Lecture 1 — Job is wounded by God and desires not to exist

^6:1^ Then Job answered, saying:

^6:2^ Would that my sins for which I have merited anger and the calamity which I suffer were weighed in a balance,

^6:3^ like the sands of the sea. This still could not equal them and so my words were full of bitterness,

^6:4^ because the arrows of the Lord stick fast in me, and their pain takes my breath away. God’s terror stands arrayed against me.

^6:5^ Does a wild donkey bray when it finds grass or an ox low when it stands in a stable full of fodder?

^6:6^ Can tasteless food be eaten without salt? Or can someone taste that which, when once tasted, brings death?

^6:7^ What my soul did not wish to touch before, has now become food in my anguish.

^6:8^ Who will grant that my prayer find fulfillment? May God grant my hope!

^6:9^ May he who began this, destroy me! May he free his hand and cut me down!

^6:10^ This thought, at least, may give me comfort: that in afflicting me with pain, he will not spare me and I will not deny the Holy One’s decrees.

^6:11^ But what kind of strength do I have to resist? When will the end come so that I can act patiently?

^6:12^ My strength is not the strength of a stone nor is my flesh of bronze.

109. Then Job answered, saying. Eliphaz had clearly noted in earlier verses three things in the lament of Job: despair because he seemed to desire not to exist; impatience or immoderate sorrow because of the sighs and moans which he said he was enduring; and presumption because he asserted his innocence. The whole discourse of Eliphaz in the previous chapters was about these three things. In his discourse he proposed for consideration the frailty of the human condition, among other things, to demonstrate that Job was subject to sin and should have accepted his misfortunes. Job takes the beginning of his response from this point. For it is certain that because of the frailty of the human condition, no man is free from sin, however just he may appear to be. Nevertheless, in just men sins are not grave and mortal sins but trivial and venial sins, which occur as a result of negligence and deception. If what Eliphaz strives to prove were true (namely, that the adversities of this present life were the proper punishments for sin), it would follow that men would suffer grave adversities because of grave sins and light adversities for light sins. Thus, just men would never be subject to grave adversities, which is clearly false. Job proposes this argument, then, against the scientific discussion of Eliphaz and so the text continues, then Job answered, saying: would that my sins for which I have merited anger and the calamity which I suffer were weighed in a balance, as if to say, “I cannot say that there are no sins in me, yet I am confident that there is no mortal sin in me, but venial sins. If, then, I merited this sort of anger from God, as punishment for such sins, my calamity and my sin should be weighed in the scale of justice, so that one can correspond to the other according to the measure of equality.”

But the adversity appears to be much greater, and so he continues, like the sands on the sea, which means without parallel, this, that is, the calamity, could not equal them, that is, if the opinion of Eliphaz were true and the adversities of this world are inflicted only because of sin, since it is apparent that many wicked men suffer light adversities, Job’s sins seem next to nothing in comparison with theirs.

110. From this he goes on to excuse himself from the sadness which he had expressed in words, saying, and so my words were full of bitterness, with the conclusion he infers that his pain was caused by the magnitude of his suffering.

He adds that there are two causes of pain. Pain is sometimes caused by things someone has already endured, sometimes by things he is afraid he will endure.

He first assigns the cause of his pain resulting from things which he had already endured, saying, because the arrows of God stuck fast in me. In this he demonstrates that he had been afflicted unexpectedly; for an arrow comes suddenly from far off. He shows the greatness of the wound as he says, their pain drains my spirit, that is, the pain has not permitted me to breathe, but totally robs me of whatever strength and consolation could have been in me.

Then he shows the cause of the pain from what he was afraid he would suffer, saying, God’s terror stands arrayed against me. For the afflicted are usually consoled by the hope of a better state, but when after one affliction comes, he fears similar or greater afflictions again, and he seems to have no consolation left.

111. The objection could be made: you certainly have cause for suffering, but you should not burst out in words of pain from it. Against this objection Job responds using examples which are found in other animals. For man is like other animals in sensitive nature, and so those things which sensitive nature naturally entails must be present in man, as in the other animals. What is natural cannot be totally suppressed. In other animals one finds that affliction of heart is expressed with the voice, and he notes this when he says, does a wild donkey bray when it finds grass or an ox low when it stands in a stable full of fodder? He implies the answer, “no.” The donkey brays and the ox lows when it lacks the necessary food. It seems natural for animals to vocally express interior torment.

