1 I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 Deep affect is tightly united with this verse. Not even at the time, he says, when the sweetness of the harp softened my ears did I allow any lustful feeling to dwell in my heart, even though the sounds tuned with art affected the senses.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 I made a covenant with mine eyes that I should not even think upon a maid. Whereas the soul is invisible, it is in no degree affected by the delightfulness of things corporeal, except that, being closely attached to the body, it has the senses of that body as a kind of opening for going forth.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 After Job had told of his former prosperity (c.29) and his subsequent adversity, (c. 30) he now shows his innocence so that one does not believe that he had fallen into adversities because of sins. He begins to show his innocence by his freedom from the sin of lust which involves most men.
2 For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For what portion would God have in me from above, and what inheritance would the Almighty have from on high? As though he said in plain words; 'If I defile, my mind in thought, I can never be the 'inheritance' of Him, Who is the Author of purity.' For the rest are no good things at all, if to the eyes of the secret Judge they be not approved by the testimony of chastity.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he shows why he is so solicitous to avoid this sin. First, he assigns the reason on the grounds that man seems to go away from God especially in the sin of lust.
3 Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Is not destruction to the wicked? and estrangement to the workers of iniquity? The speedy comforting of the good is the end of the wicked had regard to. For while by the destruction of those they see the evil that they escape, they account as light whatever of adversity they undergo in this life.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, the reason why he shunned the sin of lust is the damage which it brings upon men, which is twofold. One is corporeal, when a man because of the sin of lust incurs danger to his person and property, and so he says, "Is it not damnation for the wicked?" as if to say: The evil man who is involved in this sin rushes to damnation.
4 Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps? What does he tell of by the title of 'ways' but ways of acting? Thus it is hence said by Jeremiah; Make your ways and your doings good. But what do we understand by the name of 'steps,' but either the motions of men's minds or the advancements of merits?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, he assigns the cause from the point of view of divine providence which looks attentively at all the deeds of men. Thus no one can be immune from punishment, and so he says, "Does he not consider my ways," the progress of my works to reward them?
5 If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Nobody can say, Job says, either that I was hankering after pleasures, luxuries and that kind of lustful life, or, on the other hand, that by becoming too hard and austere in my heart I finally fell into those vices that are contrary to that sort of life, that is, the vices of malice and deceit. No! I kept away from both of those two vices!
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, let Him weigh me in an even balance, and let God know mine integrity. 'God to know' is said for His making us to know by a customary mode of our speech, who speak of 'a happy day,' by which it happens that we are made happy. For hence it is the Lord saith to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, he cleanses himself from the sin of deceit, using in this and in all the following discussion an execratory oath in which a man binds himself to a punishment, so that if what he says is not true, he obliges himself to punishment. So he says, "If I walked," if I acted "in vanity," in some falsehood. For things are called vain which lack solidity.
6 let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 There is in my way of life, even in its details, as much exactness as in the arm [of a balance]. I have not overlooked the smallest detail. For this, I do not appeal to the testimony of a mortal, who may want to please and ignores many things, but to the testimony of God, who accurately knows all that is hidden and to whom nothing can escape.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 One can consider walking without deceit by inspecting the righteousness of justice from which the deceitful man turns aside, and so he says, "let him (God) weigh me in a just balance," to discern from his justice if I have proceeded in deceit.
7 If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "The Lord," he says, "knows my innocence, if my foot has turned aside out of the way or if my heart has followed my eye." Is this a further detail? Yes, truly, it was important at that time as well as now. It is important, in fact, to overturn inordinate desires, and it is not less important, after receiving those desires, not to satisfy them.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If my step hath turned out of the way. So many times does 'the step go out of the way,' as our thought quits the way of the right, by the consenting of wandering. Now we as it were set as many 'steps out of the way,' as we are parted by bad desires from the delightfulness of the heavenly life.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Since he has excluded deceit from himself in general, he descends to certain special sins in which one deceitfully plots against the goods of another. This happens both in theft and in adultery.
