Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 19:23-29

"Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever! But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me. If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me; Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment." — Job 19:23-29 (ASV)

Job had said above that his hope had been taken away, "like an uprooted tree" (Job 19:10). He certainly said this in reference to the hope of recovering temporal prosperity, to which his friends repeatedly urged him. However, he showed in many ways above (verses 11-20) that he should not have this hope, by reducing their arguments to various unfitting conclusions. Now he clearly declares his intention, showing that he had not said these things in despair of God, but because he held a higher hope in Him—a hope not related to present goods, but to future ones.

Because he was about to speak of great, wondrous, and certain things, he first shows his desire that the thought he is about to express would endure in the faith of his descendants. We transmit our words and their meaning to our descendants through writing. So he says, "Who will grant me that my words be written down?"—that is, what I am about to say about the hope I have fixed in God, so that my words may not be forgotten. What is written in ink usually fades with the passage of time, so when we want something to be preserved for a long time, we record it not only in writing but by an impression on skin, metal, or stone. Since what he hoped for was not in the immediate future but is reserved for fulfillment at the end of time, he then says, "Who will grant me that my words be engraved in a book with an iron stylus," like an impression made on skin; "or," if this is not enough, by a stronger impression made, "on a plate of lead, or," if this seems not enough, "securely sculptured with an iron stylus on flint?"

He shows what these words are that he would like to be preserved with such great diligence by adding, "For I know that my redeemer lives." He clearly presents this as the cause. We are not anxious to commit to memory things of which we are unsure, and so he says pointedly, "For I know"—that is, by the certitude of faith. This hope concerns the glory of the future resurrection, for which he first assigns the cause when he says, "my redeemer lives."

Here we must consider that man, who was established as immortal by God, incurred death through sin, according to Romans: "Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death" (Romans 5:12). Job foresaw through the spirit of faith that the human race must be redeemed from this sin through Christ. Christ redeemed us from sin by His death, dying for us, but He did not die in such a way that He was consumed by death. For although He died according to His humanity, He could not die according to His divinity.

From the life of the divinity, the humanity has also been restored by rising to life again, according to what is said in 2 Corinthians: "For although he was crucified because of our infirmity, yet he lives by the power of God" (2 Corinthians 13:4). The life of the risen Christ, moreover, will be diffused to all people in the general resurrection. Thus, in the same place the Apostle Paul adds, "For we are weak in him, but we will live in him by the power of God in us" (2 Corinthians 13:4). And so the Lord says in John, "The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live: for just as the Father has life in himself, so he gave it to the Son also to have life in himself" (John 5:25–26).

Thus, the primordial cause of human resurrection is the life of the Son of God, which did not take its beginning from Mary, as the Ebionites said, but always was, according to Hebrews: "Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, Job pointedly does not say, "My redeemer will live," but "lives." Based on this cause, he foretells the future resurrection and determines its time when he adds, "and I shall arise on the very last day from the earth." To counter the error of those who posited that the motion of the heavens and the state of this world would endure forever, he clearly says, "on the very last day." For if the heavens' motion were to endure forever, there would be no last day. This is consistent with the statement of the Lord, who says in John, "I will raise him up on the very last day (novissimo die)" (John 6:40).

There were other men who said that people will rise by resuming not an earthly body, but some kind of heavenly body. To exclude this, he then says, "I will be surrounded again with my own skin." He says this expressly because he had said above (verse 20) that only the skin had remained around his bones. In this way of speaking, he gives the reason (ratio) for the resurrection: namely, that the soul does not always remain divested of its own skin.

Again, there were some who said that the soul will resume the same body it had put aside, but in the same condition, so that it would need food and drink and would perform the other fleshly functions of this life. But he excludes this by then saying, "and in my flesh I shall see God." It is clear that human flesh is corruptible in its present state, as Wisdom says, "The body which is corrupted weighs down the spirit" . Therefore, no one can see God while living in this mortal flesh.

However, the flesh that the soul will resume in the resurrection will certainly be the same in substance, but it will have incorruptibility by a divine gift, according to what Paul says: "This corruptible must put on incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:53). Therefore, that flesh will be in this latter condition, in no way impeding the soul from being able to see God, but rather being completely subject to the soul.

Porphyry, not knowing this, said, "The soul must flee the body to become happy," as though the soul and not the man will see God. To exclude this, Job states, "whom I myself will see," as if to say: Not only will my soul see God, but "I myself," who consist of body and soul. To indicate that the body will participate in that vision in its own proper way, he adds, "and my eyes will behold him." This is not because the eyes of the body will see the divine essence, but because the eyes of the body will see God made man. They will also see the glory of God shining in created things, as Augustine says at the end of The City of God.

To ensure that one believes that the man who is restored to see God is the same individual (the same in number) and not just of the same species, Job says, "and not another"—that is, not another in number. This is so that one might not believe that he expects to return to the kind of life which Aristotle describes in Book II of De Generatione, saying that each corruptible substance that has been moved will be restored in species, but not in the same number.

After establishing these premises about the cause, time, and manner of the resurrection, and the glory and identity of those who will rise, he then adds, "This my hope has been put in my heart." It is as if he were saying: My hope is not in the earthly things which you promise in vain, but in the future glory of the resurrection. He says pointedly, "has been put in my heart," to show that he held this hope concealed not only in words but also in his heart; not doubtfully, but most firmly; not as something of little consequence, but as something most precious. For what is hidden in the heart is possessed secretly, held firmly, and considered dear.

Thus, after he has shown the depth of the hope which he had in God, he rejects the false accusations they leveled against him, as if he had rejected the hope and fear of God by not putting his hope in temporal things. So he then says, "Why, then, do you now say: Let us persecute him?"—as though he despairs of God or does not fear God—"and let us find the root of the word against him?"—that is, by condemning his speech as though he has denied the providence of God. He does not deny, but asserts, this providence, saying that rewards and punishments are prepared by God for humanity even after this life.

So he then says, "Flee, then, from the face of the sword"—the sword of divine vengeance reserved in the future life for you, even if you flourish in temporal prosperity. "For his sword is the avenger of evils"—that is, the vengeance which He will properly take after death. "Know there is a judgment," not only in this life, but also after this life in the resurrection of the good and the wicked.