Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 1

As was stated in the Prologue, the entire purpose of this book is to show how human affairs are governed by divine providence. A history is presented first, relating the many sufferings of a particular just man, which serves as the foundation for the entire debate.

This is because affliction of this kind seems, more than anything else, to exclude divine providence from human affairs. Therefore, the man is first described by his sex when the text says, There was a man, as this sex is found to be stronger in enduring troubles. He is also described by his land of origin when the text continues, in the land of Hus, which is located in the East. Finally, his name is given: whose name was Job. These two details seem to be included to suggest that this is not a parable but recounts an actual event.

Job’s virtue is then described, showing him to be free from sin, so that no one would think the adversities described later happened to him because of his sins. A person sins in three ways: against a neighbor (such as murder, adultery, and theft), against God (such as perjury, sacrilege, and blasphemy), and against oneself. As Saint Paul says, He who fornicates, sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).

One can sin against a neighbor in two ways: secretly through fraud or openly through violence. Job did not deceive his neighbor with fraud, for the text says he was without guile (simplex). Being without guile is the proper opposite of fraud. Nor did he commit violence against anyone, for the text continues, and upright. Uprightness properly belongs to justice, which lies in the mean between good and evil, as Isaiah says, The way of the just is upright; you make straight the path the righteous walk (Isaiah 26:7).

The text clearly indicates that he did not sin openly against God when it continues, and he feared God, which points to his reverence for God. The fact that he also did not sin against himself is shown when the text states, and turned away from evil. This is because he regarded evil with hatred for his own sake, not only for the sake of harming his neighbor or offending God.

After describing the man and his virtue, the text then shows his prosperity. This is done so that the adversity that follows may be judged as more severe because of the prosperity that preceded it. At the same time, this also demonstrates that God’s first intention is to give not only spiritual goods but also temporal goods to the just. The fact that the just are sometimes afflicted with adversities happens for a special reason. For this reason, from the beginning, man was established in such a way that he would not have been subject to any disturbances if he had remained in innocence.

After the good that one possesses personally, an element of temporal prosperity consists in one's relatives, especially children, who are in a sense a part of their parents. Therefore, Job’s prosperity is first described in terms of his many children when the text says, There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. The number of sons is fittingly greater than the number of daughters because parents usually have more affection for sons. This is both because what is more perfect is more desirable (men are compared to women as perfect to imperfect) and because sons are usually of more help in managing business than daughters.

Next, Job’s prosperity is shown by the great number of his riches, especially his animals. In the early days of the human race, possessing animals was more valuable than possessing land because of the small number of people. This was especially true in the East, where even now there are few inhabitants compared to the size of the region. Among the animals, those most useful for providing food and clothing are listed first, namely sheep, so the text continues, His property was seven thousand sheep. Next are the animals most useful as beasts of burden, camels, so the text adds, and three thousand camels.

Third are the animals that serve to cultivate the fields, as the text says, five hundred yoke of oxen. Fourth are the animals used for transportation, so the text says, and five hundred she-asses, from which mules are bred, which the ancients used especially as mounts. All other species serving similar purposes are categorized under these four types; for example, all animals needed for food and clothing are included with the sheep, and so on.

Since people with great wealth need many servants to manage it, the text fittingly adds, and a great number of servants. Finally, his prosperity is established in terms of his honor and reputation, which was known far and wide. This is what the text means when it says, So this man was accounted great among all the peoples of the East; that is, he was honored and respected.

To praise Job even more, the discipline of his household is described next, noting it was free from the vices that wealth usually produces. Very often, great wealth produces discord; Genesis says that Abraham and Lot could not live together because of the quarreling that arises from an abundance of possessions (Compare to Genesis 13). Also, people with many possessions, while loving them excessively, frequently use them too sparingly. As Ecclesiastes says, There is another evil which I see under the sun, and which happens frequently among men: a man to whom God gave wealth, possessions and honor so that his soul lacks nothing he desires. Yet God does not give him power to consume it (Ecclesiastes 6:1–2).

The house of blessed Job was free from these evils, for harmony, joy, and proper frugality were found there. The text states, His sons used to go and hold banquets in each other’s houses, each one on his appointed day. This charity and harmony existed not only among the brothers but also extended to the sisters, who are often despised by their brothers because of the pride that wealth generally produces. So the text adds, And they would send and invite their sisters to eat and drink with them.

