. 159 Shinar, Which testimony of the Prophet wc have brought Book forward as a proof of the lead to no purpose, if we do not ~ also explain it going over it again. Thus he says, Lift up novo thine eyes^ and see what is this that goeth forth; and I said^ What is this ? And he said. It is an ephah that goeth forth. God desiring to shew to the Prophet, by what sin above all others the human race fell away from Him, by the figure of an ephah as it were denoted the wide-opened mouth of avarice. For avarice is like an ephah, in that it keeps the mouth of the heart open and agape on the stretch^ ''inamAnd he said. This is their eye through all the world. We ^*^" see many men of dull sense, and yet we see them sharp in bad practices, as the Prophet too testifies, who saith. They Jer. 4, are wise to do evil; but to do good they have no knowledge. ' And so these are dull in sense, but in those things which ihey desire, they are urged on by the goads of avarice; and they that are blind to see good, under the incitements of rewards are quick-eyed to the doing evil things.

Hence it is rightly said of this same avarice. This is their eye in all the world. And behold there ivas lifted up a talent of lead. What is ^ a talent of lead' but the weight of sin from that very avarice. And, lo, one woman sitting in the midst of the ej)hah. Which same woman, lest perchance we should doubt who she was, the Angel thereupon made known; for it follows there immediately, And he said, This is impiety; and he cast her into the midst of the ephah. Impiety is * cast into the midst of the ephah,' in that in avarice there is always impiety taken in. And he cast the weight of lead on her face. The mass of lead is cast on the woman's face, in that the impiety of avarice is borne down by the very weight of its own sin ; for if it did not reach after things that are below, it would never prove impious towards God and our neighbour QA. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold there came out two women, and a spirit was in their wings. What do we understand by these ' two women' but the two principal vices, i. e. pride and vain glory, which are without any doubt united to impiety ? Which two are described as having ' a spirit in their wings;' in that they are subservient to the will of Satan in their actions;

for the Prophet calls 160 Prida njid vain f/lorfi hear men off earth and below heaven. Job h), that one ^ a spirit,' concerning whom Solomon saith, If the —^ — 'spirit rf him l/ial hath power rise above thee., leave not thy ]0, 4. place ; and of whom the Lord saith in the Gospel; Wlien Mat.i2, ^^^ y^rjiQlQan spirit is gone out of a man, he vjalketh through dry places, ' A spirit is in their wings,' in that in whatsoever they do, pride and vain glory render obedience to the will of Satan. And they had wings like the wings of a kite. Now the kite is always busied in plotting against the chicken kind. So these women have ' wings like the wings of a kite,' in that surely their doings are like the devil, who is always plotting against the life of the little ones. And they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Pride and vain glory have this peculiar to them, that whosoever is infected by them, they lift up in his own conceit above the rest of his fellow creatures : at one time by pursuit of the gifts of fortune, at another time by the desire of dignities, the man whom they have once gotten captive, they, as it were, lift up into the height of honour. And he that is between the earth and the heaven, at once leaves things below, and fails altogether to attain the things on high.

6b. These women, then, ' lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven,' in that pride and vain glory so exalt the mind taken captive through greediness of honour, that looking down upon all their neighbours, men do, as it were, leave things below, and in proud boasting seek high things. But all such persons, while they give themselves up to pride, at once in imagination mount above those, with whom they are placed, and are far from ever being united to the citizens above. Thus the ephah is said to be ' lifted up between earth and heaven,' in that all covetous persons through pride and vain glory at once despise their neighbours at their side, and never lay hold of the things above, which are beyond them; and so they are carried ' between the earth and the heaven,' in that they neither keep equality of brotherhood in this lower world by charity, nor yet are able to attain the world above by setting themselves up. And I said to the Angel that talked tvith me^ Whither do these bear the ephah ? and he said, To build it an house in the land of Shin ar. That same ephah has a * house built it in the land of Shinar,' for ^ Shinar' is rendered ' their ill savour ;' Truth It' ri lien (is on lead andji'mt. Job's clear prophecy. !(> 1 and as there is a sweet savour from virtue, as Paul bears Book Witness, who sailh:

and maketh manifefit the savour of His— .'_ 2 Cor. 2 knowledge by us in every place ; For we are unto God a u, ' ' sweet savour of Christ ; so reversely there is an ill savour from vice. For covetousness is the root of all evil. And iTim.G, whereas every thing evil is engendered by avarice, it is meet that the house of avarice should be erected in ' ill savour.' Moreover it is necessary to be known that ' Shinar' is a very wide valley, wherein the tower was begun to be built by men giving themselves to pride, which, when the diversity of tongues was brought to pass, came to destruction ; which same tower was called Babylon, forsooth on account of that very confusion of minds and tongues: nor is it inappropriately that the ' ephah' of avarice is placed there, where ' Babylon,' i. e. • confusion,' is building, in that whereas it is certain that from avarice and impiety all things bad have their origin, this same avarice and impiety are rightly described as dwelling in confusion. (iQ. We have said these things in few words out of course, that we might shew that the weight of sin is set forth by the ' plate of lead.' Yet these very words of blessed Job are also applicable to Holy Church, who while keeping the two testaments of sacred revelation, as it were begs a second time that her words should be written, saying, OJi !

that my words were now written! Oh! that they were pi'inted in a book! Which same, in that she speaks with a strong sentence at one time to hearts heavy from the weight of avarice, at another time to hardened hearts, * writes with a pen of iron upon a plate of lead,' or, surely, ' upon the flint.' Now we say with justice that blessed Job uses the accents of our Redeemer and His Church, if we find any thing that he says explicitly of that same Redeemer of us men; for how is it to be believed that he teaches us any thing connected with Him in a figure, if he does not point Him out to us in express words } But now let him disclose to us what he is sensible of concerning Him, and let him take away from us all misgivings in our thoughts. It goes on; Ver. 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth.

For he who does not say, ' Creator,' but ' Redeemer,' expressly tells of Him, Who after He created all things, 162 Job believed our Lord's Resurrection^ and his own. Job 19, appeared Incarnate amongst us, that He might redeem us from a state of bondage, and by His Passion set us free from death everlasting; and mark with what sure faith he makes himself secure in the power of His Divine Nature, of Whom 2 Cor. it ig said by Paul, For though He was crucijied through ' ' weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. For he says, For I know that my Redeemer liveth. As if he said in express terms; ' The unbelievers may know that He "was scourged, mocked, struck with the palms of the hand, covered with a crown of thorns, besmeared with spittings, crucified, dead: I, with sure faith, believe Him to live after death ; I confess with unreserved voice, ' that my Redeemer liveth,' Who died by the hands of wicked men.' And how, O blessed Job, through His Resurrection, thou trustest to the resurrection of thine own flesh, declare, I pray, in open speech. It goes on ; And that 1 shall rise at the last day from the earth. Iv. 68. That is, because the resurrection which He manifested in His own Person, He will one day bring to pass in ourselves as well; for the resurrection, which He exhibited in Himself, He pledged to us ;

seeing that the members follow the glory of their Head. Thus our Redeemer underwent death, that we might not fear to die ; He manifested the resurrection, that we might have a sure hope that we are capable of rising again. And hence He would not have that death to be of more than three days' duration, lest if the resurrection were deferred in Plim, it should be altogether despaired of in ourselves ; and this is rightly said of Him by Ps. no, the Prophet; He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall lie lift up the head. For He in a manner condescended to drink of that current as it were of our suffering, not in an abiding place, but ' in the way,' in that He met death in a transitory way, i. e. for three days, and in that death which He met He did not, like ourselves, remain unto the end of the world. And so, whereas He rose again on the third day, what then is to come after in His body, i. e. in the Church, He makes appear; for He shewed in example, what He promised in reward, that as believers knew and owned that He had Himself risen again, so they might hope for the rewards of the resurrection in themselves at the end of the Aaroti's rod si a /ids /or Christy the rest for mankind, 1(53 v^'orld.

Lo, we, through the death of the flesh, remain in the Book dust until the end of the world, but He on the third day 'budded into life from the dryness of death, that by the very renewal of His flesh by itself He might shew the power of His Divine Nature. Which is well shewn in Moses by the twelve rods placed in the Tabernacle : for when the priesthood of Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, was despised, and the tribe was not accounted worthy to offer up burnt-offerings, twelve rods according to the twelve tribes were ordered to be put in the Tabernacle, and, lo, the rod of Levi budded, Num.17, and shewed what efficacy Aaron had in the oflSce. By^' which same sign what is conveyed, but that all we who lie in the arms of death until the very end of the world, remain like the rest of the rods in a state of barrenness ? But when all the rods remained in a state of dryness, the rod of Levi returned to flowering, in that the body of our Lord, i. e. our true Priest, being set in the dryness of death, burst into the flower of the Resurrection. By which same flowering Aaron is rightly known to be the Priest, in that by this glory of the Resurrection our Redeemer, Who sprung from the tribe of Judah and Levi\ is shewn to be an Intercessor in our behalf.

