Lecture 2 — Divine punishment is inevitable

^15:14^ What is man that he should be without stain and be born just from his mother’s womb?

^15:15^ Look among his holy ones; not one is unchangeable and the heavens are not pure in his presence.

^15:16^ How much more abominable and useless is man who drinks evil like water.

^15:17^ I will show you, listen to me; what I have seen, I will tell you.

^15:18^ Wise men confess and do not hide what has been taught them by their fathers.

^15:19^ The earth is given to men alone and the stranger will not tread their ground.

^15:20^ For all his days, the evil man will be proud, and the number of years of his tyranny is uncertain.

^15:21^ The sound of terror is always in the ear of that man, and when there is peace, he suspects plots.

^15:22^ He does not believe he can return from darkness to light when he sees the sword everywhere around him.

^15:23^ When he goes to look for bread, he knows that a day of darkness is at hand.

^15:24^ Tribulation will terrify him and anguish wall him around, like a king who is prepared for battle.

^15:25^ For truly he extends his hand against God and he fortifies himself against the Almighty.

^15:26^ He ran against him with head erect, and he is armed with his broad shoulders.

^15:27^ Thick darkness covers his face and lard hangs from his sides.

252. What is man that he should be without stain. After Eliphaz had censured Job for his provoking God to argue, which he thought was a sign of presumption of his own wisdom, he now censures him about his presumption of justice, because he had said, if I were judged, I know I would be found just (Job 13:18).

Eliphaz attacks this statement first because of the frailty of the human condition, in which man shuns sin with difficulty, and so he says, what is man that he should be without stain. Man also does good with difficulty, and so he continues, and be born just from his mother’s womb? For, as Proverbs says, justice in abundance is the greatest virtue (Prov 15:5). This does not seem compatible with his base origin.

Second, he attacks the statement by comparing him to noble creatures, and so he then says, look among his holy ones, the angels, not one is unchangeable, from his own nature, but they can only avoid sin because of the gift of divine grace. And the heavens, which hold supreme place of purity among bodies, are not pure in his presence, in comparison to him from their materiality, corporeality, and changeability.

Third, he attacks the same statement from the personal condition of Job himself, as a conclusion to the syllogism formed by the premises above. How much more abominable, through sin, and useless, by the defect of justice, is the man who drinks evil like water, that is, who commits evil for nothing and without any consideration. For someone who drinks wine has to pay careful attention so that he does not become drunk. This is not the case with someone who drinks water. In this he notes that Job would easily fall into evil like a man drinks water easily at hand.

253. I will show you, listen to me. After Eliphaz had censured Job for provoking God to argument and presuming his own justice, he now censures him for the words he used in the argument, and especially for his statement, do you think of me as your enemy? Do you show your power against the leaf which is driven by the wind? (Job 13:24–25), and you have placed my feet in fetters (Job 13:27).

First, he gets his attention, saying, I will show you, what you want to learn from God; listen to me, pay attention. He shows how he can show him, saying next, what I have seen, in the discovery of his own intellect, I will tell you. Besides, I am not embarrassed to tell you what I have heard from others, putting them forward as my authority, because wise men confess and do not hide what has been taught them by their fathers, from whom they learned wisdom. It is truly the lot of the ignorant and the foolish to attribute to their own wisdom what they have learned from others.

He then shows why they should not be hidden because of their dignity, saying, the earth has been given to these men alone. This statement can be related indifferently and in the same sense to the wise men or to their parents, to whom he also wants to attribute wisdom. The earth is given only to wise men because they are lords of earthly goods, in that they use them only for their own good. However, foolish men use them to their own harm; as Wisdom says, creatures were made as a snare to the feet of the foolish (Wis 14:11). To show the dignity of these men he says, and the stranger will not tread their ground, because those who are strangers to wisdom cannot be numbered among the fellowship of the wise, or because the wise are not at the mercy of strangers. For the stranger is said to tread on those who are conquered and are made subject to the power of a foreigner.