At the same time, this also shows the confidence Job had in his daughters’ chastity. Otherwise, they would not have been allowed to go about in public but would have been kept at home, as Sirach wisely says, Do not forget to keep a firm watch on your daughter lest she abuse an opportunity she finds .

Just as frugality and harmony flourished in Job’s house, so a holy concern for purity—which riches frequently destroy or diminish—flourished in Job himself. As Deuteronomy says, But he waxed fat, and kicked... and he forsook the God who made him (Deuteronomy 32:18). Job was so concerned for his own purity that he completely removed himself from things that could defile it, as shown in the text already quoted: He feared God and turned away from evil.

But he was also concerned for the purity of his sons, even though he permitted them to have banquets as an indulgence for their age, since some things can be tolerated in young people that would be reprehensible in adults. Because it is difficult at banquets to avoid inappropriate humor, excessive speech, or immoderate use of food, he provided a remedy of purification for his sons, whom he did not keep from these banquets. The text says, And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send for them and purified them.

The phrase “days of banqueting had run their course” is used because, with seven sons each holding a banquet on his own appointed day, the feasts would use up the seven days of the week. Afterward, the cycle of banquets would begin again, just like the days of the week. It should be noted, however, that although Job indulged his sons by allowing them to have feasts, he did not participate himself, thus preserving his maturity. The text says, He would send for them, but not that he would go himself.

The manner of this purification, by which he sanctified them through an intermediary, can be understood in two ways. Either he had them instructed with helpful warnings so that they would correct anything wrong they had done at the banquets, or he had them perform a rite of expiation to atone for these kinds of faults, as sacrifices and the offering of first fruits and tithes existed even before the Law was given.

At banquets, people not only sometimes fall into impurity in the ways already mentioned, but also immerse themselves in more serious sins, even holding God in contempt. This happens when, because of moral depravity, their reason is dulled and they are separated from reverence for God, as Exodus says, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play (Exodus 32:6)—that is, to fornicate and to sacrifice to idols. So Job not only assisted his sons by purifying them from their minor faults, but he was also eager to add a remedy for their more serious sins so they might be pleasing to God: And rising at dawn he offered burnt offerings for each one.

These words show the perfection of his devotion. This is seen in the timing, because he rose at dawn, as Psalm 5 says, In the morning, I will stand before you... (Psalms 5:5); in the manner of the offering, because he offered burnt offerings which were completely burned in God’s honor, with no part remaining for the use of the offerer or the one for whom it was offered, as was the case with peace or sin offerings; and in the number of the offerings, because he offered one for each of his sons, for each sin must be expiated by a suitable satisfaction.

The text adds the reason for offering the burnt offerings, saying, For he (Job) said in his heart—not with certainty, but with doubt about his sons’ sins—It may be that my sons have sinned in word or deed, and blessed (benedixerint) God in their hearts. This can be understood in two ways. First, the phrase can be taken as a single idea. Although blessing God is good, blessing God for the fact that one has sinned means that one’s will consents to the sin. This is blameworthy, as we read in Zechariah against certain men: Feed the flocks doomed to slaughter, which they killed who took possession... and sold them saying: Blessed be the Lord, we have become rich (Zechariah 11:4–5).

Alternatively, the phrase can be understood differently, where “they blessed” (benedixerint) actually means “they cursed” (maledixerint). The crime of blasphemy is so horrible that pious lips dread to speak its proper name, and so they call it by its opposite. Burnt offerings are fittingly offered for the sin of blasphemy, because sins committed against God must be expiated by a sign of divine respect.

When divine worship is rare, people usually celebrate it more devoutly; but when it is frequent, it often becomes tiresome. This is the sin of acedia, namely, when someone is saddened by spiritual work. Job was not subject to this sin, for the text adds, Job did this every day, maintaining an unwavering devotion in divine worship.

After Job’s prosperity is listed, his adversity is presented. The cause of his adversity is introduced first. Lest anyone think that the trials of righteous people happen apart from divine providence—and thus conclude that human affairs are not subject to it—the author first explains how God cares for and governs human affairs. This is set forth in symbol and allegory, following the usual practice of Holy Scripture, which describes spiritual things using images of physical things, as is clear in Isaiah, where he says, I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne (Isaiah 6:1), and also at the beginning of Ezekiel and in many other places.

Now, even though spiritual realities are understood through images of physical things, what the author intends to reveal about them through these sensible images pertains not to the mystical sense, but to the literal sense. The literal sense is what is first intended by the words, whether they are used literally or figuratively.

