Lecture 2 — Job would rest in peace with the dead

^3:11^ Why did I not die in the womb? Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?

^3:12^ Why did knees receive me? Or why was I suckled at the breast?

^3:13^ For now I would be sleeping and quiet; and in my sleep I would be at rest,

^3:14^ With the kings and counselors of the earth, who built solitary dwellings for themselves,

^3:15^ or with princes who hoard gold and fill their houses with silver.

^3:16^ Or why was I not like a hidden aborted birth? Or like those conceived who never see the light?

^3:17^ There the wicked cease to trouble; and there the weary from the struggle are at rest.

^3:18^ There those once chained together hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

^3:19^ The small and the great are there; the slave is free from his master.

63. Why did I not die in the womb. After Job has cursed the day of his birth and the night of his conception, to show that he detested the beginnings of his life, he now shows that he detests the preservation of his life. With these remarks he shows more clearly that his life is burdensome to him.

There are two states of life: one is hidden, in which those conceived live in the womb; the other is open, where one lives after birth outside the womb.

As for the first state, he says, why did I not die in the womb?

As to the second, why did I not come forth from the womb and expire? He treats first about the second state.

One should know that the exterior life can be lost in two ways: sometimes, of course, from some harm coming on it; either intrinsic, like sickness, or extrinsic, like a sword, or something like that. So when he says, why did I not come forth from the womb and expire, it can be applied to this. Sometimes, however, the external life is taken away by the loss of some necessary assistance, which can be extrinsic, like being carried, warmth, and other aids of this kind. The verse, why did the knees receive me? refers to this; or something intrinsic, like food; and so he says, or why was I suckled at the breast? Indeed, the life of newborn baby needs these aids to life on the first day of its birth.

64. But, since when someone asks, why did this happen?, he means that this happened uselessly, Job shows next as a consequence, not only the futility of preserving his life, but even more, the harm. He shows this first as to the evils which he now suffers, saying, for now I would be sleeping and quiet; I would be at rest. He calls death a sleep because of his hope in the resurrection, and he will later say this plainly. By silence, he means rest from the adversities which he was suffering; as if to say, “If I had died immediately when I was born, I would not have been made restless by these evils which I now suffer.”

Second, he says it respecting the goods which he formerly possessed; for someone might say to him, if you had not been preserved in this life, you would not have had the goods which you enjoyed in time past. As if to answer this, he shows that the preservation of his life should not be desired for the sake of those goods, for even those who have enjoyed an abundance of these great goods throughout their whole lives, end in the same way in death.

He means this when he says, and in my sleep, that is, death, I would have been at rest, that is, I would have been freed from the disturbing things of life, with kings and counselors of the earth. Note that the intention of those who have a high place in society, and seem to prosper greatly, is either to enjoy their pleasures, and as to them he says: who built solitary dwellings for themselves (literally, those wanting to be alone to hunt or some other pleasant past-time); or they want to accumulate wealth, and as to them he says, or with princes who hoard gold and fill their houses with silver. This is as if to say, “If I had died immediately after I was born, I would have had nothing less now than those men have after their deaths who prospered in many things.” Consider, that since rest occurs only in what subsists, he wants us to understand from these words that man in his soul subsists after death. To the objection that kings and princes of the sort he is describing perhaps do not rest, but experience the torments of the punishments of hell, or even that life was useful to Job himself, so that in life he could obtain merit for himself, we must return to what we already said. Job speaks now from the character of the sensual part of the human soul, and expresses what he feels. This part only allows a place for the corporeal goods and evils which are present in the here and now.

65. So after he shows that he should not have desired to have preserved his life after his birth, he demonstrates as a consequence that he should not have desired to preserve his life in leaving the womb and be born. In this he explains what he said above, why did I not die in the womb? (Job 3:11). Consider that some die in the womb before the infusion of the rational soul, which alone is immortal. He expresses this, saying, or why was I not like a hidden aborted birth? Aborted fetuses of this sort have nothing perpetual which remains of them. Some, however, die after the infusion of the rational soul. These truly subsist in the soul after death, but they do not see the light of this world.

To express this Job says, or, which must be interpreted as like those conceived who never see the light, that is, of this present life. He shows that he should have chosen this for himself, so as not to have been subject to the evils of this life. So he says, there, in the state where those are who, after they were conceived, did not see the light of day, the wicked cease from troubling, from the trouble they caused others in afflicting them, cleansed from the evil of fault. And there, in the state of the dead, the weary warriors who are worn out from the struggle, are at rest, that is, they are free from labor like this; as was explained, he speaks now only of the rest from the evils of this present life. This passage can also be understood of the fatigue one suffers in any kind of work where he uses his own strength. There, those who were, once chained, will be at ease together, without their former pain, together with those who held them bound. There, too, men weighed down with anguish and with slavery, hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

This accords with Isaiah, how the oppressor has ceased; there is no more tribute (Isa 14:4b). He shows this is true by adding, the small and the great are there, on an equal basis, because smallness and greatness are reckoned in this life according to the inequality of earthly prosperity; when this is taken away, they return to their natural equality. Therefore, the small and the great should be interpreted to mean those who were different in this life because of the magnitude of earthly prosperity. Yet note that the difference between small and great in spiritual goods remains even there. But he does not speak about these goods now as has already been explained. There, the slave is free from his master, and so there will be no place there for tribute or anything of this sort.