^Lukei; And so, lo ! the rod of Aaron buds now after dryness, but * the rods of the twelve tribes remain in a dry state, in that already indeed the body of the Lord lives after death, but our bodies are kept back from the glory of the resurrection until the end of the world. Whence he carefully introduced this same delay, by saying, And that I shall rise at the last^ day from the earth.

Therefore we have a hope of our own resurrection, by considering the glory of our Head. But lest any one say perhaps merely in the secret thought of his heart, that it was in this way that He rose again from the dead, viz. that bein^ God and Man in one and the same Person, the death, which He underwent in His Human Nature, He overcame by His Divine Nature, while we, who are mere men, are not able to rise from the curse of death; it happened rightly that, in the season of His resm'rection, the bodies of many of the Saints arose at the same time, that both in Himself He might shew us an example, and by the resurrection of others who were like to ourselves in respect of a mere human nature. He might sitno. 164 TJie course of nature shadoics out the llesurrecliori. Job 19, give US a sure confirmation, that wher(3as man despaired of ^ his obtainini^ what lie that was God and Man had exhibited in His own Person, he might presume that that was capable of being brought to pass in his own case, which he knew to have been brought about in the case of those very persons, who he doubted not were but simple human beings.

But there are some who, observing that the spirit is parted from the flesh, that the flesh is turned into corruption, that its corruption is reduced to dust, that this dust is so dissolved into elementary parts that it is incapable of being seen by the eyes of man, despair of the possibility of the resurrection being brougljt to pass, and whilst they gaze on the dry bones, they distrust its being possible for these to be clothed with flesh, and again flushing into life ; which persons, if they do not hold the resurrection of the body on the principle of obedience, ought certainly to hold it on the principle of reason. For what does the universe every day, but imitate in its elements our resurrection ? Thus by the lapse of the minutes of the day the temporal light itself as it were dies, when, the shade of night coming on, that light which was beheld is withdrawn from sight, and it daily rises again as it were, when the light that was withdrawn from our eyes, upon the night being suppressed is renewed afresh. For the progress of the seasons too, we see the shrubs lose the greenness of their foliage, and cease from putting forth fruit; and on a sudden as if from dried up wood, by a kind of resurrection coming we see the leaves burst forth, the fruit grow big, and the whole tree clothed with renewed beauty ;

we unceasingly behold the small seeds of trees committed to the moistness of the ground, wherefrom not longafterwards we behold large trees arise, and bring forth Comp. leaves and fruit. Let us then consider the little seed of any tree on I ^'^' ^vhatever, which is thrown into the ground, for a tree to be Thess. produced therefrom, and let us take in, if we are capable of ' * it, where in that exceeding littleness of the seed that most enormous tree was buried, which proceeded from it ? where was the wood ? where the bark ? where the verdure of the foliage ? where the abundance of the fruit ? Was there any thing of the kind perceived in the seed, when it was thrown inio the ground? And yet by the secret Artificer of all' Job's faith shames doubt after our Lord's Rising. 165 lliiims orderiiie; all in a wonderful manner, both in the softBook ness of the seed there lay buried the roughness of the bark, and in its tenderness there was hidden the strength of its timber, and in its dryness fertility of productiveness. What wonder, then, if that finest dust, which to our eyes is resolved into the elements, He, when He is minded, fashioneth again into the human being. Who from the finest seeds resuscitates the largest trees ? And so, seeing that we have been created reasoning beings, we ought to collect the hope of our own resurrection from the mere aspect and contemplation of the objects of nature.

But forasmuch as the faculty of reason was deadened in us, the grace of the Redeemer came in for an example. For our Creator came. He took death upon Him. He exhibited the Resurrection, in order that we, who would not hold the hope of the Resurrection by reason, might hold it by His succour and example ; and so let blessed Job say; / know that my Redeemer liveth, and that £ shall rise at the last day from the earth. And let any one that despairs of the possibility that the power of the Resurrection should be brought to pass in himself, blush at the words of a believing person set in the midst of the Gentile world, and let him reflect with what a weight of punishment he deserves to be stricken, if he still does not believe his own resurrection, who now knows the resurrection of the Lord which has taken place, if even he believed his own, who as yet expected the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to be brought to pass. 7L But see, I hear of the resurrection, but it is the effect of the resurrection that 1 am searching out. For I believe that I shall rise again, but I wish that I might hear what kind of person ; since it is a thing I ought to know, whether I shall rise again perhaps in some other subtle or ethereal body, or in that body wherein I shall die.