One should understand that divine providence governs things in such an order that lower things are directed by higher things. For physical bodies, which are generated and decay, are subject to the motion of the heavenly bodies. In the same way, lower reasoning spirits united to mortal bodies—that is, human souls—are directed by higher, incorporeal spirits. The tradition of the Church teaches that among these incorporeal spirits, some are good. Guarding the purity in which they were created, they enjoy divine glory and never turn from the will of God. These spirits are sometimes called “angels” in the Scriptures, which means “messengers,” because they announce divine things to humanity. Sometimes they are called “sons of God,” inasmuch as they are made like God by participating in His glory.

However, there are also some spirits who are evil—not by nature or creation, for God is the author of every nature and the supreme good cannot cause anything but good—but through their own fault. Spirits of this kind are called “demons” in the Scriptures, and their leader is called the “devil,” as though he fell from on high (deorsum cadens). He is also called “Satan,” which means “adversary.” Therefore, both kinds of spirits move people to act: the good spirits move them to good deeds, and the evil spirits to wicked deeds. Just as people are moved by God through these spirits, so too are the things done by people said in the Scriptures to be brought to divine consideration through the mediation of these same spirits. Thus, to show that both the good and evil things people do are subject to divine judgment, the text continues, Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to assist in the presence of the Lord, Satan also was among them.

It should be understood that the angels, who are here called “sons of God,” are said to assist in the Lord’s presence in two ways. First, inasmuch as God is seen by them, as Daniel says, A thousand thousands ministered before him and ten thousand thousands assisted in his presence (Daniel 7:10). Second, inasmuch as the angels themselves and their acts are seen by God, for those who “assist in the presence of a Lord” both see him and are seen by him. In the first sense, it is fitting only for those angels who are blessed and enjoy the divine vision to assist in God’s presence. This is not fitting for all of them, but only for those among the higher angels who enjoy the divine vision more intimately and, according to the opinion of Dionysius, do not go out to perform external ministries. For this reason, the angels assisting in God’s presence are distinguished from the ministering angels in the text of Daniel already cited.

In the second sense, however, it is fitting not only for the good angels but also for the wicked ones and even for humans to assist in God’s presence, because whatever is done by them is subject to the divine gaze and examination. Because of this, the text says, when the sons of God came to assist in the presence of the Lord, and Satan also was among them. Although the things under the care of both good and bad angels are continually subject to divine sight and examination—and so the sons of God always come to assist in God’s presence with Satan among them—the text nevertheless says, “on a certain day.” This is according to the usage of Scripture, which sometimes designates things that are above time through things that are in time. For example, at the beginning of Genesis, God is said to have spoken on the first or second day, even though His act of speaking is eternal, because what He spoke happened in time. So now, since the event the author is discussing took place at a specific time, those who perform this action are said to assist in God’s presence “on a certain day,” even though they never cease to do so.

One should also consider that the things done through good angels are referred to God’s judgment differently than those done by wicked angels. The good angels intend for their actions to be referred to God. Thus, the text says that the sons of God “came to assist in the presence of the Lord,” as if by their own movement and intention they subjected everything to divine judgment. The wicked angels, however, do not intend for their actions to be referred to God; the fact that whatever they do is subject to divine judgment happens against their will. Therefore, the text does not say that Satan came to assist in the Lord’s presence, but only that Satan was among them. He is said to be “among them” both because of the equality of their nature and also to convey indirectly that evil is not done from God’s primary intention but comes upon good people almost by accident.

There is a difference, then, between the things done through good angels and those done through wicked angels. The good angels do nothing unless they are moved to do it by divine command and will, for in all things they follow the divine will. But the wicked angels dissent from God in their will, and so the things they do are hostile to God in their intention. Because we do not usually ask about things we ourselves do, but only about things that happen apart from us, the text does not say that the Lord asked anything of the sons of God, but only that He questioned Satan. So the text continues, The Lord said to Satan: Where do you come from? Note here that the Lord does not say to him, “What are you doing?” or “Where are you?” but Where do you come from? This is because the deeds administered by demons sometimes arise from the divine will, as when God punishes the wicked and tests the good through them. But the intention of demons is always evil and hostile to God. Therefore, Satan is asked, Where do you come from? because his intention, from which his entire act proceeds, is hostile to God’s.