8 then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Then let me sow, and let another eat; let my offspring be rooted out. After the manner of Sacred Revelation we call it to 'sow' to preach the words of life. Thus it is hence the Prophet says, Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Now it is just that if one takes the goods of another, he should also have his goods despoiled by others, and so he says, "let me sow and another reap," as if to say: I have stolen another's goods, let others take my goods away. This is an execratory oath.
9 If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 He did not say, my eyes, but, my heart; I never allowed, he says, my thoughts to become corrupted, or my body either. This is exactly what Christ says: "He who has cast his glance upon a woman to desire her has already committed adultery in his heart."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If mine heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door. Though it sometimes happens that the sin of fornication is not at all different from the guilt of adultery, seeing that Truth saith; Whoso looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 In adultery, however, a man plots deceitfully against the wife of his neighbor, and this plot is preceded by a certain deception of heart, as long as reason is darkened by concupiscence, and so he says, "If my heart has been deceived by a woman," referring to the desire of the wife of another.
10 then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Then let my wife be a harlot unto another, and let others bow down upon her. And if he ever had done this thing, he prays for that sin to be turned into punishment to him.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He seems justly punished who soils the wife of another by adultery, in that his wife also is soiled by others, and so he says, "let my wife be the prostitute of another," let her offer herself for sale to others. From this it follows that others abuse her, and so he then says, "and others bend down over her," to commit adultery.
11 For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For this is an heinous crime; and the chiefest iniquity. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and that rooteth out all increase. There is this difference between 'sin' and 'crime,' that all crime is sin, but not all sin is crime. And in this life there are numbers without crime, but no one can be without sins.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows why he avoided this sin saying, "This is a sinful thing," because it is against the law of God which bound a man and a woman in matrimony. (cf. Matt. 19:6) "And," if one considers human justice, it is, "the greatest evil," because the greater the good taken away, the greater the injustice.
12 It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 So the text continues, "it (adultery) is a fire, which devours even to consuming," because it cheats a man of his whole patrimony, as has been said, "and eradicates all seed," when it makes the succession of his sons uncertain, and so Sirach says, "Every woman leaving her husband will sin, and give him an heir by marrying another man." (23:32)
13 If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 After describing his virtues of justice, mercifulness and chastity, he adds now a new one, that is, the virtue of moderation. Indeed, he does not defend himself against the complaints of his servants with the authority of a landlord but by satisfying the reasons of righteousness.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I despised to submit to judgment with my man-servant or with my maid-servant, when they contended with me. For he who did not refuse to be 'judged with menservants and maid-servants,' clearly shews that against no fellow-creature was he at any time swoln with pride in himself.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 So after he has purged himself of injustice because he did not do injury to others, either in stealing things from them, or in abusing persons joined to them, he excuses himself, as a consequence, of the charge he has incurred injustice because of the defect of justice, and so he says, "If I despised subjecting myself to judgment with my servant and my handmaid when they wanted…
14 then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For what shall I do, when God riseth up to judge; and when He seeketh, what shall I answer Him? He who thinks on the Judge to come, is unceasingly day by day preparing the cases of his accounts for the better: he who views the Eternal Lord with trembling of heart, is forced to abate the rights of temporal lordship over those under him.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows why he did not despise submitting to judgment with his servants saying, "When the Lord God rises up to judge me," that is, when he himself comes to judge, if I now despise his judgment, I would have no one in whose help or to whose counsel I could go for refuge.
15 Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Did not He Who made me in the womb make him? And did not One make us in the womb? To persons possessed of power, the equality of creation kept in the thoughts is great goodness of humility. For all of us men are equal by nature, but it has been added by a distributive arrangement, that we should appear as set over particular persons.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He proves as a consequence that all men naturally share the same condition, and so he says, "Did he not make me in the womb who also made him?" He means: I have the same soul created by God as my servants.
