Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 10:14-17

"If I sin, then thou markest me, And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; Being filled with ignominy, And looking upon mine affliction. And if [my head] exalt itself, thou huntest me as a lion; And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, And increasest thine indignation upon me: Changes and warfare are with me." — Job 10:14-17 (ASV)

Previously, Job sought the cause of his punishment by assuming he was innocent. Now, he proceeds to ask whether he is being punished because he is a sinner. To show that he is not being punished for sin, he first uses the following argument: If he did sin, he must have sinned during his time of prosperity.

But if sin is the only reason people suffer adversity in this life, then the effect must follow the cause. Therefore, adversity must follow immediately after someone sins. However, it is clear that Job maintained the same way of life during his prosperous times. If he was sinning then, he had been sinning for a long time before he suffered adversity. Since adversity did not immediately follow his sin, it must be said that God spared him during that time by not bringing any adversity upon him. It seems unfitting to say that God would now punish him for a sin that He had previously spared. Therefore, it does not seem right that he should be punished now for a sin he committed before.

He speaks to this theme when he says, “If I have sinned” (in my time of prosperity), “and you have spared me for a moment” (because you did not immediately cause me adversity), “why did you not allow me to be cleansed from my iniquity?” This is as if he were saying: “Since you once considered me pure by pardoning my sin, why do you now punish me again as if I were not pure?”

He then adds another argument: If sin were the sole cause of present adversities, it would follow that the just would not suffer in this world as sinners do. However, we see that adversity is suffered universally by both the just and sinners. This is what he means when he says, “If I am unjust, woe is me!” because I suffer adversity; “and if I am just… I will not, on this account, lift up my head,” as if I have been raised up from misery. He speaks as one “drowned in affliction” from sorrow, “and misery” from need and confusion.

By “drowning,” he refers to the abundance of his affliction and misery, and he seems to say this in response to Eliphaz (Job 5:18) and Bildad (Job 8:5), who had said that if he were to repent, he would be freed from adversity. Against this, he says that even if he were justified, he is still not free from misery, even though he has been sufficiently punished for any past sins. He shows this by using a term that signifies the fullness of misery and affliction.

Because Eliphaz attributed Job’s claim of innocence to pride, Job then says, “Because of my pride, you will capture me like a lioness.” For Eliphaz had already said of Job, The roaring of the lion and the voice of the lioness and the teeth of the lion’s whelps have been broken (Job 4:10). Therefore, Job says, “Because of my pride, you will capture me like a lioness,” as if to say: “You cause those who hear my words to consider me proud, like a lioness.” The very fact that he was considered evil for this reason was, for him, an additional punishment.

So he continues, “and returning you torment me wondrously,” meaning: “You first afflicted me by taking away my possessions and wounding my body, and now you have returned to torment me through my friends.” This is a cause for wonder because he ought to receive consolation from his friends, not torment. Alternatively, he says this because a person is most tormented when derided by friends.

He describes this type of torment, continuing, “You set up witnesses against me.” For Eliphaz and his companions pretended to defend God’s justice, wanting to stand as witnesses for God and attack Job to convict him of sin. Therefore, he says, “you multiply your anger”—that is, the effects of your anger, as you punish me in so many different ways—“and your punishments battle against me,” meaning they assault me with a certain authority and without contradiction. This is like soldiers who, with royal authority, attack anyone thought to be a criminal without being challenged.