One should note that “to speak” can be understood in two ways: sometimes it refers to the inner concept of the heart, and sometimes to the word by which this concept is expressed to another. In the first sense, God’s act of speaking is eternal and is nothing other than generating the Son, who is His own Word. In the second sense, God speaks some things in time, yet in diverse ways corresponding to those with whom He speaks. For God at times spoke to people, who have physical senses, with a physical sound formed in some created medium, like the voice that said at the baptism and transfiguration of Christ, This is my beloved Son (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). Sometimes He has spoken through an imaginary vision, as one reads so often in the Prophets. And sometimes He has spoken through intellectual expression. God should be understood to have spoken in this way with Satan, insofar as He made him understand that the things he did are seen by God.

Therefore, just as God’s speaking to Satan informs Satan of something, so Satan’s answer to God certainly does not inform God of anything. Instead, it shows that Satan understands that everything about him is open to divine scrutiny. According to this manner of speaking, the text says, Satan answered the Lord: I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it. When the Lord says to Satan, Where have you come from?, God examines the devil’s intention and actions. When Satan answers, I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it, as if giving an account of his actions to God, both statements serve to show that everything Satan does is subject to divine providence.

In prowling over the earth, Satan shows his craftiness in seeking out those he can deceive. With this in mind, 1 Peter 5:8 says, Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. This “prowling about” fittingly shows his craftiness, just as a straight path shows simple justice. For a straight (or right) line is “that whose middle does not deviate from its ends.” Therefore, because the action of the just does not diverge from its principle—which is the will—and its intended end, straightness (or rightness) is fittingly ascribed to the just. The work of the crafty, however, is to pretend one thing and intend another. Thus, what they show in their deed deviates from a straight path, as it agrees with neither their true will nor their ultimate end. So the crafty are rightly said to “prowl about,” and because of this,Psalms 11:9 says, The impious are prowling about.

One should know, however, that although the devil applies his craftiness against everyone, good and wicked alike, the effect of his cunning takes hold only in the wicked, who are rightly called “the earth.” For since a person is composed of a spiritual nature and earthly flesh, human evil consists in abandoning the spiritual goods to which one is ordered by a mind endowed with reason, and instead clinging to earthly goods that befit one’s earthly flesh. Therefore, wicked people are correctly called “earth” inasmuch as they follow an earthly nature. Satan, then, not only prowls about but also “runs through” this kind of “earth,” because he brings the effect of his malice to completion in them. The completion of his progress is designated by his “running through” them, just as God, on the contrary, is said to “run through” the just. So Saint Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:16, I will live in them and walk along with them.

There can also be another interpretation of this passage. There are three states of the living. Some are above the earth, that is, in heaven, like the angels and all the blessed. Others are on the earth, like all people living in mortal flesh. And some are under the earth, like the demons and all the damned. Satan neither prowls about nor runs through the first group, because there can be no malice in the citizens of heaven, just as there can be no evil of nature in the heavenly bodies. He prowls about among those who are in hell but does not “run through” them, because he already has them totally subject to his malice, so it is not necessary for him to use craftiness to deceive them. However, he prowls about and runs through those who are on earth, because he strives to deceive them with his craftiness and to draw some of them into his malice—those who are especially designated by the term “earth,” as I have already explained.

The idea that worldly people are designated by the term “earth” is shown clearly enough by the fact that the Lord seems to separate Job from the earth, even though he is living on it. For when Satan had said, I have prowled about the earth and I have run through it, the text adds, And the Lord said to him: Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth? It would seem pointless to ask whether the one who claimed to have prowled and run through the earth had considered Job, unless God understood His servant Job to be outside the “earth.”

God clearly shows in what respect Job is separated from the earth by calling him my servant Job. Humanity has been created, as it were, as a mean between God and earthly things; with the mind, one clings to God, but with the flesh, one is joined to earthly things. Furthermore, just as any mean recedes from one extreme the closer it approaches the other, so the more a person clings to God, the more removed they are from the “earth.” To be a servant of God means to cling to God with the mind, for it is characteristic of a servant not to be his own master. The one who clings to God in his mind directs himself to God as a servant of love, not of fear.

