Chapter XVIII.
But in response to Bildad the Shuhite, he said: How long will you continue to speak such words? Understand first, and then let us speak. That is, what will be the end of this verbosity, as if it is insincere: either only Job is accused of being verbose by Bildad, or as if he is compelled to speak by some unknown spirit.
Why have we been regarded as beasts and made unclean in your sight? This is said because it is believed that the holy Job looked down on them like dumb animals and considered them the lowest and most unworthy for conversation; and so, they appeared to be possessed by anger to the point of seeming to suffer madness.
Why do you waste my soul in your anger? Speaking against divine justice, stirred by the madness of rage, it is necessary that you bring death to your soul.
Will the land be abandoned because of you, and the rocks be moved from their place? It is as if he were saying: Will the world not belong to its ruler because of you, so that if he finds any sinners, like yourself, he will not punish them. By the name of land and rocks, the whole multitude of peoples, the exalted and arrogant of the world, and the powerful can be understood metaphorically. The rocks can be understood as the souls of men, just as the land can be understood as human flesh. But even angels can be called rocks because of the loftiness of their nature and their eminent honor.
Will not the light of the wicked be extinguished: and the flame of his fire not shine? He spoke of this extinguished light: when Job was deprived of all present happiness. And when he says: Nor will the flame of his fire shine: that is, it will not return to its former happiness.
The light will be darkened in his tent, and the lamp which is above him will be extinguished. Not only, he says, will he lose present happiness, but also the light of God's remembrance, which was in the tent of his heart, will be darkened, so that God may not ascend to his memory, and deservedly the lamp of divine protection, which had been above him,will be extinguished.
His steps of virtue will be hindered, and his plan will overthrow him. Like a proud man confident in his own strength, he will be caught in the snares of afflictions and troubles, from which he will not be able to escape.
For he has sunk his feet into the net, and he walks in its snares. The name of the net and its snares signifies an unavoidable evil: which anyone wishing to strip off is hindered by their very effort, and is entangled so as to fall.
The plant is held by that snare, and thirst is kindled against it. This snare itself is reasonably felt as the devil, who watches sinners to undermine their heel, and is also called thirst: because, just as someone burning in some good desires the death of a man, it thirsts.
His trap is hidden in the land of his foot, and his snare is on the path. He hides it with the traps by which he is caught, either in himself or with a stumbling block, that is, the obligation of sin, and in the cruelty of his conduct, in which he thinks he is walking correctly, the snare of this deception is hidden.
From all sides terrors will terrify him, and they will envelop his feet. Whether sorrows. Certainly the proud man will always be terrified by the fear of impending calamity. These fears can also be understood here not as affections of the heart, but rather as the very ministers of the devil. So they set about terrifying the holy Job in many ways, in order to make him yield to them.
Let his strength be weakened by hunger, and let starvation attack his ribs. The term 'hunger' can also refer to the devil himself: he suffers from this kind of hunger, which is never satisfied by the deaths of men. And he himself suffers from hunger, because he does not deserve to receive the word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And therefore, under the name of ribs, the protections of the chest are signified: with which he has constructed himself as if with a certain closure, so that the food of divine speech does not reach him. He also describes the punishment of the impious.
May the devour the beauty of her skin, and may death consume her firstborn's arms. The beauty of her skin, that is, the adornments of virtue, and the arms, the strength of her kingdom, have been destroyed by the devil, who is therefore called the firstborn of death, because through him death first entered the world, and he is the inventor of his own death.
His confidence is torn from his tabernacle, and he treads upon him like a king of destruction. Thus, it is said that this destruction is the devil, who is king over all the sons of pride. But he could not trample upon the holy Job in order to bring him down.
They dwell in his tent, his companions who are not. The companions, allies, or sons, as mentioned above, are ministers of the devil: he who is said not to be in this place, and although he exists by the nature of his being, yet he is not, as I said, because he has become estranged from God through transgression.
Let sulfur be sprinkled in his tabernacle, so that he may smell the smoke of hell here.
Its roots will dry up downwards: but its harvest will be destroyed upwards. The harvest can be understood as works, which, emerging outwardly and publicly from within, spring forth from the root of faith. Otherwise: its roots will dry up downwards, that is, the works that it has accomplished in this world will be found dead, resembling the dryness of the dead. But its harvest will be destroyed upwards; in the future it will least obtain the reward of its labor.
May the memory of him perish from the earth. That is, may he accomplish nothing worthy of remembrance, and may his memory also perish from the earth of the living.
And his name is not celebrated in the streets. In the streets sat kings, among whom he desires not to earn a reputation for justice. The virtues of the streets are understood: in them wisdom acts confidently and traverses the city of God, Jerusalem: in which the divine sacraments and mysteries have been spread according to the commandment of the Scriptures. Therefore, the old, the insane, and the children play vehemently in these streets.
He will be expelled from the light into darkness, and will be carried away from the city. From this temporary light, he will be sent into the eternal darkness of the underworld: or even from the portion of the saints' fate, to be driven back into the darkness of torment.
There will be no seed of his, nor offspring in his people. This means that he will leave behind a future unworthy of the memory of his people or his homeland; according to the words of the Psalmist: 'The generation of the upright will be blessed.' Therefore, he did not want to produce such a generation in his people, so that he could boast in this spiritual people and homeland.
And there are no remains in his regions. It is clear that nothing was left for the holy Job. However, spiritually understood, the wicked will have no remnants of their generation in the future.
On that day, the last ones will be amazed. That is, at the time of his damnation.
And horror will first invade. That is, the lowest and the highest will be terrified: that is, powerful and great kings. Whether the last and the first, both men and angels: the holy ones as well as sinners can be understood without absurdity.
These are therefore the dwellings of the wicked, and this place is his who ignores God. He seems to pronounce the sentence of a cursing speaker, and says where such a proud one, namely, the ungodly, will dwell. But Job is not wicked, whom God calls righteous and innocent.