1 Howe should not the times be hid from the Almightie, seeing that they which knowe him, see not his dayes?
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 "Times are not hidden from the Almighty." [Job] raises the same question he had discussed above, but now with a profession of faith. He says that he certainly knows that parts of his censorship in blotting out the merits of people follow the course of his justice, but, in the present situation, many things happen that seem to deny this judgment.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Times are not hidden from the Almighty; they that know Him, know not His days. What are called 'the days' of God, save His very Eternity itself? which is sometimes described by the announcement of 'one day,' as where it is written, For one day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 In the preceding chapter Job proved that he had not been punished because of malice as Eliphaz had asserted. (22:5) Now he wants to clearly show that he does not propose that God does not have care of human affairs, as Eliphaz had charged. (22:12) Consider here that some people proposed that God does not have knowledge and care of human things because of his distance from us.
2 Some remoue the land marks, that rob the flockes and feede thereof.
Julian of Eclanum · AD 455 "Others removed the landmarks." It must be noticed, in this reproof of human vices, that they are weighed more lightly or more seriously according to their effect on the virtue of soul.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Others remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed them. ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION Whom does he denote by the title of 'others,' saving Heretics, who to the bosom of Holy Church are strangers? For they the same persons remove landmarks, in that the constitutions of the Fathers they by walking awry do overstep.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Since he had said that the course of temporal things was not unknown to God, he consequently shows in what way he judges temporal things, making first a list of the various faults of men, some of whom fraudulently inflict harmful things on others. So he says, "Some," among men, "have changed boundaries," by stealthily changing property limits.
3 They leade away the asse of the fatherles: and take the widowes oxe to pledge.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. Whom do we understand by the fatherless in this place, but the Elect of God, who are set in tenderness of mind, are nourished with the efficacious grace of faith, and do not yet see the face of their Father, Who has already died in their behalf.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He enlarges their fault from the condition of the persons on whom they inflict those injuries. People are usually compassionate to orphans because of their weakness of age and lack of parents. Against this he says, "They have stolen the ass of the orphans," because they make it wander off so that they might steal it with no compassion for the orphans.
4 They make the poore to turne out of the way, so that the poore of the earth hide themselues together.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They have turned the needy out of the way; and have oppressed together the meek of the earth. For by the term of 'poverty,' humility is very often denoted, and very often they that appear gentle and humble, if they have not learnt to maintain discretion, fall by the examples of other men.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Men also usually pity the poor who lack the means of economic survival, and against this he says, "They utterly ruined the road of the poor," for they took from them the ability to procure necessities for themselves by harassing them in many ways.
5 Behold, others as wilde asses in the wildernesse, goe forth to their businesse, and rise early for a praye: the wildernesse giueth him and his children foode.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And they have departed," he says, "like asses in the field," that is, they have scorned everybody and have mocked everyone. However, nobody commits any injustice against them and does not ill-treat them.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Others as wild asses in the desert go forth to their work. Watching for a prey, they provide bread for their children. For the 'onager' is a wild ass; and in this place Heretics are rightly likened to 'wild asses,' in that being let loose in their pleasures, they are strange to the fetters of faith and reason.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 However, there are some who do not harm others fraudulently like those already described, but through open violence. These men rush to do evil like people who are not restrained by the discipline of the law.
6 They reape his prouision in the fielde, but they gather the late vintage of the wicked.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They reap a field not their own, and the vineyard of him whom they have oppressed by violence they gather. By the name of a 'field' may be denoted the wide compass of Holy Scripture, and Heretics 'reap' it not being their own, in that they carry away from it sentences which are infinitely removed from their own notions; which same is furthermore described by the title of a 'vin…
Ishodad of Merv · AD 850 "They reap in a field not their own" … as wild asses tread underfoot the fields of others and browse on their grass, so the impious, with their impudent violence, reap in fields that are not theirs and steal them from their owners.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then he determines the type of plunder saying, "They reap a field which is not their own," for they reap the harvest of another by violence. "And they glean the vine of someone whom they overcame by force," since they oppress someone beforehand in order to steal his goods more freely.
