1 My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 But he also said above, "God would not hearken to him, so that he should answer to one of his charges or of a thousand." How can Job speak so here? "In the bitterness of my soul," he says. Therefore it is not him who speaks but his bitterness, insofar as the reflections of Job allow us to express what he means.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 My soul is weary of my life. Now whensoever the present life has once begun to grow tasteless, and the love of the Creator to become sweet, the soul inflames itself against self, that it may accuse self for the sins, wherein it formerly vindicated itself, being ignorant of the things above. Whence he yet further adds with propriety, I will let my speech go against myself.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Job earlier proposed that both the innocent and the unjust are assailed by trials in this world, and touched upon one reason for the punishment of the innocent which he could think of, i.e. that the earth, as if forsaken by God, had been exposed to the almost evil will of an iniquitous power which punishes the innocent at will.
2 I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore Thou so judgest me. Whereas he declares himself a sinner 'in the bitterness of his soul,' what else does he say to God, but that he may not be condemned, in that the bitterness of his present penance does away with the pains of ensuing wrath?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 But lest this unleashing of speech again be interpreted as reason being overcome by sorrow, he adds, "I will say to God: Do not condemn me." For when reason is overcome by passion, man murmurs against God and at times goes so far as blasphemy.
3 What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest calumniate and oppress the poor, and the work of Thine hands, and help the counsel of the wicked? This same is so said by way of interrogation, that it is denied. As though it were in plain terms; 'Thou That art supremely good, I know dost not hold it good to oppress the poor man by calumny.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Because we come to the knowledge of divine things through human ones, he proposes two ways the innocent are sometimes condemned by human judgment. The first way is because of the malice of the one meting out the punishment. Punishments are inflicted on the innocent in three ways from this cause. Sometimes they heap calumnies upon the innocent through cunning.
4 Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees?
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "Do you judge things according to human views? May anything hide from your careful examination, as it is hidden from human beings? Are your years few, and do you ignore what was previous to your age?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Hast Thou eyes of flesh? or shalt Thou see as man seeth? Are Thy days as the days of man? Are Thy years as the time of man, that Thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? To know that I have done nothing ungodly.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 After removing this cause, since this cannot seem good to God, since Job is the work of the hands of God and since his enemies who oppress him are shown to be evil, he next proceeds to the second way in which the innocent are sometimes afflicted in human judgment.
5 Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his,
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 The third defect of human knowledge is the result of the nature of time, both because his knowledge increases from day to day and also because he forgets those things which he knows through a long period of time, so it is necessary for him to learn by repetition as it were.
6 That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He continues, "That you should interrogate me about my evildoing and examine my sin," to investigate through tribulations if I have sinned in my work or am evil in my thought, like men investigate criminal guilt using torture.
7 Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 So, after the investigation of this sort is completed and you find no sin in me, "Know that I have done nothing wicked," as though you could not know this otherwise than you do not search my sins using scourges.
8 Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me, altogether round about: and dost Thou thus suddenly cast me down? As if He said to Him in humility; 'Whereas that which I have done being submitted to a just examination is not meet for the propitiating of Thee, consider in Thy mercy lest that should perish which is Thy doing.' By which same words too the wicked doctrine of Manichaeus…
Bonaventure · AD 1257 The authority of the one commanding ought to move us to observe the commandments of God: because it is God who commands that the precepts be observed.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Since he had already stated that he was the work of God's hands to show by this that it cannot seem good to God to oppress him for his own sake, as though he delighted in suffering, he clearly explains what he had merely stated as a given.
9 O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Remember, I pray Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay. The spirits of the Angels did for this reason sin without forgiveness, because they might have stood the stronger in proportion as no mixture with flesh held them in bonds. But man for this reason obtained pardon after sin, that in a body of flesh he got that wherein he should be beneath himself.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Since he had generally posited that he had been formed and created by God, he proceeds specifically to the manner of his creation comparing himself with someone who wants remind someone of something which he seems to have forgotten. He explains everything to him part by part so that even so it may be brought back to mind.
10 Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 The seed from which life emerges he calls "milked milk," for as milk curdles and becomes cheese, so the seed becomes "nature" when it curdles. This is a condition before the embryo. For the seed that sinks into the channels of the vagina becomes "nature" when it curdles like cheese.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Hast Thou not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin, and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Next he treats the making of man with reference to the work of propagation by which man is generated from man. Note here that he attributes every work of nature to God, not so as to exclude the operation of nature, but in the way things done through secondary causes are attributed to the principle agent. Similarly the operation of the saw is attributed to the carpenter.
11 By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 Here [Job] foreshadows the incarnation of the divine Word through the assumption of human nature. These words, in fact, appear to be addressed to the Father, as if they were said by the person [the Son] of the Lord.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Next he treats the making of man with reference to the work of propagation by which man is generated from man. Note here that he attributes every work of nature to God, not so as to exclude the operation of nature, but in the way things done through secondary causes are attributed to the principle agent. Similarly the operation of the saw is attributed to the carpenter.
12 You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Thou hast granted me life and mercy. But the Creator vouchsafes to us blessings in vain, except He Himself keep safe all whatsoever He giveth. It follows, And Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. Now all this that we have spoken of the exterior man, in what sense it may accord with the interior man, it is well to unfold and exhibit in few words.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Fourth comes the animation of the fetus, and this is especially true in the case of the rational soul, which is not infused until after organization of the matter. Certain seeds of virtue are divinely infused together with the rational soul into man, some common to all and others special to the individual.
