Lecture 1 — Introductory remarks

^32:1^ So these three men ceased to answer Job because he seemed righteous in his own eyes.

^32:2^ But Eliud, the son of Barachiel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry and indignant. He was angry against Job because he said he was just in himself before God.

^32:3^ On the other hand, he was indignant against his three friends because they had not found a reasonable answer but had merely condemned Job.

^32:4^ Therefore, Eliud waited for Job to speak because those who spoke were his elders.

^32:5^ Since he had seen that the three could not answer, he was violently angry;

^32:6^ and Eliud, the son of Barachiel the Buzite, answered: I am young in years and you are older. On that account, I lowered my head and was afraid to express my opinion to you.

^32:7^ For I was hoping that a greater length of years would speak and a great number of years would speak wisdom.

^32:8^ But as I see the spirit is in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding.

^32:9^ It is not the old that are wise nor the aged that understand what is right.

^32:10^ Therefore, I will speak: Listen to me and I will show you, even I, my learning.

^32:11^ For I have waited for your discourses, I have heard your practical wisdom as long as you debated in your arguments

^32:12^ and as long as I thought you would say something, I waited for you to speak. But I see there is no one who can argue with Job and answer his arguments among you.

^32:13^ Do not then say: We have found wisdom; God threw him down and not man.

^32:14^ He has spoken nothing to me and I will not answer him according to your discourses.

^32:15^ They were terrified so they did not answer him further, and abstained from speaking by their own will.

^32:16^ Therefore, as I waited and they did not speak, they stood still and did not respond further,

^32:17^ I will answer for my part and I will show off my knowledge.

^32:18^ For I am full of words, and the spirit of my womb arouses me.

^32:19^ Behold, my heart is like must without a vent which breaks new wine skins.

^32:20^ Let me speak and I will breathe little by little. I will open my lips and I will answer.

^32:21^ I will not show partiality to any man and I will not equate God with any man.

^32:22^ Truly, I do not know for how long I will live, or if my maker will take me away after a little while.

425. So these three men ceased to answer. After the dispute between Job and his friends had ended, the argument of Eliud against Job is introduced. He uses stronger arguments against Job than the other ones and approaches nearer the truth. So Job does not answer him, although he still deviates a little from the truth and interprets the words of Job in the wrong sense, as we shall clearly see.

426. He begins by stating that the reason which moved him to speak was indignation against Job and against his friends. The text begins with the premise of the silence of the friends when it says, so these three men, about whom the text has already spoken, ceased to answer Job. It is noteworthy here that he would not call them men if it were not an actual event and only a parable. The text next indicates the cause of the silence, saying, because he seemed righteous in his own eyes. For Job had said many things in his own defense, which these men could not contradict. For both of these reasons, the silence of his friends and the fact that Job seemed to himself to be righteous, Eliud, who had stood apart, was agitated to anger. So the text continues, but angry, in heart, and indignant, in showing exterior signs of anger, there was Eliud, his name, the son of Barachiel, his parents, the Buzite, his country of origin, and of the family of Ram, which describes his tribe. This whole description is to show that this was an actual event.

427. The text explains the cause of his anger against Job, first when it says, he was angry against Job because he said he was just in himself before God, according to divine testimony. This is especially against what Job said, he knows my way, and later, my feet followed in his steps (Job 23:10). As to his friends, the text continues, on the other hand, he was indignant against his three friends because they had not found a reasonable answer, with which they might respond to the words of one who asserted that he was righteous, but they merely condemned Job, saying that he was evil.

428. The text shows the reason why Eliud had previously not answered Job in anything when he says, therefore Eliud waited for Job to speak, without contradicting him, because those who spoke were his elders, deferring to them as though to wiser men, and because their old age required it. But since it did not seem to him that reverence for someone should prejudice the truth, he, though younger, began to answer angrily the three elders, and so the text continues, since he had seen that the three could not answer, the arguments of Job, he was violently angry, because he thought that in some way the truth would be utterly compromised by their laziness. So he wanted to defend the truth as he understood it in their place. The text therefore continues, and Eliud, the son of Barachiel, the Buzite, answered, to the discourse and arguments of Job.

429. In his anger, he first defends his former silence, both because of his age, and he said: I am young in years, and because of the old age of the others, so he says, and you are older. Young men ought to defer in reverence to their elders, and so he says, on that account I lowered my head, as a sign of reverence and humility, and I was afraid to express my opinion to you, so as not to seem presumptuous in hindering the words of wiser men by my discourses. It seems probable that old men speak more wisely because of two things.

First, because young men, from the fervor of the soul, frequently propose many things without any order. Old men, because of the gravity of age, speak more maturely, and so he says, for I was hoping that a greater length of years would speak, with more seriousness and with greater effect.

Second, because old men, by the long experience of years, can experience many things, and consequently, speak with more wisdom. So the text continues, and a great number of years, because of which one can acquire experience, would teach wisdom, which experience gives.