7 They cause the naked to lodge without garment, and without couering in the colde.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They send men away naked, taking away their garments, who have no covering in the cold. As garments cover the body, so do good works the soul. Whence it is said to one, Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 They take away not only exterior goods by violence, but also those goods which have already been taken for warming the body, and so he then says, "They send men away naked taking away their garments," because they leave them nothing.
8 They are wet with the showres of the moutaines, and they imbrace the rocke for want of a couering.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the stones for want of a garment. 'The showers of the mountains' are the words of the learned.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Clothes are not only necessary to keep warm against the cold, but also as a protection against the rain. Thus those left naked by thieves must not only be afflicted by the cold, but also get soaked by the rain.
9 They plucke the fatherles from the breast, and take the pledge of the poore.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "They have snatched the fatherless from the breast." They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother's breast. "And they have deprived the outcast," that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They have done violence in preying on the fatherless, and have spoiled the common folk of the poor. When Heretics lack the good fortune of the present life, to weak minds they recommend by words of soft persuasion things that are wrong; but if the good fortune of the present time at all smiles upon them, they do not cease even by violence to draw those they are able.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He further increases their fault from the condition of miserable people whom they burden, and so he adds, "They show their power in robbing orphans," whom one should rather have supported, "and despoiled the poor crowd," whom they should rather have assisted.
10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and take the glening from the hungrie.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing." By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. "They have taken away the morsel of the hungry." They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 From the naked, and those going without clothing and a hungered, they have taken away the ears of corn. What he calls naked he repeats in the words without clothing, but it is one thing to be naked and another thing to go naked.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 This would be tolerable somehow if they wanted to take away things from people who at least had enough. Thus he continues increasing their evils saying, "From the naked," those not having any clothes, "from those going about without any clothes," who from extreme need must even go out in public naked without clothes which pertains to a great lack of clothing.
11 They that make oyle betweene their walles, and treade their wine presses, suffer thirst.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places." They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They rest at mid-day amid the heaps of those that thirst with the winepresses being trodden. All those that persecute Holy Church, what else do they but 'tread the winepress?' Which is allowed to be by the Divine appointment, that the clusters of souls may flow out into spiritual wine, and being divested of the corruptible flesh run into the heavenly realms as into a receptacle…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 If, perhaps, they seem to have a surplus in anything, they take that away not thinking what deep poverty they suffer in other things, and so he says, "Among these accumulations," of fruits, "they have taken a siesta," for they have rested at noon as though bloated on the goods of others, "and are thirsty even though they have tread the wine presses," who immediately after the g…
12 Men cry out of the citie, and the soules of the slayne cry out: yet God doth not charge them with follie.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 He says this again to his friends with a bit of hesitation, If afflictions entirely derive from sins, why did he who observes all that happens on earth allow them to go without being visited by him? "And they took no notice," that is, the iniquitous took no notice of the fact that they were not visited.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They have caused men to groan out of the cities. And the soul of the wounded crieth, and God suffereth him not to go unavenged.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Not only do they despoil men in exterior things, but they also injure them in their persons, and so he says, "In the cities they made men groan," since when some men have been injured, many of the citizens are disturbed.
13 These are they, that abhorre the light: they know not the wayes thereof, nor continue in the paths thereof.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They are rebellious against the light. They know not the ways thereof, nor have returned by the paths thereof. LITERAL INTERPRETATION Very often wicked people at once know the right things that they ought to follow, and yet neglect to follow what they know; and so they are 'rebellious against the light,' in that following their desires, they contemn the good that they know.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He now shows the reason why God does not suffer this to go unpunished from the fact that they did not sin from ignorance, but from malice. As a result of this malice they hate wisdom, because it censures their sins, and so he says, "These were those who rebelled against the light," in doing intentionally what is against what the light of reason teaches them.