But if I shall rise again in an ethereal body, it will no longer be myself, who rise again. For how can that be a true resurrection, if there may not be true flesh ? so that plain reason suggests, that if it shall not be true flesh, assuredly it will not be a true resurrection ; for neither can it be rightly termed a resurrection, when it is not what fell that rises again. But in this too for us, O blessed Job, do thou remove these 106 77/6* body shall truly rise. Error qf Eutychius. Job 19, clouds of luisgiving, and whereas through the grace of the ^ ' Holy Spirit vouchsafed thee thou hast begun to speak to us of the hope of our resurrection, shew in plain words if our flesh shall really rise again. It follows, Ver. 26*. And I shall he again encompassed with my skin. Ivi. 72. Whereas the ' skin' is expressly named, all doubt of a true resurrection is removed ; in that our body will not, as Eutychius the Bishop of Constantinople wrote, in that gloriousness of the resurrection be impalpable, and more subtle than the wind and air : for in that gloriousness of the resurrection our body will be subtle indeed by the efficacy of a spiritual power, but palpable by the reality of its nature ; whence also our Redeemer, when the disciples doubted of His resurrection, shewed them His hands and feet, and offered Luke His bones and flesh to be touched, sayinoHandle Me and ' see ;

for a spirit hath not jlesh and hones as ye see Me have. And when, being placed in the city of Constantinople, I brought before Eutychius this testimony of truth from the Gospel, he said, ' For this reason the Lord did this, that He roight take away all doubt of the resurrection from the hearts of the disciples.' To whom T said; ' This is a very extraordinary thing that you assert, that doubting should arise to ourselves from the same quarter, whence the hearts of the disciples were cured of doubting.' For what can be said worse than that that is made doubtful to us relating to His true flesh, whereby His disciples were restored anew to faith from all doubting ? For if He is declared not to have had that, which He manifested; from the same source, from whence the faith of His disciples is confirmed, ours is destroyed. And he further added, saying, * He had that body which He shewed a palpable body; but after the hearts of those that handled it were confirmed, all that in the Lord which was capable of being handled, was reduced into a certain subtle quality.' To which same I answered, saying ; Bora. 6, < It is written, Knowing that Christ heing raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. If then there was aught in the Body which was capable of being altered after His resurrection, contrary to the truly spoken declaration of Paul, the Lord after His resurrection returned into death ;

and what fool even would The Flesh will be the same in substance, fwt in passions. 167 venture to say this, save he that denies the true resurrection Book . ^ TV of His flesh ?' Then he objected to me, saying, ' Whereas it is *written ; Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, i Cor. by what means is it to be supposed that the flesh truly rises ' again?' To whom I say; * In Holy Writ flesh is named in one way according to nature, and in another way according to sin or corruption.' For there is flesh according to nature, as where it is written, This is 7iow bone of my bones, and ^^"^'^t flesh of my flesh. And, The Word was made flesh, and John i, dwelt among us. But there is flesh according to sin, as ^'** where it is written, 3fg Spirit shall not always abide in those Gen. 6, men, for that they are flesh. And as the Psalmist saith ; For He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that Vs. 78, passefh away, and cometh not again. Whence too Paul said to the disciples; But ye are not in the flesh, but in the B.om. 8, spirit. For it was not that these persons were not in the^* flesh, to whom he was sending letters, but for that they had subdued the motions of carnal passions, henceforth, free through the eflicacy of the Spirit, they ' were not in the flesh.' Therefore in respect to what Paul says, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he would have flesh to be understood as applied to sin, not flesh as applied to nature.

Hence directly afterwards that he was speaking of flesh after sin he makes plain, by adding ; Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Therefore in that glory of the heavenly kingdom there will be flesh according to nature, but not flesh according to the desire of the passions ; in that the sting of death being overcome, it will reign in eternal incorruptibility.'