Note that earthly affections imitate, in a remote sense, the spiritual affections by which the mind is joined to God, but they can in no way achieve a complete likeness. This is because earthly love—and consequently every affection—falls short of the love of God, for love is the principle of all affection. So after God fittingly said, Have you considered my servant Job, He continues, there is none like him on earth, because nothing among earthly things can equal spiritual things. However, this passage can also be understood in another way. In each saint, there is some preeminent virtue for a special purpose. This is why we sing in the Church for each of the Confessors, “There is found none like him who kept the law of the Most High”—except for Christ, because everything existed in Him in the most perfect and excellent way. In this way, the text can be understood to mean that no one living on earth was like Job, in that he excelled in some particular application of virtue. The text then shows in what way Job was a servant of God and unlike anyone else on earth when it adds, He is a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil. This will not be dealt with here because it has already been commented on.

Consider that God not only orders the lives of the righteous for their own good, but He also presents them for others to see. Yet, those who see this example are not all influenced by it in the same way. The good, who consider the life of the righteous as an example, profit from the experience. The wicked, however, if they are not corrected by this example to become good, revolt against the righteous life they have observed. They are either tortured by envy or they try to ruin that life with false judgments, as the Apostle Paul shows in 2 Corinthians 2:15, For we are the good odor of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one the stench of death to death; to the other the smell of life to life. Thus, God wants the lives of the saints to be considered not only by the elect for the progress of their salvation, but also by the wicked for the increase of their damnation. For the life of the saints shows the perversity of the impious to be blameworthy, as Wisdom 4:16 says, The just man who has died condemns the impious who are alive. Therefore, the Lord says to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job..., as if to say: “You prowl about and run through the earth, but you can consider my servant Job and marvel at his virtue.”

Perverse people, whose prince is Satan (who acts in their place here), usually accuse holy people of not acting from a right intention, because they cannot find fault with their lives. Scripture expresses this, saying, Turning good to evil, he lies in ambush and he will put the blame on the elect . This appears in what follows: Then Satan answered the Lord: Does Job fear God in vain? This is as if to say: “I cannot deny that he does good things, but he does not do them from a right intention—that is, out of love for You and for the good itself. Rather, he does them because of the temporal goods he has received from You.” So he says, Does Job fear God in vain? For we are said to do something “in vain” when we cannot hope to attain what we intend. “Job serves You because of the temporal goods he has gained from You, so it is not in vain that he fears You in his service.”

Satan shows that Job has attained temporal prosperity in two ways. First, regarding his immunity from evils, because he has been preserved by God from all adversity. This is what he means when he says, Have you not fortified him with a wall?—that is, have you not protected him as a hedge or wall protects? This protection extends to “him” as a person, “his house” as his family and children, and “all that he has” as all his possessions. Satan adds, “in a circle,” to show a perfect immunity, because what is entirely surrounded by a wall in a circle cannot suffer an attack from any direction. Second, he shows Job’s prosperity regarding the multiplication of his goods, saying, You have blessed the work of his hands. Because God makes all things by His word, the blessing of God imparts goodness to things. Thus, God blesses someone’s works when He brings them to a good and fitting end. Because some goods come to a person without his own effort or intention, Satan adds, and his possessions have increased on the earth.

So Satan unjustly disparages the deeds of Job, as though he did them with the intention of gaining earthly goods. It is clear, then, that the good things we do should not be directed toward earthly prosperity as a reward; otherwise, it would not be a perverse intention to serve God for the sake of temporal prosperity. The contrary is also true: temporal adversity is not the proper punishment for sin. This question will be the theme dealt with throughout the entire book.

Satan wants to prove that Job served God because of earthly prosperity by using an argument from opposition. For if Job ceased to fear God after his earthly prosperity ended, it would become clear that he had feared God only for the prosperity he was enjoying. So he adds, Put forth your hand just a little and touch all that he has—that is, by taking it away—and see if he will not bless you to your face. The word for “bless” (benedixerit) is used here as a euphemism for “curse,” meaning he will curse You openly. (The Hebrew idiom is a form of oath, literally, “if he does not... [then let me be cursed]”). Note that even the hearts of truly righteous people are sometimes badly shaken by great adversity, but the deceitfully righteous are disturbed by even a slight adversity, like people having no root in their virtue. Satan, therefore, wants to insinuate that Job was not truly righteous but only pretending to be. Thus, he says that if Job were touched by even a very small adversity, he would murmur against God—that is, blaspheme Him.

He distinctly says, to your face, to indicate that even in prosperity Job was, in a certain sense, blaspheming God in his heart by preferring temporal things to the love of God. But when his prosperity is taken away, he would blaspheme God “to his face”—that is, openly. The expression, if he will not bless you to your face, can also be understood in another way, where “bless” (benedixerit) is taken literally. The sense would be this: “If You should touch him even a little by taking away his earthly prosperity, may misfortune befall me if it does not become clear that he was previously blessing You not from his true heart, but only ‘to your face’—that is, merely keeping up appearances before others.”