14 The murtherer riseth earely and killeth the poore and the needie: and in the night he is as a theefe.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION Whereas the murderer in the killing of his neighbours is wont to come upon them chiefly in the silence of the night, why is it that he is said in this place to 'rise with the light' in order to 'kill the poor and needy,' whilst 'in the night' he is described 't…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 As a sign that they resist the spiritual light of wisdom he says that loving darkness they even hate exterior light, according to John, "Everyone who does evil hates the light." (3:20) So he continues here, "At the first light of morning, the murderer rises and kills the poor and needy," since at that hour there is usually no one about on the street, but some poor men, driven b…
15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, and sayth, None eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me. And disguiseth his face. There is nothing to hinder but that this may be understood even after the latter, seeing that he who desires to commit adultery, seeks out the dark.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He shows the same thing to be true for the adulterer saying, "The eye of the adulterer," who spies on the bed of another, "watches for the darkness," so that he cannot be caught, and so he says, "saying: No one will see me," that is, he watches in the dark so that he will not be seen by anyone.
16 They digge through houses in the darke, which they marked for themselues in the daye: they knowe not the light.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the day time; they know not the light. For what is there here denoted by the title of 'houses' but consciences, wherein we dwell, when we do any thing, busying ourselves with it?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Just as he watches for darkness to begin his deed, so also he does the deed in darkness, and so he then says, "They steal through houses in the dark," removing any obstacles by any kind of fraud and violence, "as they have agreed the day before," the adulterer and the adulteress, "and they are ignorant of the light," because they abandon themselves to the complete execution of…
17 But the morning is euen to them as the shadow of death: if one knowe them, they are in the terrours of the shadowe of death.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them even as the shadow of death. He is light above the face of the water. Let their portion be cursed in the earth; and let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "If suddenly," as though unprepared, because the time seems short to them when they are occupied in carnal pleasure, "the dawn should appear," which is the beginning of daylight, "they think of it as the shadow of death," that is, they think it is as hateful as the shadow of death when they see that they cannot continue their wanton activities anymore.
18 He is swift vpon the waters: their portion shalbe cursed in the earth: he will not behold the way of the vineyardes.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Second, they put great faith in a small and frail thing, and so he says, "he," the adulterer, "is light on the surface of the waters," as if to say: He moves so lightly that it seems to him that he can pursue his own will as though he were sailing on calm seas.
19 As the dry ground and heate consume the snowe waters, so shall the graue the sinners.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Let him pass to excessive heat from the snow waters. And his sin even to hell. Iniquity is on this account likened to cold, because the mind that sins it binds up with insensibility. Hence it is written; As a fountain has made her waters cold, so she has made her wickedness cold. Contrariwise charity is 'heat,' in this respect that it fires the soul it fills.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 And to express this he then says, "let him pass over to great heat from freezing waters," as though changing from one vice to a contrary vice because he does not remain in the mean of virtue. All wicked men suffer this punishment because, "the inordinate soul is a punishment unto itself," as Augustine says in the Confessions.
20 The pitifull man shall forget him: the worme shall feele his sweetenes: he shalbe no more remembered, and the wicked shalbe broke like a tree.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Let him not be in remembrance; let him be crushed like an unfruitful stump. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] As often as in the history of the holy man we betake ourselves in a new book to unravel the mystery of the typical explanation, it must be either from that man's name or course of suffering that we mainly draw out the mystical interpretation, so that after the manner of dwel…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Lest anyone believe that those punishments will end through the mercy of God, he adds, "the mercy," of God, "let it forget him," the sinner condemned to hell will never be freed from there.