16 If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired." In order that it might not appear that by humanely treating his servants, he did not practice a real liberality but only took care of his property, he says that he tended the hand of mercy and benevolence to strangers as well.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I have denied what they wished for to the poor, or have caused the eyes of the widow to wait. By these words the holy man is shewn not only to have ministered to the need of the poor, but also to their desire of having. But what if the poor wished those very things, which perchance it might not be for their good to receive?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 After he showed that he was not lustful (v.1) or unjust (v.5), he shows next that he was not without pity. He first shows this from the fact that he did not take benefits away from the poor. For some men deny alms to the poor man seeking them from the beginning.
17 if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof. That is to say, reckoning that he prejudiced his pitifulness, if he ate alone what the Lord of all created in common. Which same fellowship of intercourse should be carried on within the domestic walls with those persons, by whom the rewards of eternal retribution may be promoted.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Others do not refuse nor defer giving what is asked, but they give nothing from their own initiative. He excludes this from himself, showing that he did not wish to use his smallest possessions alone, but rather to share them with others, and so he continues, "if I ate my morsel alone and the orphan did not share it." Here he implies: Let these things and other grave consequenc…
18 (for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For from my infancy compassion grew up with me, and from my mother's womb it came forth with me. For though commiseration was a thing at his own command, that it should gain growth with himself, yet it is plain that it was not a thing at his own command that it should 'come forth from the womb along with himself.' Therefore it is plain that he attributes nothing to his own good…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows why he was merciful in this way in two ways: first, from long-studied habit he began in childhood, and so he says, "Since mercy has increased in me from my infancy." As he grew in years, so he practiced the works of mercy more.
19 if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I despised any passing by, because he had no covering, and a poor man without clothing, if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep. Because he did not despise the poor, he displayed the virtue of humility; and because he covered him, of pitifulness.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 There are usually two obstructions to mercy. One is the contempt of the poor whom one judges not worthy of mercy. One usually despises those who dress in poor clothes and honors those who dress in rich clothes, as Sirach says, "the clothes of the body reveal the man." (19:27) But he excludes this obstacle to mercy from himself saying, "If I despised the man passing by," any str…
20 if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Not only did I not despise those who were poorly clothed, but I even provided them with some clothes, and so he then says, "If his loins have not blessed me," because I covered them when they were naked and this was the occasion when he blessed me.
21 if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even when I saw myself uppermost in the gate. It was the custom with those of old that the elders should sit at the gate to make out by judicial trial the quarrels of persons at strife, in order that the city, in which it was befitting that they should dwell in concord, they should never enter at variance.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Another impediment to mercy is the confidence one has in one's own power. This seems to make a man think he can harm others and especially people beneath him with impunity, and he excludes this from himself saying, "If I have raised my hand against the orphan," to cause him to suffer, "even when they saw me at the gate," the place of judgment, "elevated," as one more powerful.
22 then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Then let my shoulder fall from its joining, and mine arm be broken in pieces along with its bones. Because bodily action is carried on by the shoulder and the arm, if the good things which he put forth with the lips he did not fulfil in deed, he wishes to himself 'the shoulder to fall,' and 'the arm to be broken in pieces.' As though he said in plain words, 'If the things that…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 It is just that a man should be deprived of the limbs which he uses for injustice, and so he speaks not only of the loss of his hand as a punishment, but also the arm to which the hand is attached, and of the shoulder to which the arm is connected, and so he says, "let my shoulder fall from its joint and let my arm be crushed with its bones," if I have abused my hand by using i…
23 For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For I always feared God like waves swelling over me, and I could not endure the weight of Him. From the terror that belongs to such a likeness let us reflect what wonderful force of fear there was in the holy man.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Gather together, then, these three considerations, namely the consideration of the sublimity of divine power, the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, and the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance. And who will there be who will not fear?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows then why although he was in a higher place in society he did not raise his hand against orphans. Even though he did not deliver them because of men, yet he did deliver them because of God whose judgments he feared, and so he then says, "For I always feared God like the swelling of waves over me." He speaks using the comparison of those sailing on the sea, who, when the…
24 If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Now what kind of fault can be detected there? You see that he is not keen on riches. Observe him, while he reflects and considers in truth the accidental, transitory, ephemeral and negligible character of human realities.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 After Job excused himself from injustice (v.5) and lack of mercy (v.16), he now excuses himself from the inordinate affection for riches. This can come about in two ways.
