Lecture 2 — Job concludes his defense

^31:24^ If I have accounted gold my strength, and if I have said to fine gold: You are my confidence;

^31:25^ If I rejoiced over my abundant riches and because my hand had grasped even more;

^31:26^ if I looked at the sun and the moon moving in splendor

^31:27^ and my heart secretly rejoiced and kissed my hand in reverence to them:

^31:28^ this is the greatest evil and the denial of God the Most High.

^31:29^ If I rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me and if I exulted when evil overtook him,

^31:30^ for I did not give my tongue to sin, waiting and cursing his soul.

^31:31^ If the men of my tent have not said: Who will give us his meat to satisfy us?

^31:32^ The pilgrims did not remain outside, my door was open to travelers.

^31:33^ If I hid my sin like a man and if I have hidden iniquity in my bosom,

^31:34^ if I grew frightened at the great multitude and if the contempt of my neighbors terrified me, if I was not very silent and did not go out of my door,

^31:35^ who will give me an advocate that the Almighty might hear my desire and he who judges write a little book?

^31:36^ Let him carry it on my shoulders and let it encircle me like a crown.

^31:37^ For every one of my steps I will announce it, and like a prince I will offer him homage.

^31:38^ If the earth cries out against me and its furious weep with it,

^31:39^ if I have eaten his yield without payment and I have afflicted the soul of the farmers,

^31:40^ let nettles grow for me in place of wheat and thorns for barley. Here the words of Job end.

418. If I have accounted gold my strength. After Job excuses himself from injustice (Job 31:5) and lack of mercy (Job 31:16), he now excuses himself from the inordinate affection for riches. This can come about in two ways.

In one way, when man confides too much in riches, and he excludes this, saying, if I accounted gold my strength, in that I reckoned my virtue principally in riches, and if to fine gold, which is the purest gold, I have said: you are my confidence, this is against what Paul says, *let the rich of this world not put their hope primarily in the uncertainty of riches *(1 Tim 6:17).

Second, the affection of man is disordered through riches from the fact that he rejoices too much in possessing them, and so, as to riches he already possessed he continues, if I rejoiced, inordinately, over my abundant riches, which I possessed as exclusively my own. As to the acquisition of riches, he says, and because my hand had grasped even more. For men usually rejoice more about what they have newly acquired.

419. Then he defends himself against the sin of superstition, which is against God. In ancient times, idol-worshipers worshiped the stars of heaven, especially the great lights, because of their great brightness. He shows he does not, saying, if I looked at the sun when it shone and the moon moving in splendor, which caused the idolaters to worship them, and my heart secretly rejoiced, as though I were devoted to them from interior worship. As for exterior cult he says, and I kissed my hand in reverence of them. He shuns this because this is the greatest evil. For if it is evil to offer what is due to one man to another, it seems the greatest evil that the cult due to God is offered to a creature. Since it is impossible for man to show divine cult at the same time to God and a creature, he then says, and the denial of God the Most High. Even though the name of God is attributed to some creatures by participation, the cult of latria is due only to the most high God, who is denied to be the most high if that cult is also given to others.

420. After these things which pertain to justice in general, he continues with what pertains to the perfection of virtue. Among these he first excludes the hatred of enemies. This is especially shown when someone rejoices in his complete ruin, and he excludes this, saying, if I rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me. Or he may rejoice in any evil which comes upon him, which he shows is not true of himself, saying, and if I exulted when evil overtook him, and hoped evil would come on him in despair. He then shows why he should shun this, saying, for I did not give my tongue to sin, waiting and cursing his soul. Truly, man naturally desires those things which he enjoys, and he expresses his interior desire in words. Therefore, it follows that if someone should rejoice in someone else’s evil, that he desires it, and consequently, in cursing him, he invokes evil on him.

421. Then he shows the perfection of his own virtue as to the superabundance of goods which he bestowed on others.

First, as to his domestics, he says, if the men of my tent have not said: who will give us his meat to satify us? When the meat of some animal is appetizing, men desire to eat their fill of it. By this, then, he shows that they desired to be satisfied with the flesh of his presence.

As for outsiders, he then says, the pilgrim did not remain outside, but was received in the house; my door was open to the travelers, so that they were always very welcome.

422. Finally, he shows the perfection of his virtue, because he is not unduly anxious. Men often hide a fault because of the fear of embarrassment, and they sometimes do this against justice by denying it, which he excludes from himself, saying, if I hid like a man, as men often do, my sin, by denying it unjustly. They may also excuse themselves from it, even covering it over with some crafty device, and so he then says, and if I have hidden in my bosom, by hidden pretense, my sin, when I am bound to confess it. He then excludes from himself the inordinate fear of corporeal dangers, which especially proceed from a great mob rising up against a man, as Sirach says: my heart fears three things; the slander of the city, the gathering of a mob, and a false accusation (Sir 26:5–6). So he says, if I grew frightened at the great multitude. If man despises the neighbor he ought to help, this fear is increased, and so he says, and if the contempt of my neighbors terrified me. Fearless men often go to contrary excess through presumption, and sometimes, at least in words, speak against more powerful men. He excludes this, saying, and if I was not very silent. Sometimes they proceed further and they dare presumptuously to attack a great number of adversaries, but he excludes this, saying, and did not go out of my door.

423. Since he has said many great things about himself, he invokes divine witness about these things, and so he then says, who will give me an advocate, to speak to God with me? He shows why he desires help, saying, that the Almighty might hear my desire? He shows what his desire is then, saying, and write a little book, which will accuse or protect me in what I have said with he who judges, all human acts, both interior and exterior. If, in the testimony of this book, by the certain manifestation of the truth, I am also shown to be guilty, I want to endure the punishment, and so he says, let me carry it on my shoulders. If, however, when the truth is manifested, I appear worthy of praise, then I will accept the crown of reward, and so he then says, and let it encircle me like a crown. In this he shows his desire that one who was condemned unjustly by his friends, have his case reserved for the just judgment of God. He promises that he will not contradict this book containing the divine witness. For every one of my steps, the progress of my works, I will announce it, for in them I will acknowledge the truth of God’s testimony, and I will not refuse to submit my opinion to divine witness. So he says, and like a prince I will offer him homage, for I will gratefully accept the fact that one deals with him on the basis of God’s testimony.

424. Then he defends himself from the vice of extreme desire in things he has acquired in his own possession. This is shown in two ways. In one way by the fact that man is eager to extract too much profit from his own possessions by too much attention, and he excludes this metaphorically, saying, if the earth cries out against me, because it seemed I would not permit it to rest, and I had planted it too much. So he says, and its furrows weep with it. This is comparable to a man who weeps in great anguish. In another way, excessive desire for possessions is shown when a man denies a just wage to his workers, and so he says, if I have eaten his yield without payment, because I did not pay the workers, and I have afflicted the soul of the farmers, either by compelling them to work excessively or by taking away their salary. Now it is just, that one who desires superfluous and uncommon possessions loses necessary and ordinary goods. So he says, in place of wheat, sown for the nourishment of men, let nettles grow for me, which not only are useless, but prickly. And for barley, which is sown as food for animals, thorns, which even wound animals by pricking them. When he had said all these things, the epilogue comes next, saying, here the words of Job end, because he proposes nothing new after this to prove his proposition.