Lecture 3 — God will pardon Job if he recognizes his sin

^5:17^ Behold, happy is the man the Lord reproves. Therefore despise not the chastisements of the Almighty,

^5:18^ For he wounds, and he binds up; he smites, and his hands will heal.

^5:19^ He will deliver you from six troubles; in the seventh, no evil shall touch you.

^5:20^ In famine, he will redeem you from death, and in war from the stroke of the sword.

^5:21^ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not fear damage when it comes.

^5:22^ You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not fear the beasts of the earth.

^5:23^ You shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you.

^5:24^ You will know that your tent is at peace; seeing your likeness you will not sin.

^5:25^ Your children will be like the grass of the earth.

^5:26^ You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age as the stock of grain is reaped in due season.

^5:27^ Lo, what we have investigated is true. Once heard, study this with an attentive mind.

104. Behold, happy is the man the Lord reproves. Eliphaz had accused blessed Job in what he said already above; both of impatience and presumption, because he declared himself innocent. Now he tries to remove the despair he thought he perceived in the words which Job used to detest his life. Note, then, that concluding from what he already said in affirming divine providence as much in natural as in human affairs, he takes as true that all adversities happen to men by divine judgment. But they happen to those unable to be corrected as a final condemnation, and to those who amend their lives because of these adversities as a correction. He maintains that these latter are blessed, saying, behold, happy is the man the Lord reproves. For if correction, which comes from men who cannot yet know perfectly the measure and manner in which correction can be saving, and who are not almighty in taking away all evil and establishing good, is saving, much more ought the correction of the almighty and all-knowing God to be reputed as saving and happy. From this idea he concludes to the proposition, therefore, despise not the chastisements of the Almighty, as if to say, “Although you suffer this adversity from God because of your sins, yet you should think that this is a kind of rebuke, as it were, from God, to correct you, and so you should not despise this adversity to the point of hating your life because of it.”

105. He explains the reason when he says, for he wounds, with greater adversity, and he binds up, by taking away evil and restoring good, he smites, with lesser adversity, and his hands, that is, his works, will heal, that is, liberate you. Eliphaz, then, did not maintain that he who is corrected by God was blessed because of the afterlife, because he did not believe in it, but because of the present life during which man obtains immunity from evils and abundance of goods after the correction. Consequently, he next speaks about the immunity from evil, he will deliver you from six troubles; in the seventh no evil shall touch you. Since all time is represented in seven days, a whole is commonly designated by the number seven. The sense would be that no adversity will harm the one corrected by God after correction. Since, according to Eliphaz’s opinion, the more free one is from fault, the less he would suffer adversity in this world according to his opinion, he says, in the seventh, no evil shall touch you. He means that before correction, man is not free from adversity; but when he begins to be free, he is touched by evil, but not crushed while God is freeing him. After perfect liberation he is not touched at all.

This is true for the mind, which is weighed down by worldly adversities, as long as it places its end in worldly affairs. When it removes its love from them and begins to love God, it is sad indeed in adversities, but is not weighed down by them, because it does not have its hope in this world. When it becomes completely contemptuous of the world, then worldly adversities scarcely touch it. But this opinion is not true for the body, which is how Eliphaz understood it, because the most perfect men sometimes suffer very grave adversities, as the Psalmist says, because of you, we suffered death all the day long (Ps 43:22), which is said about the Apostles.

106. Since he had mentioned seven tribulations, he now enumerates them.

Note that sometimes adversity is the result of a particular danger for an individual person, which is sometimes even against his corporeal life (which is sometimes taken away by withdrawing the necessities of life.) To describe this he says, in famine, he will redeem you from death, as if to say, “You will suffer famine in being reproved by God, but God will free you and you will not die from this.” This is the first trial.

Sometimes life is lost by the violence of someone actively inflicting harm. To describe this he says, and in war from the stroke, that is, the power, of the sword, as if to say, “For war will come upon you, but you will not be delivered into the power of the sword.” This is the second trial.

Corporeal life is also taken away by natural death, but this does not figure among the trials, since the nature of man demands this. However, sometimes there is a personal danger, which consists in the loss of the honor which he enjoys in civil life. About this he says, you shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. The scourge of the tongue is the detraction of someone seriously trying to destroy another’s reputation. A man is then hidden from the scourge when his deeds, which form the basis of this defamation, are hidden from the detractor. This is the third trial.

Sometimes there is adversity from a more general danger, which threatens persons or property. This happens to persons, for example, when the army of the enemy, from whom men commonly fear death or captivity, unexpectedly overruns their country. Expressing this trial, he says, and you shall not fear damage when it comes, as if to say, “You will not fear when damage to your country from an enemy threatens.” A common danger threatens property either by the barrenness of the earth in time of famine, or by some devastation of the crops by the enemy. As to these trials he says, and you shall laugh at destruction and famine. This means, “You will have an abundance which will be a subject of joy for you.” In this, then, he treats the fifth and the sixth trial.

Sometimes there is adversity from the attack of brute animals, either individually or in groups. About this he says, and you shall not fear the beasts of the earth. This seems to be the seventh trial in which evil will not touch him.

107. He lists the abundance of goods after the immunity from evil.

First, as to the fertility of the earth, he says, you shall be in league with the stones of the field, that is, the stony and sterile land will bear fruit for you. As Deuteronomy says, glean honey from the rock, and so on (Deut 32:13).

Second, as to the brute animals, he says, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you, for they will not attack you. These two verses can also be explained in another way. The stones can mean hard and rude men; and the beasts, cruel men.

Third, he speaks about the members of his household, saying, and you will know that your tent is at peace, because the members of your household will be at peace with each other.

Fourth, he speaks about his wife in a special way, saying, seeing your likeness you will not sin, as if to say, “You will have a virtuous and peaceful wife with whom you can dwell intimately without sin.”

Fifth, as to his children, your children will be like the grass of the earth, that is, you will have many children and grandchildren.

Sixth, as to the peace and quiet of death, he says, you shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, in prosperity, not despoiled of your property, like the stock of grain is reaped in due season, as though not anticipated by a sudden and untimely death.

108. Finally, he approves what he has said, lo, what we have investigated is true. Since he thought Job was so prostrate with sadness that he would not think about these things much, he gets his attention back, saying, once heard, study this with an attentive mind.