To which words the same Eutychius directly answered that he assented, yet still he denied that the body could rise again a palpable body. Who in the treatise too which he had written concerning the resurrection, had put in the testimony of the Apostle Paul, when he says; That which \Cor. thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which ^^' ^^' thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. Being eager to shew this, that the flesh will either be impalpable ", or will not be itself identically, seeing * Nearly all MSS. read, ' palpabilis,' which, if right, must come under ihn following negative. 168 Euhjcliiua convificed through Job's words. .joBi9, ibat the lioly Apostle, when treating of the glory of the ^^resurrection, says that * it was not sown the body that it shall ''^' be.' lint the answer to this is soon made. For the Apostle Paul, when he says, Thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, is telling us of what we see ; viz. that the grain, which is sown without a stalk or leaves, springs up with a stalk and leaves ; so that he, in heightening the glory of the resurrection, did not say that what it was is wanting to it, but that what it w^as not is present: but this man, whereas he denies the real body to rise again, does not say that what was wanting is there, but that what it was is wanting.

Upon this, then, we being led on in long disputing on this point, we began to recoil from one another with the greatest animosity, when the Emperor Tiberius Constantine, of religious memory, bringing myself and him to a private audience, learnt what dispute was being carried on between us, and weighing the statement of both sides, and by his own allegations as well disproving that same book which he had written concerning the resurrection, determined that it ought to be consumed in the flames. Upon our leaving whom, I was seized with a grievous sickness, while to that same Eutychius sickness and death shortly followed. And when he was dead, because there was well nigh no one who followed his statements, I held back from prosecuting what I had commenced, lest I should seem to be darting words at his I ashes, but while he was still alive, and I sick of violent fever, j if any of my acquaintance went to him for the sake of greet- ! ing him, as I learnt from their relation, he used to take hold I on the skin of his hand before their eyes, saying, * I confess that we shall all rise again in this flesh;' which as they themselves avowed he was before wont altogether to deny.

But let us, laying aside these considerations, minutely search out in the words of blessed Job, if there will be a true resurrection, and the true body in that resurrection; for, lo, we arc no longer able to doubt of the hope of the resurrection, in that he says. And that I shall rise at the last day from the earth. Moreover he has removed all doubting of the true renewal of the body, in that he says. And I shall hi' again encompassed uiih my skin. And he still further Sure fait] I in Chrisfs rising implies our oivn. 169 adds, with the view of removing the misgivings of onr Book thouglit ; Attd in mil flesh shall I see God.

Mark, he owns the resm-rection, ^ the skin,' Hhe flesh,' Ivii. in expHcit words. What is there left then, by which our mind should have occasion to doubt? If this holy man then before the fact of the Lord's resurrection, believed in the flesh being destined to be brought back to its entire state, what will be the guilt of our doubting, if the true resurrection of the flesh not even after the proof of our Redeemer obtains credit? For if after the resurrection there will not be a palpable body, surely another person rises again than dies : which is profane to say; viz. to believe that it is I who die, and another that doth rise again'. Wherefore I entreat thee, blessed Job, 'ABCD, add how thou art minded, and remove from us all ground of ^^^^^ ^^^ scruple on this point. It follows; rise.' Ver. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. 11 . For if, as certain votaries of false opinions believe, after the resurrection there shall be no palpable body, but the subtle quality of an invisible body shall be called the flesh, though there be no substance of flesh, then surely he that dies is one person, and he that rises again is another. But blessed Job destroys this assertion for them by a truthtelling voice, in that he says, Whom 1 shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

But we, following the faith that blessed Job held, and truly believing the palpable Body of our Redeemer after His resurrection, confess that our flesh after the resurrection will be at once both the same and different, the same in respect of nature, different in respect of glory, the same in its reality, different in its power. Thus it will be subtle, in that it will be incorruptible; it will be palpable, in that it will not lose the essence of its very and true nature. But that same assurance of the resurrection the holy man subjoins with what sure hope he holds it, with what certainty he awaits it. It goes on; Tliis my hope is laid up in my bosom. 7 8. We suppose that we hold nothing more surely than Iviii. what we have in our bosom; and so he kept ' hope laid up in his bosom,' in that he laid hold beforehand on true cer170 Fear of Judgment should check rash censures. Job 19, tainty concernintr the hope of the resurrection. But whereas -he made known that the day of the resuiTection would come, Lit. he now, whether in his own voice, or in a figure of the holy and universal Church, reproves the deeds of the wicked, and foretells the Judgment which ensues on the day of the resurrection. For he straightway adds; Ver. 28. 29. Wherefore then do ye now say. Let us persecute him, and find out the root of the word against him?