112. On the other hand, someone might concede that it is natural to express vocally pain conceived, but as the Stoics thought, it does not pertain to the wise man to conceive sadness in his heart for any reason whatsoever. Job demonstrates this to be against sensitive nature. For sense cannot but be repulsed by the unsuitable and the harmful. So he says, can tasteless food be taken without salt? implying the answer “no,” because such foods without flavor are not fit to delight the sense of taste. Similarly, the heart of man cannot freely tolerate things which are not pleasant, much less things which are bitter and harmful. So he continues, or can someone taste what once tasted brings death?, as if to say “no” here. Just as this is impossible for the exterior sense, so it is impossible that what is apprehended by the interior sense as harmful should be received without sadness.

113. But though it is true the wise man suffers sadness, nevertheless, his reason is not absorbed by this sadness. Job shows, as a consequence, that although he himself might suffer sadness, he still had the greatest concern and caution to protect himself against sadness, so as not to be led by sadness to do something evil. To avoid this, he preferred death. To give some expression to this he says, what my soul did not touch before has now become food in my anguish, because what my soul formerly abhorred, it now desires as pleasant. He shows this same thing when he says, who will grant that my prayer find fulfillment? He shows that this prayer is made not only with the lips, but also from the bottom of his heart when he continues, may God grant me my hope! He expresses the content of the prayer, saying, may he who began this, namely, to afflict me, destroy me, in death. He continues, may he free his hand and cut me down. The hand of God expresses the divine power by which God has afflicted him, and God binds his hand in a way from his mercy and by his will, and when he does not afflict him. However, God frees his hand in a sense when the divine chastisement striking him is directed to killing him.

114. Since he said that the things he did not formerly want to touch had now become his food, he shows this must be understood to mean that death, which was abhorrent to him, has now become something pleasant. So he continues, this thought, at least, may give me comfort: that in afflicting me with pain, he, God, will not spare me, that is, he does not take away his hand, but leads me to death. He shows why he hopes for this when he continues, and I will not deny the Holy One’s decrees, that is, the decrees of God which are the judgments and sentences by which he afflicted me. For Job feared that he might be led into impatience by his many afflictions, so that his reason could not restrain his sadness. Indeed it is the nature of impatience, when reason is so dominated by sadness, that one contradicts divine judgments. If someone should suffer sadness in the sensitive part of the soul, but reason remains in conformity with the divine will, then this is not the defect of impatience. So Eliphaz accused Job without reason when he said, and now that the scourge has come on you, you too have fallen away (Job 4:5). For although he was sad, he still had not been wanting.

115. Next he gives the reason, from his frailty, that he would be led to contradict the decrees of the Holy One. Fear of this kind can be overcome by two causes.

First, if the strength of reason is so great in itself that it could not be overcome in any way. This is the case in those whose free will has been confirmed in grace. But he did not feel this kind of strength in himself. So he says, but what kind of strength do I have to resist? any sort of trial.

Second, fear could be removed if it were necessary to tolerate trials and sadnesses for only a short time. To show this is not true with him he says, when will the end come so that I can comport myself patiently? He seems to mean here, “What end has been put for my trials so that I can remain patient while I wait for it?” To explain this he says, my strength is not the strength of a stone. For a stone experiences strength without experiencing feeling, but a man experiences strength along with the emotional experience of harmful things. So he continues, nor is my flesh bronze, that is, without feeling, because, however strong the reason of a mortal man may be, he still must experience the feeling of pain on the part of the flesh. By this he refutes the attempted rebuke of Eliphaz, who censured the very existence of sadness in blessed Job. For although Blessed Job had strength of mind, still, he would have had the sensation of pain on the part of the flesh, which causes sadness. At the same time, he refutes the opinion of the Stoics in this, who said that the wise man is not sad. Eliphaz seems to have shared their opinion. Blessed Job intends to defend the fact that the wise man is truly sad, but is zealous through reason not to be led to do anything unfitting. This is what the Peripatetics taught.