21 He doth euil intreat ye barren, that doeth not beare, neither doeth he good to the widowe.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "He has not treated the barren woman well," that is, the woman who is without help because of her lack of children. And notice again how ill treatment is considered an act of impiety. "Keep away from evil," the divine psalmist says, "and practice good." "And he had no pity on a feeble woman," that is, on a woman who needs help because of her feeble nature.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 For he fed the barren and her that beareth not, and to the widow he did not do good. Who is it in this place that is denominated 'barren' saving the flesh, which while it goes after things present alone is not able to engender good thoughts?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Job shows why he is compared to the tree which is barren from two things. First because he has consumed his goods in useless things, and so he says, "For he feeds the barren woman who does not produce offspring and he has done no good to the widow." The one who consumes his goods in useless things is a metaphor for someone who uselessly supports a barren wife.
22 He draweth also the mighty by his power, and when he riseth vp, none is sure of life.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "Therefore when he has risen, he will not feel secure of his own life." For these reasons the impious, after rising every day not really believing that he will live, remains in fear and is frightened. As the wise Solomon stated, "Fear, indeed, is nothing other than the abandonment of the supports offered by reason."
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 He took away the mighty in his might. Since in the might of his wickedness the mighty he severally takes away, whilst by the craftiness of his error he carries off the great ones of this world. In opposition to whom it is said by Paul, God hast chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Not only has he been unfruitful, but he has also been harmful like a tree bearing poisonous fruit, and so he says, "he has thrown down the powerful man in his strength," that is, he did not use his power to aid the oppressed, but more to oppress the powerful.
23 Though men giue him assurance to be in safetie, yet his eyes are vpon their wayes.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover, but let him perish by disease." The diseases of the body, in fact, often occur because of sin. "Let him not hope," that is, the lack of hope is due to the consciousness of his sins. "Let him perish" by disease, that is, by the blows of calamity.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 God hath given unto him room for repentance, and he abuseth it in pride. Whosoever commits sin and lives, such a person Divine Appointment for this reason bears with in iniquity, that it may withhold him from iniquity.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 He then gives the reason why the sinner must be punished without mercy, because he did not want to profit from the mercy of God when he could have, and so he says, "God gave him an occasion for penance," in deferring punishment, and this is the reason why he was permitted to live in prosperity for a long time.
24 They are exalted for a litle, but they are gone, and are brought lowe as all others: they are destroyed, and cut off as the toppe of an eare of corne.
Olympiodorus of Alexandria · AD 600 "For his exaltation has hurt many." For this reason, "let him perish," because his exaltation has hurt many. "But he has withered as mallows in the heat or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk." Other examples [from the Greek Bible] read "like grass." In a similar way, the psalmist also says, "Quick as the grass they wither, fading like the green in the field.…
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 They are exalted for a little while, but they shall not hold on. The glory of bad men, whilst it is for the most part extended into a multitude of years, is by the minds of the weak reckoned to be long and as it were stable; but when an instantaneous end cuts it off, surely it proves to its face that it was short, because the end by putting a limit makes it known that that whic…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Therefore, "they have been raised up a little," to some earthly and perishable height, which God gives to them as an occasion of repentance. "And they will not stand firm," to the very end, because they abuse the mercy of God to the point of pride. He uses an analogy for this.
25 But if it be not so, where is he? or who wil proue me a lyer, and make my words of no value?
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 "If it is not so, may his wrath make me lie," that is, if sinners do not go into that scorn that I have mentioned before, may the wrath of God prove false what I have said.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 And if it be not so now, who will convict me of having lied, and set my words before God? If it be not so as he tells, then surely all people are able to convict him of falsehood. Why then is it said, And if it be not so now, who will convict me of having lied? i.e. whilst we know that, one who is false, it is allowed anyone to find fault with?
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 So he shows clearly that what Eliphaz had calumniously accused him of about the denial of divine providence is false. So he says, "If this is not so," as I have said earlier about the punishment of evildoers, just as you were of the opinion that man is always punished in this life for sins, "who can call me a liar," as though I am denying divine providence, "and accuse me for p…