Fly therefore from the face of the sword, for the sword is an avenger of wickedness ; and know that there is a judgment, lix. 79. For in the first sentence he reproved the deeds of the wicked, while in the following he made known the punishments proceeding from the Divine judgment. Thus he saith. Wherefore then do ye now say ; Let us persecute him and find out the root of the word against him? Wicked persons, because they hear with wrong earnestness things well put forth, and seek to find in the tongue of the righteous an inlet for accusation, what else do they but ' seek the root of the word against him,* from which same they may take the commencement of speaking, and in the accusing of him expand the branches of evil talkativeness ? But when the holy man meets with such things at the hands of wicked men, it is not against them but rather for them that he feels sorrow, and reproves the things wickedly harboured in the heart, and shews them evil for them to escape, saying, Fly therefore from the face of the sword; for the sword is the avenger of wickedness ; and know that there is a judgment. Every one that does wicked things, even herein, that he is too indifferent to fear this, does not know of there being a judgment of God. For if he did know that this was a thing to be feared, he would never do things that are destined to be punished in it.

For there are very many who know that there is a final Judgment as far as the words go, but by acting wickedly they bear witness that they do not know it. Since whereas he does not dread this as he ought, he does not yet know with * al.* he what a tempest of terror it will come. For if he had^ been ^ taught to estimate the weight of the dreadful scrutiny, surely in fearing he would guard against the day of wrath. Moreover, * to fly from the face of the sword,' is to propitiate the sentence of the strict visitation before it appears. For the Judgment can only be escaped beforehand. 171 terribleness of the Judge caunot be avoided savinar before the Book • • • XIV Judgment. Now He is not discerned, but is appeased by prayers. But when He shall sit on that dreadful inquest, He is both able to be seen and not able any longer to be propitiated; in that the doings of the wicked which He bore long while in silence. He shall pay back all of them together in wrath. Whence it is necessary to fear the Judge now, while He does not yet execute judgment, while He bears ])atiently for long, while He still tolerates the wickedness that He sees, lest when He has once plucked out His hand in the awarding of vengeance, He strike the more severely in judgment, in proportion as He waited longer before judgment.

Now it is clear to be seen that being puffed up with iiithe 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 followingright 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. / 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 ? 174 The hypocrite s joy in in (hinys that abide no/. Job 20, 4. Therefore because the wicked have their heart centered — j~^in this life, surely tliey 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 earthy that the triumphing of the wicked is short; and it is well added, And the joy of the hypocrite hut 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, Mat.23, as is said of such by the voice of Truth Himself. But all their works they do for to be seen of men : they mak.j 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 m£n, Rabbi, Rabbi. 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 ' causa, punishment remains, and when the thing is lost, the guilt' """'* ■ endures. And it is well said ; 7^6? 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 dmighill. The hypocrite's soul shewn at last a dunghill of vices. 175

The pride of the hypocrite is said to ' mount up unto Book the heavens,' when his high-mindedncss 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 icith the^cdus. dung of oxen. 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 braised 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 oi\ 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 lieavens^ 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?

It generally happens that the life of the hypocrite is v. 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 yel 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; 176 The hypocrite's life a dream of false (f lory. Job 20, Ver. 8. He shall fly away as a dream^ and shall no I be -found: yea^ he shall he chased away as a vision of Ihe Lit. 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 hymen, 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. H ence it comes to pass that they assume that they will likewise obtain the rewards of eternal life, and they who triumph here V)elow, 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 he chased away as a vision of ihe 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 ' al-/ of substance of virtue ^ 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 ; The hypocrite' s Jiattercrs f<i it hint. His imitators poor. 177 Ver. 9. The eiie also which saw him shall see him no Book more: neither shall his place any more behold him.

What is the ' place' of the hypocrite, saving the heart of his flatterers ? For there he rCvSts, 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 he wasted with poverty.

It is written, For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; and it is declared by the Psalmist, The rich hare ^ ^^ ' ' lacked and been a hungred. For if their want and hunger Ps. 34, 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.