25 if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I rejoiced over my great wealth, and because mine hand found much. For holy men in the wofulness of this pilgrimage, because that Appearance of their Creator, which they long after, they are not yet suffered to contemplate at all, account all the fulness of the present life as destitution, because nothing out of God suffices the mind which really seeks after God; and it is v…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, the affection of man is disordered through riches from the fact that he rejoices too much in possessing them, and so as to riches he already possessed he continues, "If I rejoiced," inordinately, "over my abundant riches," which I possessed as my own.
26 if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 "If I had looked at the sun when it shone or the moon moving in splendor," that is, if I had seen the rising sun and worshiped it or had embraced the moon and kneeled down before it, I would have certainly erred in worshiping them.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I saw the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath secretly rejoiced, and I have kissed my hand with my mouth; which is an exceeding iniquity, and denial against the Most High God.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he excuses himself from the sin of superstition, which is against God. In ancient times idol-worshipers worshipped the stars of heaven, especially the great lights because of their great brightness. He shows he does not saying, "If I looked at the sun when it shone and the moon moving in splendor," which caused the idolaters to worship them.
27 so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 And my heart rejoiced in secret. By which same recording, what else is conveyed to us, but that there is need of great fear and circumspection, lest our mind at any time rejoice even in secret on the grounds of its commendations.
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 "My mouth has kissed my hand" … is said in analogy with those who have the habit to bring their hands [to their mouth] and to kiss [them] when they meet people who are dear to them.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he excuses himself from the sin of superstition, which is against God. In ancient times idol-worshipers worshipped the stars of heaven, especially the great lights because of their great brightness.
28 which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Which is the chiefest iniquity, and denial against the Most High God. For it is clear that he does deny Him, when setting at nought His grace, he claims to himself the powers of good practice. Which too is rightly called as well 'the chiefest iniquity' because every act of sin which is from infirmity destroyeth not hope, seeing that it asks forgiveness from the Judge Above.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows why he avoided this saying, "this is the greatest evil." For if it is evil to offer what is due to one man to another, it seems the greatest evil that the cult due to God is offered to a creature.
29 if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found me. That we are disciples of Almighty God, the keeping of charity is the only proof. For it is hence that Truth saith by Itself, By this shall all men know that ye are My Disciples, if ye have love one toward another.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 After these things which pertain to justice in general, he continues with certain things which pertain to the perfection of virtue. Among these he first excludes the hatred of enemies.
30 for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. For he would sin, if he were to desire that to be done by God, which he himself either could not at all be able to do, or if he could it would not be in any wise right.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He then shows why he should shun this saying, "For I did not give my tongue to sin, waiting and cursing his soul." Truly man naturally desires those things which he enjoys, and he expresses his interior desire in words.
31 if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If the men of my tabernacle said not, O that we had of his flesh, that we might be satisfied! [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] Which same sentence may also be taken in mystery of the voice of our Redeemer. For 'the men of his tabernacle' longed to be 'satisfied by his flesh,' i.e. whether the Jews in persecuting or the Gentiles in believing.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he shows the perfection of his own virtue as to the superabundance of goods which he bestowed on others. First, as to his domestics he says, "If the men of my tent have not said: Who will give us his meats to satisfy us?" When the meat of some animal is appetizing, men desire to eat their fill of it.
32 for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 The stranger did not lodge in the street; but my door was open to the traveller. Whereas, Paul being witness, charity is described as patient and kind, by patience it bears with composure the ill turns of others, by kindness it also renders with mercifulness its own good ones.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 As for foreigners, he then says, "The pilgrim did not remain outside," so that he was not received in my house; "my door was open to the traveler," so that entry was not difficult for him.
