Job's endurance and the greatness of the narrative
The table of continuous life is released to them by the hardships that fall upon them. But the slanderous devil, in such a time, sought to destroy the children who had committed no sin. In the hour of midday, when all were united and joining together for peace, he sent the unmerciful war against them. They were practicing friendship, but he wielded a sword; they were building up love, but he was destroying the house. At that very hour, the house became a tomb, the table a vessel of calamity, the shipwreck a pastoral fold, and everything became full of beasts.
What then is that brave man? He was not broken, and he did not fall. How shall I praise him? What word will be sufficient? What toil will be enough for such a narrative? O brave and blessed soul! O, you who do not possess an excess of great endurance! Truly, beloved, my soul is poured out and my conscience is disturbed, even as I see Job being crowned. But I am more poured out in soul now, seeing the crowned one, whereas he then saw the calamity of the children before his eyes. I am poured out in soul, and I think you are likewise divided.
How then shall I speak this great tragedy, even while bearing the diadem of encomiums upon my tongue? Parents according to the flesh, when they have a son following them with his last breaths, sit around; they listen to his last words, they clasp his hands, they arrange instructions concerning the deceased, they kiss the mouth, the last affections of the fathers. Then the boy has given up the soul, as the one who gave command instructed; the parents shape the body, stretch out the hands, close the eyes, straighten the head, stretch out the feet, wash him, clothe him in worthy burial garments, and console themselves regarding their own calamity.
But what is this compared to this brave athlete? He departed into the house which was at once the same and one, and at the same hour a house and a tomb, a banquet and a grave, a feast and mourning becoming. He searched and sought the limbs of the children, and found wine and blood, bread and a hand, an eye and dust. At times he took a hand, at times a foot, and at other times he lifted up a head along with the earth, and the stones, and the timbers; and at times a part of the belly, and at other times of the...
The internal organs were being scattered along with the flesh. That sky-reaching combatant sat, looking upon the limbs of the children, which were torn apart. He sat having joined limb to limb, hand to arm, head to chest, and knees to thighs. For the calamity was not merely one of the occurrences, but a destruction surpassing all reason, arising from diabolical activity and tyranny. Thus Job sat, the truly patient and unyielding, the blessed one, distinguishing the limbs of his children, lest he should mix the limbs of the females with the males, or the male form should be joined to the female limbs. O brave soul, surpassing even the praise of the angels! Why? Because in all these things happening to him, Job committed no sin against the Lord; rather, instead of all these, he offered a complete thanksgiving to God instead of a sacrifice, saying: 'Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.'
To the righteous and blessed Job, Discourse 4. 1. Great matters require great narrations, and the brilliant histories of the righteous require a brilliant tongue and intellect; the intellect sincerely contemplating the divine Scriptures, and the tongue boldly interpreting the divine. I speak especially regarding the present subject, that is, of those who labored for the blessed Job, which things, passing through all that walks under heaven, turn away the reason of his endurance. Moreover, even if the argument of the subject conquers our weakness, I know well that the grace of God provides the argument, not because of the worth of the speaker, but because of the embassy of the Fathers.