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 fall of the sin of his youth, and shall deep with him in the dust. 178 /// habits streitythened by sin, good ones wasted. Job 20, 11. The origin of a bad beginning by preoccupying further multiplies the causes of sin. For when a man has MoilAL. , 1 -1 t 1 1-1 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 befall of the sin of his youlJi ;

in that the ngid habits of evil practices in him are taken from the sin of an ill beginning. Hence it is written in the Proverbs, Prov. The young man according to his own way^ when he is old, ^^' ^' will never depart therefrom. 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.

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 hones 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 ; What is ' on' the tongue not always what is * under' it. 179 Ver. 12. For when wickedness shall be sweet in his Booic mouth, he ivill hide it under his tongite. ^-

' 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. Now the evilP9.i2,2. 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 raischievousness 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 Cant. 4, under Thy tongue. 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 vvhich 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 Araasa 2 Sam. with his right hand, whilst secretly putting his left hand to ' his sword, he shed out his bowels. 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. For he Pa. 10,7. that doth not display openly the ill that he designs, does not put forth on the tongue the mischief and pain of those, * The word evil is not in the Vulgate, nor in all copies of LXX, 180 The bread of the wicked iurm: to yall within. Job 20, whose destruction he aims at, but keeps them close under Lit. the tongue. Now it is rightly added of this hypocrite, Ver. 13. He will spare it, and forsake it not, hut keep it still within his throat. xii. 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 il 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 m 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.

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 Even the food of God's Word profits not had men. 181 from the same cause, whence he appeared to derive instrucBook tion unto hte. Nor is this again unhtly 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 selfinstruction 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.

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 keptnot in his life. Whence it is said by the Prophet ; But unto the wicked God saith, What Ps. 60, hast thou to do to declare my statutes^ and that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth ? 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, He then that keeps His commandments in mind, but never '^' 18*2 Holy Wril shewn the Bleasiny and Curae from above.

Job 20, docs them, such an one holds in the words of instruction tho — - — '— sentences whereby he is condemned. Zech. 5, 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 every one that stealetit shall be judged as on this side according to it. 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 ; i\-al\9, And every one that hath forsaken houses or lands, SfC. ^*'" shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. For the number one hundred is completed by the number ten multiplied ten times.

Thus he gets back an hundredfold"', 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 every one that is a thief, as it is therein written, shall he 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 *> perhaps ' an hundredfold here^^ (reading Htc.) Gentler temptations Jirst, violent ones after. 183 just man's life. Concerninyr whom it is still farther added Book nghtly, Ver. 16. He shall suck the head of asps: the vipefs tongue shall slay him.

The ^ asp' is a small serpent, but the * viper' hath xr. 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 by violence.' * ' vi 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*" 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, ig.59 5. and weave the spider's web;

He that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is hatched hreaketh, out into a basilisk. 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 ^ Ben. * surripiunt,' Steal from, but others ' surrepunt.' 184 Man yields iciUinyltj al Jiraly llteti cannot resist. Job 20, unto full iniquity. For ' basilisk ''' means the king of serpents, Jand 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 tlie 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 Jtim, in that when he gladly v/elcomes 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 gi'atifi cations 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 John 7, Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 38 39 * . . . rivers of living water. 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 «* ' Regulus,* which is a translation of the Greek BecffiklffKtf. see Plin. viii. 21. Sireavilets oj' the river of God unseefi by the wicked, 185 the liver' are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Charity is ' a Book 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 d,^ faith is the evidence of things not seen. AndHeb.ii, 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 thinos alone.

And it is written, For Rom. 5, ichat a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 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 • ' Expieri.' K. ' ut per eos Carnis them the desires of the flesh cannot be desideria expleri nequeant;' ' that by satisfied.' 186 An ever-iiviiiy death pays for a dead life Job 20, sweetness of His divinity and the belief of His Incar- * nation, these are described as * the streamlets of the torrent Myst. ' river of honey and butter' together, in that they both refresh the soul with sweetness by the exalted knowledge of God, ' < Chaand anoint it with the mystery of the Benefit* by the grace nsmaq{ \\yq 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 thinys that he hath done, nor yet shall he be consumed. xvii. 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 hearing 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 midtitude of his inventions shall he also suffer. ^viii. 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 ]f omissions condemn, much more inventions in sin.

187 more in service than they received in command,) so very Book 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 mullitude 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 any one in particular, but that from which all sins have their origin. For it is written, Covetousness is the root of all evil. He i Tim. 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.