430. As a consequence, he defends the fact that he is now going to begin to speak because he has experienced the fact that age is not the sufficient cause of wisdom, but rather divine inspiration, and so he says, but as I see, that is, I consider, the effect, the spirit, of God, is in men, because he operates in them. He expresses this, saying, and the inspiration of the Almighty, by which he inspires the Holy Spirit in men, which is the spirit of wisdom and understanding (Isa 11:2), gives understanding, of the truth which is the principle of wisdom in those who are inspired. He shows that this inspiration is the special cause of wisdom, saying, it is not the old that are wise, as to the knowledge of divine truth, nor the aged that understand what is right, as to the ordering of human acts. Because although he was not aged, he nevertheless was confident that he was inspired by God. Therefore, he dared to speak, and so he says, therefore, I will speak.

431. In his speech, he first persuades them to listen from the authority of God, by whose inspiration he was speaking, and so he says, listen to me, so that they do not interrupt his discourse. To those listening he promises the philosophical doctrines of science, and so he then says, and I will show you, even I, although I am young, my learning, from which I will answer the arguments of Job. It was just that they should hear him because he had listened to them, and so he continues, for I have waited, for a long time, for your discourses, which you pronounced against Job. Since he thought he could discern what they had said well and what they had not said well he then says, I heard your practical arguments, for in listening I judged what in your words should pertain to prudence. He had waited not a short, but a long time.

He determined the end of his waiting by two things.

First, from their decision, and so he says, as long as you debated in your arguments, as long as it pleased them to argue against Job.

Second, from the hope that he had in their wise teaching. He says, and as long as I thought that you would say something I waited for you to speak. One should not listen any longer when he does not hope to hear something useful. He saw that the words which they used against Job were not efficacious.

First, certainly, because they were not able to convince him, and so he says, but as I see, there is no one who can argue with Job, and convince him with arguments.

Second, because they could not resist his arguments, and so he then says, and answer, sufficiently, among you, from your understanding. Or this can mean there is no one, among you, of your number, to answer his arguments, the arguments he used against them. Their principal arguments against Job are founded on the adversities of Job, which they attributed to divine judgment, which is not able to err. He consequently shows that this answer is not sufficient, saying, do not say then: We have found wisdom, a sufficiently wise response, God, who cannot err, **threw him **into adversities, and not man, who can deceive and be deceived. He intended to answer more efficaciously, and so he then says, he has spoken nothing to me, for he wants to show that he does not speak because he has been provoked, and I will not answer him according to your discourses, because I will not follow your ways in answering him, but I will find another more effective way of answering him.

432. He intends to defend himself in the answer he will give not only among them, but also among others, and therefore he turns his discourse to others, saying, they were terrified, to speak further that they would be refuted more clearly, so they did not answer further, the arguments of Job. He shows that this was the result of their laziness, and not due to the effective character of the arguments of Job, saying, and abstained from speaking by their own will, for they kept silence from negligence. For when someone is convinced by many good arguments, he does not stop speaking by his own will, but rather is stopped from speaking because of the reasons of another. Since, therefore, they had failed, he says that he wants to make up for their defect, and so he says, therefore, as I waited, for a long time in deferring to them, and as they did not speak, in answer to the discourses of Job, I will answer for my part, because the defense of the truth is everyone’s task, and each one should do his part in this according to his ability.

433. However, he was not moved only by the zeal for the truth to be defended, but also by vainglory, and so he says, and I will show off my knowledge. In fact, someone who desires vainglory wants to show off his excellence clearly, and therefore he shows that he has the greatest ability to answer when he says, for I am full of words, which come to me abundantly so that I can answer him. Since this faculty does not suffice for a man to act unless he is aroused by something, he says, and the spirit of my womb arouses me. The uterus is the place of conception, and so here the uterus metaphorically means the intellect conceiving various intelligible objects. Therefore, the spirit of the uterus is the will impelling man to manifest the conceptions of his heart by speech. It is annoying to a man to not realize what he desires, and so he shows the anxiety which he suffered in silence by a comparison, saying, behold my heart, my mind, is like must, which ferments, and without a vent breaks new wineskins. For unless the gas caused by fermenting new wine escapes in some opening, the gas is so increased inside that it sometimes breaks the casks. So he also compares himself to new wine because of his youth, and therefore, from his great desire to speak he thinks there is danger he will burst unless he can express himself, and so he says, let me speak and I will breathe little by little, because in speaking my interior fervor would have an outlet to vaporize so that I can calm the anxiety of my desire.

434. He now shows what he wants to say, continuing, I will open my lips and I will answer, the words of Job. He shows the manner he should observe in answering when he says, I will not show partiality to any man. For one shows partiality in answering someone when he leaves the truth from fear of human respect. He shows, therefore, he does not want to do this, saying, and I will not equate God with man. For the present dispute seems to be of such a character as that, if he should defer to man, he would not guard the reverence due to God’s excellence. He shows the reason he fears to do this, saying, truly I do not know for how long I will live, in this present mortal life, to promise myself a long space of time to do penance, and if my maker will take me away after a little while, if he will call me by death to judgment. From this it is clear that Eliud agreed with Job in the fact that the retribution of sinners would be after death. Otherwise, it would seem vain to fear to offend God because of the proximity of death.