Lecture 3 — The strength of the tree and the weakness of man

^14:7^ If a tree is cut down, it has hope; it can make itself green again and its branches sprout again.

^14:8^ If its roots are in the earth and its trunk has been rotting in the dirt,

^14:9^ it will be rejuvenated by the scent of water, and it will put forth a shoot as when it was first planted.

^14:10^ Where, I ask you, is man when he will die, be stripped, and destroyed?

^14:11^ As the waters recede from the sea and the rivers dry up empty,

^14:12^ so when a man sleeps, he will not rise; until heaven passes away, he will not awaken nor arise from his sleep.

240. If a tree is cut down, it has hope. After stating his opinion, Job here proceeds to make it clear. First, he shows that man is in a worse condition in those things which he experiences in this life than even those weak creatures which are renewed after their destruction. This fact is especially clear in trees. The life of the tree, like the life of a man, can end in two ways, by violence or by nature. He speaks about violence done to a tree, saying, if a tree is cut down, it has hope, the natural aptitude to renew its existence again, because, it can make itself green again, if it is replanted, and its branches sprout again. In this he demonstrates that it recovers the perfect life it formerly had. He expresses the natural defect of the tree, saying, if its roots age in the earth, when it cannot take in food because of some defect in natural power, and consequently, its trunk has been rotting in the dirt, because it is left in some place by rot, it will be rejuvenated by the scent of water when the rain comes, because the wood possesses a seminal potency. And it will put forth a shoot, in a growth of leaves, as when it was first planted. This is not found to be the case in man with the passing of the present life, and so he then says, where, I ask you, is man when he will die, be stripped and destroyed?

There are three things which man loses by degrees.

First, the soul is separated from the body, and he expresses this, saying, when he will die.

Second, he loses his clothing and jewelry, which sometimes are left to someone after his death. But afterwards he is stripped of even these, and so he says, he is stripped.

Finally, even the union of the elements in his body is dissolved, and he expresses this, saying, and destroyed. After all these things have happened, no sensible appearance of man remains, and so those who believe in only the sensible and corporeal appearances of man believe he is entirely reduced to nothing. To express the doubt of these people, Job then says, where, I ask you, is man?

241. Note here that what does not perish can be renewed, as he has already said about wood which is cut down or is old (Job 14:7‑9). But the renewal of something when nothing remains seems impossible, for example, to renew water in the sea or a river which has completely evaporated. Man, however, as the text has already explained, seems to be so consumed by death that nothing remains of him, and so according to this argument, it seems impossible that he is raised to life again. He expresses this theme, saying, as the waters recede from the sea and the rivers dry up empty, so when a man sleeps in death, he will not rise from the dead. Just as it seems impossible for incorruptible things to be corrupted, so it seems impossible for what is totally corrupted to be renewed. Heaven is incorruptible, and so he says, until heaven passes away, he will not awaken, that is, come to life again, nor arise from his sleep, to do the works of the living again. He is saying in effect that as it is impossible for heaven to pass away in being corrupted, so it is impossible for man to rise from the dead.

This is said, as we already established, in the supposition that nothing remains of man after death, according to his question, where, I ask you, is man? (Job 14:10). One can also refer this to the opinion of those who posited that the whole corporeal universe should be corrupted and renewed again. In this reparation, they posited that the same men would return, exactly as before. This opinion shows that the same men do not rise from the dead during the same existence in this present world. The catholic faith, however, does not submit that the substance of the world will perish, but only the state of this world as it now exists. Paul expresses this in Corinthians, the figure of this world is passing away (1 Cor 7:31). Therefore, this change in the figure of the world can be understood here to refer to the breaking open of heaven. For we await the common resurrection of the dead at the last day, as John says, I know that I will rise from the dead on the last day (John 11:24).