254. After he has gotten the attention of his listener, he tries to answer the arguments which Job had used. He understood Job to have said two things in these arguments.

First, Job was living in anguish and fear, as though God persecuted him and laid traps for him, because he said, why do you think of me as your enemy? (Job 13:24), and have you observed all my paths? (Job 13:27).

Second, because he believed that Job doubted his own ruin when he said, do you write bitter things against me and want to consume me with the sins of my youth? (Job 13:26) He speaks against the first argument and then against the second in these words, he will live in desolate cities (Job 15:28). Therefore, he first shows what the roots of his suspicions are about what is in Job’s heart: his impiety, and his will to harm. So he says, for all his days, the evil man will be proud, because he will rise up against God to harm men. He uses the term days to mean not the days of his life, but the days when he has power and prosperity. But since the will to harm someone else comes from the man himself, but the power to harm comes from God, he cannot know how long he will be given the power to carry out his evil will. So he continues, the number of years of his tyranny is uncertain. From this lack of certainty, suspicion and fear arise. He describes this suspicion and fear as a consequence, saying, the sound of terror is always in the ear of that man, since he is threatened by every sound, thinking some attack is being prepared against him. It is as though he confides in no one. To express this theme, he adds, when there is peace, that man suspects plots, for although no one is plotting against him, he still is terrified about everything because of his own evil will, by which he is prepared to harm everyone.

255. Although one may fear some of his enemies, he still can hope to escape with the help of his friends, if he is defeated for a while. But one who confides in no one and fears everyone cannot hope for deliverance, and so he next says, he does not believe that he can return from darkness to light, from a state of adversity to a state of prosperity, when he sees the sword everywhere around him, when he sees enemies close to him on all sides. He says this especially to answer what Job had said already, I, who am consumed by rot and like a garment eaten by moths (Job 13:28). Eliphaz understood by this that Job was in despair of being delivered.

Now, although a tyrant experiences fear on all sides, he still can sometimes confide in the members of his family or his servants with whom he is on good terms. But when his evil is beyond all measure, he fears even the members of his own household with whom he lives, and so the text continues, when he goes to look for bread, he knows that the day of darkness is at hand, that is, the day of death. For he is not only suspicious of plots in his dealings with outsiders when he associates with strangers, but he also is suspicious in his dealings with the members of his household in things like eating and drinking. He believes that death has been prepared for him by the members of his own household. Since he is so afraid of everyone, he cannot rest, but is always plotting something against those whom he fears. Therefore, the occasions of fear are ever multiplying for him, and so he says, tribulation will terrify him, for others always prepare it for him, and anguish wall him around, because he fears danger from every quarter. Like a king who is prepared for battle, because a king who is prepared for battle is not so anguished from fear of losing as to not still try to destroy his enemies.

256. He next shows why the tyrannical, evil man goes astray in such great unhappiness caused by fear, saying, For truly he extends his hand against God, by acting against God, and he fortifies himself against the Almighty, that is, because he uses the power given him against God. He shows how he will act against God, saying, he ran against him with his head erect, that is, proudly. For man resists God whom he ought to serve in humility in a special way through pride. Sirach agrees with this, The proud man begins by falling away from God (10:14). Just as one who loves God is said to walk in his ways because of his readiness in being willing to serve him, so the proud man is said to run against God because of his presumption of spirit. Pride usually arises from an abundance of temporal goods, and so the text continues, he is armed with his broad shoulders, by pride against God. For bodily strength is caused by an abundance of humors, and so, is an image for an abundance of temporal goods. Just as humility is the first stage of wisdom, so pride is an obstacle to wisdom, and so the text continues, density covers his face, because the covering of his face is an image for the impediment to knowledge. Not only does Job have the opulence which causes pride, but he acts from pride even with his companions, and so the text continues, lard hangs from his sides. By this he intends to show that opulence made Job fall into the pride which makes him stand against God and act tyrannically with other men. Therefore, he came to the suspicion that God was his adversary and a conspirator against him.