But let us come to the narration: There was a certain man in the land of Ausitis. It is necessary first to observe what power the preface possesses, and for whose sake the historian has fashioned the preface, 'There was a certain man.' Since he was about to narrate a virtuous life, greatly surpassing our own condition, he had to show the nature in advance so that no one, looking upon the excess of the struggles, might think it to be a foreign nature and not a human one. Thus, you might marvel at the intention: that being a man, he lived more excellently than a man, having shared a common nature with all,
Greek
τραπέζης τῆς συνεχοῦς πάντα λύεται αὐτοῖς τὰ προσπεσόντα μοχθηρά. Ἀλλ' ὁ μισόκαλος διάβολος ἐν τοιούτῳ καιρῷ παρετήρει ἀπολέσαι τὰ μηδὲν ἡμαρτηκότα παιδία· ἐν καιρῷ τῆς μεσημβρίας, 56.567 ὅτε πάντες ἦσαν συγκεκροτημένοι, ὅτε πρὸς εἰρήνην ἐκεῖνοι συνήπτοντο, τότε τὸν ἄσπονδον πόλεμον κατ' αὐτῶν ἠφίει. Ἐκεῖνοι φιλίαν, οὗτος μάχαιραν ἠκόνει· ἐκεῖνοι ἀγάπην ᾠκοδόμουν, καὶ οὗτος τὸν οἶκον κατέστρεφε. Καὶ ἐγένετο κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν ὥραν ὁ οἶκος τάφος, καὶ ἡ τράπεζα συμφορᾶς σκάφος, καὶ ναυάγιον μάνδρα ποιμενικὴ, καὶ πάντα θηριάλωτα. Τί οὖν ὁ γενναῖος ἐκεῖνος; Οὐ συνεχύθη, οὐ κατέπεσε. Τί αὐτοῦ ἐπαινέσω; ποῖος ἐπαρκέσει λόγος; ποῖος ἐξαρκέσει πόνος πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην διήγησιν; Ὢ γενναίας καὶ μακαρίας ψυχῆς! ὢ μεγάλης ὑπομονῆς ὑπερβολὴν οὐκ ἐχούσης! Ὄντως, ἀγαπητοὶ, συγκέχυμαι τὴν ψυχὴν, διαταράττομαι τὸ συνειδὸς, καίγε στεφανούμενον βλέπων τὸν Ἰώβ. Ἀλλὰ συγκέχυμαι τῇ ψυχῇ νῦν μᾶλλον ἐγὼ, τὸν στεφανίτην ὁρῶν, ἤπερ ἐκεῖνος τότε τὴν συμφορὰν τῶν τέκνων ἐπ' ὄψεσι βλέπων· συγκέχυμαι τῇ ψυχῇ· νομίζω δὲ καὶ ὑμᾶς οὕτω διακεῖσθαι. Πῶς οὖν ἐξείπω τὴν τοσαύτην τραγῳδίαν, οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι, καίγε τὴν κορωνίδα τῶν ἐγκωμίων ἐπὶ γλώσσης φέρων. Οἱ κατὰ σάρκα γονεῖς, ὅταν ἔχωσιν υἱὸν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἀναπνοαῖς συνεχόμενον, περικαθέζονται, λόγων τελευταίων ἀκροῶνται, χεῖρας αὐτοῦ περιπτύσσονται, συνταγὰς περὶ τῶν ἀδοκήτων συνάπτουσι, στόμα φιλοῦσι, τὰ τελευταῖα τῶν πατέρων φιλήματα. Εἶτα ἀποδέδωκε τὴν ψυχὴν ὁ παῖς, ὡς ὁ δεδωκὼς ἐκέλευσεν, οἱ γονεῖς σχηματίζουσι, χεῖρας ἀποτείνουσιν, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀποκλείουσι, τὴν κεφαλὴν διορθοῦσι, τοὺς πόδας ἀποτείνουσιν, ἀπολούουσι, τοῖς ἀξίοις ἀμφιάζουσιν ἐνταφίοις, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν συμφορὰν παραμυθοῦνται. Ἀλλὰ τί πρὸς τὸν γενναῖον τοῦτον ἀθλητήν; Ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τὸν κατὰ ταὐτὸ καὶ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ὥραν οἶκον καὶ τάφον, συμπόσιον καὶ χῶμα, ἑορτὴν καὶ πένθος γενόμενον. Περιέσκαπτε καὶ ἐζήτει τῶν τέκνων τὰ μέλη, καὶ ηὕρισκεν οἶνον καὶ αἷμα, ἄρτον καὶ χεῖρα, ὀφθαλμὸν καὶ κόνιν. Καὶ ἐλάμβανε ποτὲ μὲν χεῖρα, ποτὲ δὲ πόδα, ἄλλοτε κεφαλὴν ἀνέσπα μετὰ τοῦ χώματος, καὶ τῶν λίθων, καὶ τῶν ξύλων· καὶ ποτὲ μὲν μέρος κοιλίας, ἄλλοτε τῶν ἐντέρων τὰ σπλάγχνα μετὰ τῶν χωμάτων ἀναφυρόμενα. Ἐκαθέζετο δὲ ὁ οὐρανομήκης ἐκεῖνος ἀγωνιστὴς, διεσπαραγμένα βλέπων τὰ μέλη τῶν τέκνων. Ἐκαθέζετο συντιθεὶς μέλη πρὸς μέλη, χεῖρα πρὸς βραχίονα· ἀναπλάττων κεφαλὴν πρὸς στῆθος, γόνατα πρὸς τοὺς μηρούς. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν μία τῶν συμβάντων ἡ συμφορὰ, ἀλλ' ἐκ διαβολικῆς ἐνεργείας καὶ τυραννίδος ἡ πάντα λόγον ὑπερβαίνουσα καταστροφή. Ἐκαθέζετο Ἰὼβ τοίνυν, ὁ ἀληθῶς καρτερικὸς ἀδάμας, ὁ μακάριος, διακρίνων τῶν τέκνων αὐτοῦ τὰ μέλη, μήπου τῶν θηλειῶν τὰ μέλη κατὰ τῶν ἀρσενικῶν διαπλάσῃ μελῶν, μήπου τὸ ἀρσενικὸν σχῆμα εἰς τὰ τῆς θηλείας μέλη συναρμοσθῇ. Ὢ γενναίας ψυχῆς, τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων εὐφημίαν ὑπερβαινούσης! ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν αὐτῷ οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν Ἰὼβ ἐναντίον Κυρίου, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ τούτων ἁπάντων ὁλόκληρον εὐχαριστίαν ἀντὶ θυσίας ἤνεγκε τῷ Θεῷ, λέγων· Εἴη τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου εὐλογημένον, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Εἰς τὸν δίκαιον καὶ μακάριον Ἰὼβ, Λόγος βʹ. αʹ. Τὰ μεγάλα τῶν πραγμάτων μεγάλων δεῖται διηγημάτων, καὶ αἱ λαμπραὶ τῶν δικαίων ἱστορίαι λαμπρᾶς δέονται καὶ γλώττης καὶ διανοίας· διανοίας μὲν εἰλικρινῶς τὰς θείας Γραφὰς θεωρούσης, γλώττης δὲ τρανῶς τὰ θεῖα ἑρμηνευούσης, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς προκειμένης ὑποθέσεως, λέγω δὲ τῶν τῷ μακαρίῳ Ἰὼβ πεπονημένων, ἃ διὰ πάσης φοιτῶντα τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν, τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἀπαστράπτει λόγον. Πλὴν εἰ καὶ νικᾷ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν ὁ τῆς ὑποθέσεως λόγος, ἀλλ' εὖ οἶδα, ὅτι παρέχει ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις λόγον, οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ λέγοντος ἀξίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν Πατέρων πρεσβείαν. Ἀλλ' ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἔλθωμεν τὴν διήγησιν· Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ Αὐσίτιδι. Ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι πρῶτον σκοπῆσαι τὸ προοίμιον ποίαν ἔχει δύναμιν, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς λέξεως τὸ προοίμιον πεποίηται ὁ ἱστοριογράφος, Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν. Ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλε βίον ἐνάρετον διηγήσασθαι, καὶ πολὺ τὴν ἡμετέραν κατάστασιν νικῶντα, ἵνα μή τις εἰς τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἀγώνων ἀποβλέψας, νομίσῃ ξένην εἶναι φύσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην, προλαβὼν ἔδειξε τὴν φύσιν, ἵνα θαυμάσῃς τὴν πρόθεσιν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὢν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐπολιτεύσατο, καὶ μὲν κοινῆς φύσεως ἅπασι κοινωνήσας,
About this text
A powerful meditation on suffering and divine justice through the story of Job, exploring human struggle and God's mysterious ways.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 65 (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.