33 if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Because I did not turn away," he says, "from the great multitude of my people," that is, away from my subjects, from those who were aware, who knew even the character itself of my fault. This is real wisdom.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I covered my transgression as man, and did hide mine iniquity in my bosom. But who would not account himself to be a holy man in the midst of such heights of his virtues?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He further shows the perfection of his virtue by excluding undue anxiety. Men usually hide a crime because of the fear of embarrassment, and they sometimes do this against justice, either by denying it, which he excludes from himself saying, "If I hid like a man," as men often do, "my sin," by denying it unjustly; they may also excuse it, or even cover it over with some crafty…
34 if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 Since he had been driven to the confession of his virtues both by the accusations of his friends and his pious devotion to God [and from the fear of God his virtues had proceeded], he now chooses to add the testimony of the sentence of the Judge in support of his words, so that, after God had declared that he had said the truth, no one among his opponents may deny it.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of neighbours terrify me, and I did not rather keep silence, and went not out of the door? It is great assuredness of heart to have nought of worldly concupiscence.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He then excludes from himself the inordinate fear of bodily dangers, which especially proceed from a great mob rising up against a man as Sirach says, "My heart fears three things; the fanaticism of the city, the gathering of the people, etc." (26:5-6) So he says, "If I grew frightened at the great multitude." If man is despised by his kinsmen by whom he ought to be helped, thi…
35 then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Who would give me a helper that the Almighty might hear my desire. The holy man after he related so many high achievements of the virtues in him, knowing well that he cannot attain to the things on high by his own deserts, seeks for a helper.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Since he has said many great things about himself, he invokes divine witness about these things, and so he then says, "Who would give me an advocate," who will appeal to God with me?
36 which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "I have torn all that was received unjustly." Without boasting, I have torn what I had received. And the expression "on my shoulders" suggests that some [of his friends] gloried in the afflictions of the others; and I did not content myself with giving it back simply, but I nullified it by tearing it. "I have torn all that was received unjustly."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 That I might bear it upon my shoulder, and put it round me like a crown. To 'bear the book upon the shoulder,' is by practising to carry out Holy Scripture.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 If in the testimony of this book, by the certain manifestation of the truth I am also shown to be guilty, I want to endure the punishment, and so he says, "Let me carry it on my shoulders." If, however, after the truth has been manifested I appear worthy of praise, then let me receive the crown of reward, and so he then says, "and let it encircle me like a crown." In this he sh…
37 With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He promises that he will not contradict this book containing the divine witness. "For every one of my steps," with the progress of my works, "I will announce it," that is, I will acknowledge the truth of God's testimony and I will not refuse to submit the sentence according to divine witness.
38 So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "If my land has ever cried out against me, or if its furrows have wept together." Therefore, neither the land cries out nor weeps. What does he mean? Certainly the land does not really groan, but inanimate beings perceive injustices. As the prophet asserts, "The earth stood up and shuddered." Now the earth moans every time we make an unjust use of its fruits.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] For what is it for the 'land to cry,' for 'the furrows to weep,' and to have 'eaten one's own fruits buying them?' To whom is it necessary to buy what is his own?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he excludes himself from the vice of extreme desire even in things he has acquired in his own possession. This is shown in two ways.
39 if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] For to 'eat the fruit of the land without money' is to receive indeed our charges from the Church, but not to yield to that Church the price of preaching.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 In another way excessive desire for possessions is shown when a man denies the price of their labor to his workers, and so he says, "If I have eaten his yield without payment," without money paid the workers, "and I have afflicted the soul of the farmers," either by compelling them to work excessively or by taking away their salary.
40 then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Let the thistle grow for me instead of wheat, and the thorn instead of barley. As though he said in plain words; 'If I have done aught unjust towards those under me, if I have exacted the debts due to me, and have not myself paid what I owed, if I have envied others the executing of good practice, for the good things which refresh for ever and ever, may evil things that sting b…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Now it is just that one who desires superfluous and uncommon profit loses even what is due and common. So he says, "in place of wheat," sown for the nourishment of men, "let nettles grow for me," which not only are useless, but prickly. "And for barley," which is sown as cattle feed, "the thorn," which even wounds cattle by pricking them.