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 hunyred, Mat.25, and ye yave Me no meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no ^^' drink : I teas a stranger, and ye took 3Ie tiot in ; naked, and ye covered Me not, 8fc. as the consequence of which sin it is added, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, \. ■i\. prepared for the devil and his angels. If then he is sentenced to so great a penalty, who is convicted merely of not having 188 Mail's greediness most piuiished when mosijilled. Job 20, given away his own, with what punishment does not that man ?^l^j.. 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 helly shall not he 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 lie shall have that which he desired, he shall not he ahle 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 ; Ps. 78, But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of * * God came upon them, and slew the most of them. 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 he left. Sinful desire siraite/ts itself in its otvn fulness. 189 25. ^ His meat' is all that he coveted with wrong desire ; Book but when the hypocrite is struck, * there is none of his meat -'— left,' in that when he is himselt'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 2 Cor. 3, the Lord is, there is liberty; 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.

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, Lukei2, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits ? And he said. This will I do; T will pull down my barns, and build greater. 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 stowit away, the rich manbeing greatly aggrandized knows not what he should do. O straitness caused by ' fulness of sufficiency 1' 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 en190 Miaeriea of sinful aima here and hereafter.

Job 20,gTossraents of his desires, he went heavily under a kind of -— — 1 bundle of stores; and so it is well said, In thefulnesa 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 ivith 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 ow^i 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.

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, How God rains down wrath. Two sources of avarice. 191 as we have already often said, it often happens that the Book 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 helly miyJtt he filled .^ that God might cast the fury of His wrath upon him, and rain His war upon him.

The Lord ' rains His war' npon 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 iipon the how of brass.

We ought to know, that avarice sometimes steals upon xxr. 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 arc 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 themj 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 iroii^a. 105, entered into his soid. 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 192 Mart, draivn by Satcnt, y el freely chooses evil. Job 20, present necessity which is transient, but by * brass' the -j - ^ — eternal doom. And whereas the judgment Above is not heeded by tlie 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 avariciousness 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. ,S1. 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 vievv, 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.

The terribleness of whose power is further shewn, Bitter end of false glory. Devils go to and fro on had men. 193 where it is immediately added, Yea, lightening in his hitterBook ness. For when the lightning comes suddenly from above, when it shines with terribleness before our eyes, it displays shining brightness, and strikes the objects 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 w^oes 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,.

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 VOL. II. o 1 94 All evil at once in a bad soul. Everlasting Fire. Job 20, 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-deahng. 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 efibrt, 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 The restored Jlesh a misery to the wicked. 195 know, that all the children of perdition, as they sinned in Book spirit and flesh conjointly, are there tormented in spirit and — flesh alike. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, Thou shall ^^•^^,^' make them as afiertj oven in the time of Thiiie anger. The hard 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 afire 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.

The ' tabernacle' of the wicked man is his flesh, in thatxxx. 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 Rom. 8, spirit: 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 he longs to be brought out of it ; then he seeks, if he might be able, to escape from his torments ; then he 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 196 Both good and had shall testify against the unjust. Job 20, the body here against his will, and held fast in the body ^— ^ — there when he would not. Therefore because his spirit in torment longs ^ to get rid of the flesh, which it set before itself in loving amiss, and has not the power, it is rightly said here, being left in his tabernacle it shall go ill with him. Of whose accusing it is directly said ; Ver. 27. TJie 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 he 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 Ps. 19,1. righteous it is said, The heavens declare the glory of God. And to man when he sinned the sentence is pronounced, Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shall 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 Ez.24,7. 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^ ; she poured it not upon the ground to cover it with dust: 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 f So A.B.C.D.— Ben.

' shall long.' XtuTrtr^Uv Sept. s ' Super limpidissiinain petram' V. ' Earth' may mean the secular, ^ Heaven' the religious life. 1 97 those who savoured the things of heaven^ and oppressed Book those who savoured of things below. But it may be that by L_ ' 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 /rom Ps.50,4. above, and to the earth that He may judge His j)eople. 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 Hhe earth is called from above,' vvhen 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, / was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me. So ' the heaven reveals the wiclveclness' of the hypocrite, and ' the earth rises U23 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 doubledealing, 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.

' 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 e/^^Rom. 2, excicsing one another^ 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 ] 98 Detection and castiny away, the portion of the wicked. Job 20, 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 tal<e 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^ por 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 Rs. 73, prays, saying, God is my portion for ever: 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 Joh^ though ivrongedy entreats. He fears not laughter, 1 99 being shut out from His face, because he did not seek to Book 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 Ufe 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 ;