Double Blessings After Suffering
The text states that affliction required children to be doubled. Observe the livestock: sheep numbered thirty thousand, having begun with seven thousand. Camels totaled six thousand, starting with three thousand. Oxen yokes reached a thousand, initially five hundred. The same pattern applied to donkeys. Sons and daughters born to him totaled ten, matching his previous count. Fourteen children were necessary, along with six, to equal the number of lost offspring. We conclude that sheep and cattle were lost, while sons and daughters died but were not lost. Thus, God granted him an equal number of new children, ensuring double in the resurrection. This made him a father of double the children he once had. If souls perished with death and resurrection were false, fourteen sons and six daughters would have been required. The sacred text preserves the account of him receiving six sons. If he later had fourteen sons and six daughters while discussing resurrection, the children would be tripled rather than doubled, contradicting their original number.
Job lived one hundred seventy years after the affliction, with his total lifespan reaching two hundred forty. How does this align with his entire life span? Precisely: having received double blessings, even the years of former prosperity are counted doubly. He lived one hundred twenty years in prosperity, then one hundred forty in suffering. The period 'after the affliction' refers not to when it ended but when it began. Following four and ten years of illness, the duration of his suffering is noted.
Greek
πληγὴν, καθὰ τὸ ἱερόν φησι γράμμα, ἔδει καὶ τοὺς παῖδας διπλῶς εἶναι. Σκόπει γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν κτηνῶν· πρόβατα, φησὶν, ἦν αὐτῷ μύρια τε τρακισχίλια, ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀρχῇ εἶχεν ἑπτα κισχίλια· καμήλων ἑξακισχίλια, ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀρχῇ εἶχεν τρισχίλια· ζεῦγα βοῶν χίλια, πρῶτον γὰρ ἦσαν πεντακόσια. Τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν νομάδων ὄνων. 389 Γεννῶνται δὲ αὐτῷ, φησὶν, υἱοὶ ἑπτὰ καὶ θυγατέρες τρεῖς, ὅσοι ἦσαν καὶ πρότερον· ἔδει δὲ τοὺς μὲν δεκατέσσαρας εἶναι, τὰς δὲ ἓξ, ἵνα εἶεν διπλοῖ τῶν ἀπολωλότων παίδων. Λέ γομεν οὖν, ὅτι τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἀπολώλον ται, καὶ τὰ κτήνη· οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ καὶ αἱ θυγα τέρες τεθνήκασιν, οὐκ ἀπώλοντο. Ἔδωκεν οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ἕτερα τοσοῦτα τέκνα, ὥστε ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει διπλᾶ ἔχειν αὐτὰ, ὥστε καὶ πατέρα διπλασίων παίδων αὐτὸν πεποίηκεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὧν ἦν πρότερον πατήρ. Εἰ δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ ἐσβέννυτο μετὰ θάνατον, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως οὐκ ἦν ἀληθῶς, ἔδει υἱοὺς δοθῆναι δεκατέσσαρας καὶ θυγατέρας ἕξ. ∆ιὸ ἱερῶς ἡ γραφὴ τετήρηκε περὶ τοῦ ὅτι ἔλαβεν υἱοὺς ζʹ· εἰ δὲ ἐγεγόνεισαν αὐτῷ δέκα τέσσαρες υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες ἓξ, σω ζομένου τοῦ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγου, οὐκ εἰσὶν αὐτῷ διπλᾶ δεδομένα τὰ τέκνα, ἀλλὰ τριπλᾶ, ἢ ἦσαν δὲ πρῶτον. ι ʹ. Ἔζησε δὲ Ἰὼβ μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν ἔτη ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα, τὰ δὲ πάντα ἔτη ἔζησεν διακόσια τεσσαράκοντα. Πῶς νοεῖται ὁ Ἰὼβ ζήσας μετὰ τὴν πλη γὴν, ἔτη ροʹ, τῶν πάντων ὄντων τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐτῶν σμηʹ; Φαμὲν τοίνυν λεπτολο γοῦντες, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ διπλᾶ ἀπο λαβὼν, ἐὰν καὶ τὰ τῆς προτέρας εὐημερίας ἔτη διπλᾶ ἀπείληπται, οὕτως ἀριθμῆσαι προ σήκει. Ἔζησεν ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ εὐθηνίᾳ ἔτη οζʹ, καὶ ἀφ' οὗ τὴν πληγὴν ἐδέξατο, ἔμεινεν ἐν τῇ κακοπαθείᾳ ἔτη ιδʹ. Οὕτως νοητέον τὸ μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν, οὐκ ἀφ' οὗ ἡ πληγὴ ἐπαύσατο, ἀλλ' ἀφ' οὗ ἤρξατο· μετὰ δὲ τὰ τέσσαρα καὶ δέκα ἔτη, χρόνον τῆς νόσου,
About this text
Origen of Alexandria, Homiliae in Job (Greek).
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 12 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.