Literal Commentary on Job (Expositio super Iob ad litteram)

"Job also continued, taking up his discourse," etc. In the words set forth above Job had refuted the words of Baldath, who had alleged the divine power against him, as though Job were ignorant of its greatness; and when his response was finished, it is understood that he waited for the third of his friends, namely Sophar, to respond in his accustomed order as was the custom, but because that one, as if convicted, fell silent, Job takes up his discourse anew and shows by another argument that it is not contrary to divine providence if the wicked prosper in this world and the good suffer adversities. Hence it is said, "Job also continued" — that is, after no one answered him — "taking up his discourse," because, that is, he was speaking through similitudes after the manner of those who introduce parables. But before he shows his proposition, he declares that he will never pass over to the opinion of his friends, and to confirm this he prefaces it with an oath; hence it is added, "and he said: As God lives, who hath taken away my judgment" — that is, granting your opinion by which you assert that it pertains to the justice of the divine judgment that it bring present adversities upon none but sinners; and therefore, to explain in what sense he says his judgment has been taken away, he adds "and the Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness" — that is, who without any preceding fault of mine has brought upon me outward adversities from which I suffer bitterness in my soul; yet I do not depart from reverence and love of him, as is clear from the fact that I swear by him. Now he introduces this oath for the sake of what is added next, "as long as breath remaineth in me" — that is, as long as I shall have the life which is preserved by breathing; and to show that he acknowledges the benefit of life as coming from God, he adds "and the spirit of God in my nostrils" — for breathing occurs chiefly through the nostrils, since breathing through the mouth is not so fitting, as Aristotle says in the book On the History of Animals; therefore man's breathing, which is principally situated in the nostrils, is here called the spirit of God, because this man has from God, that he may be able to live by breathing. And he does not wish to be ungrateful for this benefit by sinning; hence he adds, "my lips shall not speak iniquity" — that is, so as to say that all who suffer adversities are wicked — "neither shall my tongue meditate a lie" — that is, so as to say that it pertains to divine justice that it reward the merits of the just with present prosperity and condemn the sins of the wicked with temporal adversity. And because Job's friends were asserting these things, he adds, "God forbid that I should judge you to be just" — for he could not judge them just unless he approved their unjust opinion, by which he would depart from his own justice; hence he adds, "till I die, I will not depart" — that is, "I purpose not to depart from my innocence," from which, namely, he would depart if he judged the holy who suffer adversity in this world to be wicked along with them; and just as he does not propose to transgress from innocence into wrongdoing, so neither to abandon the way of justice; hence he adds, "my justification," which pertains, that is, to the execution of justice, "which I have begun to hold" — that is, by not approving a man for the prosperity he has, nor condemning him for the adversity he suffers in this life — "I will not abandon," that is, by declining into your opinion. Now those who have once sinned are usually more inclined to sin again, whereas those who are inexperienced of sins fall into sin with greater difficulty; hence he adds, "for my heart doth not reprove me in all my life" — as if to say: I am confident, therefore, that I shall not depart from innocence nor abandon justice, because I have learned this by experience; for I do not have a conscience gnawing at me for any grave thing I have committed in my whole life. Or it can be connected otherwise: because he had said that he would not depart from his innocence nor abandon the justification which he had begun to hold, someone might say that he had had neither innocence nor justice before this; but he excludes this himself by adding "for my heart doth not reprove me," etc. Now he would decline from innocence and abandon justice if he favored you who uphold injustice and impiety; hence he adds, "as my adversary is wicked" — insofar, that is, as he speaks against the truth of the divine judgment — "and my opponent unjust" — insofar, that is, as he brings forth an unjust sentence against me, by opposing me, when he says that I am wicked because I am grievously afflicted.

These things, then, having been set forth pertaining to the refutation of his friends and to the firmness of his own opinion, he comes to his principal proposition, namely to show that it is not contrary to divine providence if the wicked prosper temporally in this world and the just are temporally afflicted; and above he had indeed made this manifest from the future rewards and scourges reserved for the good and the wicked after this life, but now he shows this from the weakness of the temporal goods which the wicked possess in this life, and the greatness of the spiritual goods which are granted to the good. He asserts, therefore, first, that it is useless to sinners if in this life they attain temporal goods without goods of the soul; hence he says, "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, if he greedily gather riches" — that is, if he unjustly amass wealth — "and God deliver not his soul" — namely from sin, through the gifts of grace — that is, what good can follow from this? And he speaks of the hypocrite, that is, the pretender, in place of all sinners, because "feigned equity is a double iniquity," and hypocrites, as counterfeiters of virtue, seem to be most abominable before God, just as below, in chapter 36:13, it is said, "the hypocrites and crafty provoke the wrath of God." He shows next that they are deprived of a twofold hope, of which one is that which the just have concerning God, that in the time of their necessity he will hear their prayer; but this he excludes from the impious, saying: "will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him?" As if to say, no; and the reason for this is given in Proverbs 1:24, from the mouth of Wisdom saying, "I called and you refused," and a little after it is added, "then" — namely when distress shall come upon them — "they shall call upon me, and I will not hear"; and in Proverbs 28:9 it is said, "he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination." The second hope of the just, however, is that when temporal consolation fails them in the time of tribulation, they enjoy delight in God and delight in his praise; but this he excludes from the impious, adding, "or can he take delight in the Almighty" — whom, that is, he is proved by his works not to love — "and call upon God at all times?" For it comes from great love of God that the praise of God is ever in the mouth of some. And because he had shown that the temporal goods which the impious possess avail little without the hope which the just have, he shows next that the temporal goods which the impious sometimes possess are fragile. And to confirm what he is about to say, he prefaces two things: first, that what he is about to say is in accord with divine wisdom; hence he says, "I will teach you by the hand of God" — that is, by his power — "what the Almighty hath" — namely in his wisdom, as something certain — "and I will not conceal" — namely, what I have learned by God's instructing me. Second, he shows that what he is about to say is so manifest that they themselves cannot be ignorant of it; hence he adds, "behold, you all know it" — namely, that what I am about to say is true — and therefore it is a wonder that you speak so unreasonably against manifest truth; and this is what he adds, "and why do you speak vain things without cause" — that is, things which have no support of reason? For dull men, though they know the premises, are wont not to notice what follows from them.