13 But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Do you see that "the possibility to know God is manifest in creatures," that our creation was already sufficient to show me the nature of God and his power, without any help from heaven?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Though Thou hide these things in Thine heart; yet I know that Thou rememberest all. HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION As if it were in plain words; 'Why do I tremble for myself, who know that Thou dost gather in one even all nations?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 To preclude someone thinking because he had said to God, "Remember, I beseech you, that you made me like clay," that he was of the opinion that God could forget, he excuses himself concerning this language saying, "Although you hide these things in your heart, I know that you still remember everything." For God is said by analogy to hide something in his heart like a man when h…
14 That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I have sinned, and Thou sparedst me at the hour, wherefore dost Thou not let me be clean from mine iniquity? The Lord 'spareth sin at the hour,' when the moment that we yield tears, He does away with the guilt of sin.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Job sought the cause of his punishment in what he said before based on the supposition that he was innocent. Now he proceeds to inquire whether he is punished because he is a sinner. To show first that he is not punished for sin, he uses the following argument: If he did commit sin, he must have sinned most in the time of his prosperity.
15 That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head: I am full of affliction and misery. Yea, the wicked man has 'woe,' and the righteous man 'affliction,' in that both everlasting damnation follows the lost sinner, and each one of the Elect is purified by the pains of temporary affliction.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He also adds another argument as a consequence which is this: If sin is the whole cause for the present adversities, it would follow that the just would not suffer adversities in this world like sinners do. Now, we see that adversities are universally suffered by both the just and sinners.
16 And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:
Hesychius of Jerusalem · AD 450 A human being is called "lion" with good reason, because he is a royal animal, and even more so the righteous, because, by preserving the honor of God's form, he is dreadful to his enemies.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 And by reason of pride, Thou wilt take me like a lioness. When a lioness hunts for food for her whelps, she rushes with ravening jaws into the pitfall.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Because Eliphaz imputed the fact that he said he was innocent to pride, he then says, "Because of my pride, you will capture me like a lioness." For Eliphaz had already referred to Job saying, "The roaring of the lion and the voice of the lioness and the teeth of the lion's whelps have been broken." (4:10) Therefore he says, "Because of my pride, you will capture me like a lion…
17 That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me, and multipliest Thy wrath: and pains war in me. HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION For 'God's witnesses' are they, who bear witness by the practice of holy works, what are the rewards of Truth that shall overtake the Elect. Hence too those, whom we see to have suffered for the sake of the Truth, we style in the Greek tongue, 'Martyrs,' i.e.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows the type of torment this is continuing, "You set up witnesses against me." For Eliphaz and his companions made a pretense of defending the justice of God and in this they wanted to stand like witnesses to speak on behalf of God and attack Job to convict him of sin.
18 Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 Someone could think that Job's statement comes from desperation, but that is proven wrong by what God has said: "Do you believe I treated you like this for any other reason than to reveal your righteousness?" Job, who previously had said, "If I am wicked, woe to me," does not contradict this assumption but reveals the bitterness of life.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Job had finished his investigation with the statement that he has suffered a great many tribulations regardless of the fact that he is just or unjust. He wants to ask if this can be true lest anyone could believe that God rejoiced in his tribulations.
19 And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Wherefore then hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb. Oh that I had been consumed, and no eye had seen me. Which same sentiment he had already uttered in his first speech, saying, Why died I not from the womb?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Because someone could object that absolutely considered (simpliciter) it is better to exist even in tribulations than not to have been born at all, he rejects this opinion saying, "would that I had perished," in my mother's womb," so that no eye would see me," so as not to suffer shame from the great evils which the eyes of men contemplate in me.
20 Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 Job wants to find relief before he has to go from where he cannot return. Therefore, he does not pray for himself, but to teach the friends who think that those who suffer hardship are evil but those who are free from hardship are righteous. He desired that they should gain certainty regarding the divine resolutions about him.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Will not the small number of my days be finished in a short time? He shews himself to live with good heed and circumspection, who, in considering the shortness of the present life does not look to the furtherance but to the ending of it, so as to gather from the end, that all is nought that delights while it is passing.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 There is no one who delights in the torments of another who is so cruel that he would give him at least a brief respite from afflicting him. So even if one supposes that God were not the cause of the birth of man, the man's days are still short, especially in comparison to the eternity of God.
21 Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,
Hesychius of Jerusalem · AD 450 In order to avoid scandalizing many who see his life end in affliction and sadness, it is not without reason that the righteous man asks for the termination of his ordeals.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to a land of darkness, and covered with the shadow of death. For what is denoted by 'the land of darkness' saving the dreary caverns of Tartarus, which are covered by the shadow of eternal death, in that it keeps all the damned for evermore severed from the light of life. Neither is the place below improperly called a land.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 This too can be explained in two ways. In one way it can be interpreted to express the hell (infernus) to which the souls of all men, even the souls of the just before Christ, descended. Although the just did not suffer sensible pains there, but only darkness, the others suffer both pains and darkness.
22 A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 Although the brave one was in pain, he talked about the coming age. So he says—not to deny the resurrection—"Before I go from where I will not return." Job calls the land "a land of gloom and deep darkness, where light is like darkness," since the holy one ascribes only little to himself.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 A land of misery and darkness. 'Misery' has relation to pain, 'darkness' relates to blindness. That land then which holds all those that are banished the presence of the strict Judge, is entitled 'a land of misery and darkness,' for pain without torments those, whom blindness darkens within, severed from the true Light.