Lecture 2 — All come to the same end

^21:22^ Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?

^21:23^ One man will die strong and healthy, rich and fortunate.

^21:24^ His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are nourished with marrow.

^21:25^ But another will die in the bitterness of his soul, without any riches:

^21:26^ And yet they shall sleep in the dust in the same way, and worms will cover them.

^21:27^ Certainly I know your thoughts, and your opinions which are evil against me.

^21:28^ For you say: Where is the house of the leader? and where are the tents of the wicked?

^21:29^ Ask any passerby, and you will know that he thinks the same thing,

^21:30^ that the wicked man is spared for the day of perdition, and he is brought to the day of fury.

^21:31^ Who will blame him for his conduct in his presence? And who can repay him for what he did?

^21:32^ He himself will be brought to the grave, and he will keep vigil in the gathering of the dead.

^21:33^ He was pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus, which drags all men after it, and those before it are without number.

^21:34^ How can you then console me in vain, when your answer has been shown to be contrary to the truth?

320. Shall any one teach God knowledge. Since Job had proposed above that sometimes adversity and sometimes prosperity comes to the impious in this life, which causes doubt among men, he proceeds to the solution of this doubt, premising that this does not occur because of a defect in divine knowledge, as if the wickedness of those men who live prosperously escapes God’s notice. And therefore Job says, shall any one teach God knowledge, as if to say, “God does not need to be instructed by anyone about the merits of men so that he should know to whom to render prosperity, and to whom to render adversity.” But that which he adds, who judgeth those that are high, can be applied in two ways: in one way, so that the sense may be that God does not need the instruction of anyone so that he can judge those that are high, that is, those who are prosperous in this world.

This text can be understood in another way as introduced as a confirmation of the preceding idea. For the fact that God knows all things and he does not stand in need of instruction by anyone is clear, because he judges men no matter how great they are. No one judges things of which he is ignorant, and so it cannot be that knowledge of anyone, no matter how great, may escape his notice.

321. Therefore, after he has established the sufficiency of divine knowledge, he then introduces material for a doubt which might arise about how he governs human beings in different ways, because some are prosperous until their death, whereas others die in misery.

Temporal prosperity consists first in power, and regarding this he says, one man will die strong;

second, in the health of the body, and regarding this he says, and healthy;

third, in a wealth of exterior things, and regarding this he says, rich;

and fourth, in the prosperous success of one’s plans and of works, and regarding this he says, and fortunate. For one is considered really fortunate in the eyes of some when everything succeeds for him according to desire.

To show that his riches are not only sufficient, but also superabundant, he says, his bowels are full of fat, for fat is generated by a superabundance of food. Again, he shows his power is based on numerous supports, saying, and his bones are nourished with marrow: for bones show strength because their strength is supported by the nourishment of the marrow. He then speaks about the adversity of other men, saying, another dies in the bitterness of his soul. This regards the interior pains which men conceive, either from bodily harms or from unfortunate events. He adds, without any riches, to show a defect of exterior things. Yet although men with equal merits are differentiated this way in life, at least after death one cannot maintain that their lot cannot be changed in these things, which are different in the disposition of their bodies. For their bodies are disposed equally after death, and so he says, and yet they will sleep in the dust in the same way, because they will be buried in the earth equally, and worms will cover them, for their bodies will decay in the same way. So it is clear that no reason for difference among men based on prosperity or adversity in these things, which are equal in merit or demerit, can be proved on the basis of the different disposition of bodies after death.

322. The opinion of the friends of Job was that the reason for this difference was based on the diversity of merits. This is against the evidence of experience, in the fact that some of the evil prosper and some of them suffer adversities. So he quotes their opinion with scorn as already disproved, saying, certainly I know your thoughts, in which they condemned Job rashly, and opinions, spoken in exterior words, which are evil against me, because you accuse me of inequitable impiety based on the adversities which I suffer. So he continues, for you say: Where is the house of the leader? Where are the tents of the wicked? as if to say, “You fell from such a great preeminence, together with your family, as the tents of the evil men usually fall.”

323. After he has demonstrated the evil of their opinion by the things said above, he proceeds to determine the truth. He prefaces this by saying that what he is about to say is not new, but commonly held among most people. He says therefore, ask every passerby, as if to say, “I do not have to diligently search for a witness, since it can be had from anyone passing on the street.” Or the passers-by could mean those who use this life not as an end, but as a means, and you will know that he thinks the same thing, which I am about to tell you. So you are without excuse for separating yourselves from the truth which all commonly hold. He explains this truth then, saying, that the wicked man is spared for the day of perdition, as if to say, “The fact that he is not punished, but prospers in this life, happens because his punishment is reserved for another time, when he will be punished more gravely.” So he says, and he is brought to the day of fury: for since fury is anger aroused, the name wrath denotes a harsher vengeance. He shows why he is saved for the day of perdition and of fury, saying, who will blame him for his conduct in his presence? And who can repay him for what he did?

Here he gives two reasons, the first of which is that he is of such slight wisdom that he does not even learn from punishments so that he might recognize his own fault, but he murmurs in the midst of the blows, as if he were punished unjustly. This is what he means when he says, who will blame him in his presence? so that he recognizes his conduct, his evil way?

Another reason is that the punishments of this life are not sufficient for the punishment of such great guilt, because if they are harsh, they kill the sinner quickly, and this is what he says next, and who can repay him for what he did, in this life? So he concludes that this day of perdition and fury previously mentioned is not in this life, but after death, for he then says, he himself will be led to the grave, after he has died. Yet he will live in his soul, and he then expresses this, saying, and he will keep vigil in the gathering of the dead, because, although he seems to sleep by the death of his body, he will still keep vigil through the life of his soul. Lest it seem that after death he passes into joy, he says, he was pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus. For since he had invoked the man-in-the-street as his witness, he proposes the truth about the punishment of evil men after death under the guise of a myth which was commonly told. This myth is that in hell, among other things, there was a river called the Cocytus, a word which is translated as lamentation, to which the souls of evil men are led. As other rivers drag gravel along, so that river, in a certain way, carries along the souls of evil men. Thus the evil man is said, to be pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus, because his association was welcome to evil men, and so he will have a place among evil men who are in lamentations. He then tells what this river produces for men, saying, which drags all men after it, because all men die in some sort of mourning, for what is after death is like the end of that river whose beginning is what is done in this life, and so he then says, and those before it are without number, because grief seizes most men, even in this life.

324. So Job has explained his idea in a gradual order, first showing that the hope of the just tends to the reward of the future life (Job 19:25). Here he expresses the opinion that punishment is reserved for evil men after death, and so from both sides, after refuting the opinion of his adversaries, he says, how can you then console me in vain? by promising temporal prosperity, when your answer has been shown to be contrary to the truth? in that you say rewards and punishments are assigned to men in this life, which has been disproved above in many ways.