Now it is to be considered that since God is the creator and governor of all, all receive something from him as it were their inheritance from a father; but wicked men receive as it were their own portion and their inheritance from God the temporal goods of this world, whence it is said in their own person, "this is our portion and this our lot"; on the contrary, the good receive as it were their own portion and inheritance the spiritual goods, according to that of the Psalm, "the lines are fallen unto me in goodly places; for my inheritance is goodly to me." Describing, therefore, how fragile and perishable is the portion of the wicked which they receive in temporal things, he says, "This is the portion of a wicked man with God" — that is, such is what falls to their lot, while spiritual goods are distributed to the good and temporal goods to them — "and the inheritance of the violent" — that is, of those who unjustly acquire temporal goods — "which they shall receive of the Almighty" — namely by his permitting it and affording the opportunity, as was said above in chapter 22:18, "when he had filled their houses with good things." Now he shows this portion or inheritance to be perishable, first indeed as regards what commonly befalls the offspring of the wicked, which nevertheless among temporal goods is reckoned the greatest; but it sometimes happens that the sons of the wicked who have prospered in this world are slain; hence he says, "if his sons be multiplied" — which, that is, was reckoned as great prosperity — "they shall be for the sword" — that is, they shall be slain. And although it rarely happens that the sons of the rich come to great poverty, yet this frequently happens with regard to grandsons and descendants; hence he adds, "and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread" — namely because of want. As for his other household members, he adds, "they that shall remain of him shall be buried in destruction" — that is, without solemnity, as though slain; hence also as regards their wives he adds, "and his widows shall not weep" — which is wont to be done at solemn burials. Just as, then, their happiness is fragile and perishable as regards sons and friends, so also as regards riches possessed, among which some are artificial riches, namely money, which was invented as it were as a measure for the exchange of goods, as the Philosopher says; and as to this he adds, "if he shall heap up silver as earth" — that is, if he acquire as great an abundance of money as is found in the earth. But other riches are natural, which, namely, come to the aid of men's natural necessity, such as bread and wine, garments and other such things; and as to this he adds, "and prepare raiment as clay" — that he may have as great an abundance of these as of clay; "he shall prepare it," indeed, that is, he shall have care and labor in preparing it, yet another shall have the fruit, and sometimes a good man who is not solicitous about this; hence he adds, "but the just man shall be clothed with it" — namely with the garments, for his own necessity — "and the innocent shall divide the silver" — that is, he shall distribute and give it to the poor; he shall not keep it hoarded up, which would be contrary to innocence. It also pertains to earthly prosperity that houses be spacious, but he shows that this too is perishable, for two reasons: first, because sometimes he builds himself a house by violence in another's place, from which he is driven out; hence he adds, "he hath built his house as a moth" — which, by gnawing another's garment, prepares a place for itself, from which, the garment being shaken off, it is cast out; secondly, because even if he builds a house on his own soil, it is nevertheless not given to him to have care and dominion of that possession for long, but only for a short time; hence he adds, "and as a keeper" — namely of a vineyard — "he hath made a booth," which, that is, is thrown down when the time of his watching is finished. Now how he loses the goods he has acquired, he shows by adding, "the rich man, when he shall sleep" — that is, when he shall be dead — "shall take away nothing" of the things he possesses "with him" — namely into the other life; "he shall open his eyes" — namely at the resurrection — "and shall find nothing" — because, that is, he shall not return to possess temporal goods; sometimes also in this life he suddenly loses them, in the manner in which rain suddenly overtakes a man; hence he adds, "poverty shall come upon him like water" — namely rain water — that is, it shall suddenly come upon him; and although rain by day can somewhat be foreseen, yet by night it altogether takes a man by surprise; hence he adds, "in the night a storm shall oppress him" — namely of adversity — that is, altogether unforeseen. Lastly he shows the fragility of worldly prosperity as regards the very person of the man, who sometimes perishes by some fever or by some persecution; and as to this he adds, "a burning wind shall take him" — that is, a fever shall kill him — "and shall take him away" — namely from the company of the living; and this shall happen suddenly and unforeseen; hence it follows, "and as a whirlwind shall snatch him away from his place" — that is, violently and without delay. But sometimes he is slain not by an inward infirmity but by an outward persecutor; hence he adds, "he" — namely God — "shall send some persecutor upon him" — that is, one more powerful than he, whom he cannot resist — "and he shall not spare" — namely, the persecutor himself; hence the wicked man himself, "fleeing," shall flee "from his hand" — that is, from his power — either by death, because after he has slain him he has nothing further to do. Now when he is dead, there remains to his friends amazement and mourning; hence he adds, "he shall clasp his hands over him" — as it were out of amazement — "and shall hiss at him" — as it were sympathizing with him — "considering his place" — that is, reflecting upon his former dignity.