Because, as I have said, God wills the virtue of the saints to be known to all, both the righteous and the wicked, it pleased Him that just as all saw Job’s good deeds, his right intention should also be clearly shown to all. So He willed to deprive Job of his earthly prosperity so that when Job persevered in the fear of God, it would become clear that he feared God from a right intention and not for the sake of temporal things. Note that God punishes wicked people through both good and wicked angels, but He never sends adversity on good people except through wicked angels. So He did not will for adversity to be brought on Job except through Satan. Because of this, the text continues, And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not extend your hand against him. From this text, we are clearly given to understand that Satan cannot harm righteous people as much as he wants, but only as much as he is permitted. Consider also that the Lord did not command Satan to strike Job but only gave him the power to do so, because, as it is said, “The will to do harm is in each wicked person from himself, but the power of harming comes from God.”

From what has been said, it is clear that the cause of Job’s adversity was so that his virtue could be made clear to all. Thus, Scripture says of Tobias, Thus the Lord permitted him to be tempted so that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, like blessed Job . Be careful not to believe that the Lord was persuaded by Satan’s words to permit Job to be afflicted. Rather, God ordered this from His eternal disposition to make Job’s virtue clear in the face of the false accusations of the wicked. Therefore, the false accusations are presented first, and the divine permission follows.

After considering the cause of the blessed Job’s adversity, the text consequently shows how that adversity came upon him. Because Satan produced all the adversity, the text first speaks about him, saying, So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, as if to use the power permitted to him. It is expressly stated, He went out from the presence of the Lord. Satan is in the presence of the Lord in the sense that he is permitted the power to harm someone, because this happens according to the reasonable will of God. But when he uses this permitted power, he goes out from the presence of the Lord, because he turns away from the intention of the one who gave him permission. This is apparent in this case: God permitted him to harm Job to make Job’s virtue clearly known. However, Satan did not afflict him for this reason, but to provoke him to impatience and blasphemy.

At the same time, what we said earlier is clearly shown to be true in this text. Satan came to present himself among the sons of God attending in His presence, in the sense that some are said to attend in God's presence who are subject to divine judgment and examination, not in the sense of those who see God. So here the text does not say Satan was cast away from God’s presence, but that he went out from the presence of God, as if he turned away from the intention of His providence, although he was not able to escape the order of that providence.

Notice that the order in which the adversities are explained is the exact opposite of the order in which the prosperity was explained. The account of prosperity proceeded from the more important to the less important, beginning with the person of Job himself. After him came his offspring and then his animals—first the sheep and then the rest. This was done reasonably, because the duration that cannot be preserved in one’s own person is sought in one’s offspring, for whose sustenance possessions are needed. In the adversity, however, the opposite order is presented. First, the loss of possessions is reported, then the destruction of the children, and third, the affliction of his own person. This is to increase the adversity, for someone oppressed by a greater adversity does not feel a lesser one. But after a lesser adversity, one feels a greater one. Therefore, so that Job would feel each individual affliction and be disturbed into greater impatience, Satan began to afflict him with a small adversity and gradually proceeded to greater ones.

Consider also that the human soul is more disturbed by things that happen suddenly, for adversities that are foreseen are more easily tolerated. Therefore, to disturb Job more, Satan brought adversity upon him at a time of the greatest joy, when he would least expect it, so that the adversity might seem more severe by its contrast with his rejoicing. For “when contrary things are placed side by side, they become clearer in their contrast.” Therefore, the text says, on a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, which is included here specifically to indicate joy, because according to Sirach, Wine was created from the beginning for rejoicing, not for drunkenness . They were in their eldest brother’s house, which is included to show greater solemnity, for it is likely that a more solemn banquet would be celebrated in the home of the firstborn.

A messenger came to Job and said: The oxen were plowing, which would remind him of his profits, so that the damage would seem more unbearable. And the donkeys feeding beside them, which is also included to increase his pain, as he considered that the enemy attacked at a time when they could steal more at once. And the Sabeans fell upon them—namely, an enemy from far away, from whom the stolen goods could not be easily retrieved. And took everything, so that nothing remained for necessary use or breeding. They struck down the servants with the sword, which was a graver matter for the just man. I alone have escaped to tell you, as if to say: the fact that I alone escaped happened by God’s design so that you could have an account of such a great loss, as if God himself intended to afflict you with pain.

Immediately after the announcement of this adversity, another is announced, so that no interval would occur in which Job might recover his composure and patiently prepare himself to endure what followed more easily. Because of this, the text adds, While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said: The fire of God—that is, sent by God—fell from heaven. This was as if to impress upon his mind that he was suffering persecution not only from men but also from God, and thus he might be more easily provoked against God. And it burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, as if to say: this was divinely caused, so that everything was consumed immediately at the touch of the fire, which is beyond the natural power of fire. And I alone have escaped to tell you.

The text continues, While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said: The Chaldeans (who were fierce and powerful) formed three companies to emphasize how strong they were, so that he could not hope for revenge or recovery of his lost goods. The text then shows what he lost, saying, and made a raid on the camels and took them, and struck down the servants with the sword. I alone have escaped to tell you.

The destruction of his children follows. While he was still speaking, another messenger entered and said: Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their brother’s house. This was so their death would be sadder for Job, since he would be uncertain about their state of sin preceding their death. For he used to sanctify them and offer burnt offerings for each one for this reason, because he was afraid that they had incurred some sin during their banquets. So that he could not think they had repented or made provision for their souls, the text adds, a violent wind suddenly rushed in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. This is said to show the force of the wind, which unusually destroyed the whole house at once, which shows the wind was sent by divine will. This was so Job would be more easily moved against God when he was afflicted by the very One he had served with a devout mind. To compound his sorrow even more, the devastation of his children's death is added, when the text says, It fell and crushed the young people, and they are dead—namely, all of them, so that no hope of posterity would remain in the escape of even one child. This was believed to be more sorrowful because although all the children were destroyed, one of the servants escaped only to increase his pain, for there follows, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

Since all this adversity comes from Satan, we must confess that with God’s permission, demons can bring about turbulence in the air, stir up the winds, and make fire fall from heaven. For although physical matter obeys only the command of God the Creator for the reception of forms, and does not obey the command of either good or wicked angels, physical nature is nevertheless naturally subject to spiritual nature regarding local movement. Evidence of this appears in humans, for the members of the body are moved at the mere command of the will to perform the act the will desires. Therefore, whatever can be accomplished by local motion alone can be done by the natural power of not only good but also wicked angels, unless prohibited by divine power.

The winds, the rains, and other similar disturbances in the atmosphere are caused only by the motion of vapors released from the earth and the water. Thus, a demon’s natural power is sufficient to produce these things. However, they are sometimes prohibited by divine power, so they are not permitted to do everything they are naturally able to do. Nor does this contradict what is said in Jeremiah: Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can give rain? (Jeremiah 14:22). For it is one thing for rain to occur by natural causes—which is the work of God alone, who orders these natural causes—and it is another thing to artificially use those natural causes ordered by God to produce rain or wind, sometimes in an almost extraordinary way.

After the adversity of blessed Job has been narrated, the text discusses the patience he showed. To understand what is said here, it is important to know that there was a difference of opinion among the ancient philosophers regarding physical goods and the passions of the soul. The Stoics, for instance, said that external goods were not man's goods and that there could be no sorrow for their loss in the soul of a wise man. The opinion of the Peripatetics, however, was that some of man's goods are truly external goods, though these are certainly not the principal ones. Nevertheless, they are like instruments ordered toward the principal good of man, which is the good of the mind. Because of this, they conceded that a wise man is moderately sad in the loss of external goods; meaning, his reason is not so absorbed by sadness that he forsakes righteousness. This opinion is the truer of the two and is in agreement with the teaching of the Church, as is clear from St. Augustine in his book, The City of God.

Job, therefore, followed this latter opinion and truly showed sorrow in adversity; yet this sadness was so moderated that it remained subject to reason. The text continues, Then Job arose, and rent his robe, which is a common indication of sadness among people.

Note, however, that the text says, "Then"—that is, after he heard about the death of his children—so that he seemed more sad over their loss than the loss of his possessions. For it is characteristic of a hard and unfeeling heart not to grieve over dead friends, but it is characteristic of virtuous people not to have this grief in an immoderate way. As St. Paul says, But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). This was true in the case of blessed Job, and so the state of his mind is apparent in his external actions.

Since his reason remained upright, the text fittingly says that Job arose, even though people in grief usually prostrate themselves. For although he suffered grief, it was not a grief that penetrated so deeply as to disturb his inner reason. He showed a sign of his sadness through his external actions in two ways. First, concerning what is outside the body's nature, the text says, he rent his robe. Second, concerning things that proceed from the body's nature, he shaved his head, which, among those who care for their hair, usually indicates grief. These two signs, then, fittingly correspond to the adversities mentioned: the tearing of the robe corresponds to the loss of his possessions, and the cutting of the hair corresponds to the loss of his sons.

The mind, then, stands upright when it is humbly submitted to God. For each thing exists in a higher and more noble state to the extent that it stands firm in what most perfects it—like air when it is subject to light, or matter when it is subject to form. The fact that the mind of blessed Job was not dejected by sadness, but persisted in its righteousness, clearly shows that he humbly subjected himself to God. So the text continues, and he fell on the ground, and worshipped, to show evidence of his devotion and humility.

Job revealed the state of his mind not only by deeds but also by words. He rationally demonstrated that although he suffered sadness, he did not have to yield to it. First, he argued from the condition of nature, as the text says: Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. This "womb" can be understood as the earth, which is the common mother of everything, and "there" as returning to the earth. Sirach speaks in the same vein, saying, Great hardship has been created for man, and a heavy yoke lies on the sons of Adam from the day they come forth from their mother’s womb until the day they return to their burial in the mother of them all .

This can also be interpreted in another way. The expression, "from my mother's womb," can be taken literally as the womb of the mother who bore him. When he next says, naked I shall return there, the term "there" establishes a simple relation. For a man cannot return a second time to his own mother's womb, but he can return to the state he had in his mother's womb in a certain respect: namely, that he is removed from the company of other people.

In saying this, he reasonably shows that a person should not be absorbed with sadness over the loss of external goods, since they are not connatural to him but come to him accidentally. This is evident, since a person comes into this world without them and leaves this world without them. Therefore, when these accidental goods are taken away, as long as the substantial ones remain, a person ought not to be overcome by sadness, although sadness may touch him.

Second, he shows the same thing from the perspective of divine action, saying, The Lord gave; the Lord has taken away. Here, we must first consider his true opinion about divine providence in relation to human affairs. When he says, The Lord gave, he confessed that earthly prosperity does not come to people accidentally—whether by fate, the stars, or as a result of human effort alone—but by divine direction. When he says, however, The Lord has taken away, he also confesses that earthly adversities arise among people by the judgment of divine providence. This leads to the conclusion that a person has no just complaint against God if he should be stripped of his temporal goods, because the One who gave them freely could bestow them either for a lifetime or only temporarily. So when God takes temporal goods away from a person before the end of life, that person cannot complain.

Third, he shows the same thing from the good pleasure of the divine will, saying, As God pleased, so it has been done. For it is a mark of friendship to want and not want the same things. Thus, if it is God's good pleasure that someone should be stripped of temporal goods, then one who loves God ought to conform his will to the divine will, so that he is not absorbed by sadness when considering this.

These three arguments are put in the proper order. The first argument posits that temporal goods are external to man. The second posits that they are a gift given to a person and taken away by God. The third posits that this happens according to the good pleasure of the divine will. From these, one can draw a series of conclusions. From the first argument, a person should not be absorbed by sorrow over the loss of temporal goods; from the second, he cannot even complain; and from the third, he ought even to rejoice.

One ought to rejoice because it would not please God for someone to suffer adversity unless He wished for some good to come to that person from it. So, though adversity is bitter in itself and generates sadness, it should nevertheless be a cause for rejoicing when one considers the purpose for which it pleases God. As is said of the apostles, The apostles went rejoicing because they had suffered contempt for Christ (Acts 5:41). For when taking a bitter medicine, one can rejoice in reason because of the hope for health, even though one suffers physically.

Since joy is the substance of the act of thanksgiving, Job therefore concludes this third argument with an act of thanksgiving, saying, Blessed be the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is truly blessed by people insofar as they have knowledge of His goodness—that is, that He distributes all things well and does nothing unjustly.

The text, therefore, concludes with Job's innocence when it says, In all these things, Job did not sin with his lips—that is, he did not express a movement of impatience in word—nor did he say something stupid against God—that is, blasphemy, meaning he did not blaspheme concerning divine providence. For stupidity is the opposite of wisdom, which is properly the knowledge of divine things.