Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 21

In the previous chapter, Zophar had already conceded, at least in part, to Job's opinion. He had affirmed that sins were punished after death, although he still held to his own view that sins were also punished temporally in this life. For this reason, Job has some hope of converting them completely to the true opinion. He therefore humbly invites his friends to pay attention, saying, “Listen, I beg you, to my words.”

Since until now they had heard his words with some mockery, he then says, “and repent,” for having mocked his words or contradicted the truth. Since they have all now spoken twice, he says, “Bear with me so that I may speak,” in order to answer the points that were last presented. To prevent them from condemning him before they have heard him, he says, “and after my words, if you think it is right, laugh.” He means: If you judge my opinion to be laughable, first listen to my answer. If that does not satisfy you, you will be able to laugh at me afterward with more justification.

So that his words would not be automatically condemned, he shows that he is about to speak on the great matters of divine judgment, not human ones. Thus he asks, “Is my dispute against a man, that I should not be rightly distressed?” He means: If the intention of my argument were to question whether a man afflicted me justly or unjustly, I would have no reason to be sad, however it happened. But my intention is to inquire how this has happened by the just judgment of God.

Since this discussion is about a great matter, one should listen attentively, and so he says, “Pay attention to me.” It should not be listened to lightly or with scorn, but with dignity and amazement, so he says, “Be astonished.” It should also be heard in silence and without murmuring, so he says, “and put your finger over your mouth.”

Lest he seem to be speaking boastfully, as if honoring his own authority, he shows that he too is awestruck by the profound nature of the question. He says, “When I call this to mind, even I am amazed,” fearing that he might be unfaithful to the truth in any respect on such a great question, or speak irreverently of divine judgments. That fear does not stop in the mind but extends even to the flesh, and so he says, “and trembling invades my flesh,” for even the flesh is affected by a violent passion of the soul.

Since these preliminary remarks were sufficient to call the others to attention, he proceeds to the question. Since Zophar had said (Job 20:5) that the prosperity of evil men, if it happens, ends in a brief time and is changed into evil for them, Job therefore immediately refutes this, saying, “Why, then, do the wicked live” a long time? As if to say: If the evil man flies away like a bird or passes quickly like a vision in the night (Job 20:8), why do many evil men have a very long life? In the same way, if “the joy of the hypocrite is like a speck” (Job 20:5) and his ascent is quickly thrown down, why “are they lifted up”—that is, promoted to honors? Likewise, if he vomits the riches which he devoured (Job 20:15), why are they “secure in their riches,” and why are their riches maintained for them? Also, against Zophar’s statement, “His sons will be reduced to poverty” (Job 20:10), Job says, “Their offspring endure in their presence,” meaning their sons endure while they are watching. He then says the same thing about other relatives: “the company of their relatives and descendants endure in their sight.” By this he shows a double prosperity: those closest to them are not taken away in death (which is what he means by “endures”), nor are they removed far from him by exile or something similar (which is what he means by “in their presence” and “in their sight”).

He then elaborates on the prosperity of the evil men already discussed. First, concerning the men themselves, he begins with their immunity from harm, saying, “Their homes”—their families and the necessities of life—“are safe” from enemy assault “and peaceful,” without internal dissension. They are also immune from the divine scourge, and with respect to this he adds, the rod of God is not on them, because they are not corrected for their sins in this life.

He then speaks about the increase of their goods, since their possessions are not barren, nor are they deprived of their fruit. He clearly shows this with the example of the “ox,” for the ancients highly valued oxen for use in agriculture. Thus he says, “Their ox” (that is, their oxen) “breeds,” because there is no sterility. Conception comes first in the fertilization of animals. Second is the formation of the conceived fetus in the womb and its gestation to term, which is hindered by miscarriage; regarding this, he says, “and has not miscarried.” Third is birth, and on this he says, “the cow has calved.” (The names ox and cow here mean the same thing, and he uses both, either for harmonious phrasing or for the sake of the poetic meter.) Fourth is the raising of the offspring, and on this he says, “and she has not been deprived of her young” by some premature death.

Consequently, he speaks about the prosperity of their children. First, he notes the great number of their offspring, saying, “They have come forth”—that is, walking in the streets and not cut off by death—“Their little ones like flocks,” in their great number and mutual harmony. Second, he notes their well-being, saying, “and their young dance in play,” as though they were not suffering from any illnesses. Third, he discusses their education, which for the ancients included musical instruction. So he says, “They play the tambourine and harp and they enjoy the sound of the organ,” for they are taught both to play music well and to judge competently how others play.

To answer the objection that their prosperity lasts only for a little while, or is as brief as a spoken word (Job 20:5), he then says, “They spend their days in prosperity.” As if to say: All the days of their lives are passed in prosperity. In the end, they must experience death, as is the common condition of humanity, but they still suffer this without undue anguish beforehand. So he says, “and they go down to Sheol in a moment” in death. For all the ancients before the coming of the Redeemer, about whom he had spoken above (Job 19:25), descended to the underworld. However, some who were weighed down by adversities in life did not descend to Sheol immediately, but only after suffering many bitter things, as Jacob says in Genesis, Moaning will descend to my son in hell (Genesis 37:35). But those who flourished in prosperity until death descend to Sheol as if in a moment.

One could counter that, besides the many evil things they do, wicked men merit earthly prosperity from God either by loving, knowing, or serving Him in some of their works, or at least by seeking temporal goods from Him. But Job rejects this, explaining that they sin from the intention of the heart, as if from a certain malice. They say to God, Depart from us, which shows a defect in love, and, we do not want a knowledge of your ways, which shows a defect in knowledge through willful ignorance. The ways of God are His precepts and His judgments by which we are directed by Him. They ask, Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? which shows a defect in good works, originating from contempt for God. And they ask, and what profit is it to us if we pray to him? which shows a contempt for prayer because of a defect in hope.

Thus, Job most clearly refuted their opinion, showing that temporal prosperity is not always the reward of virtue, nor is temporal adversity always the punishment of sin. Evil men frequently prosper in this life even though they merit nothing good from God, and they suffer no grave adversities. But someone could counter: If prosperity comes to evil men and they lack adversity, then there is no reason to avoid evil. As Ecclesiastes says, The same things happen to everyone, and so the hearts of the sons of men are filled with evil (Ecclesiastes 9:13). Job, however, answers this objection, saying, “Nevertheless, since their own goods are not in their hands, let their counsel be far from me.”

To understand this, one must know that certain goods are in a man’s hand—that is, in his power—namely, the voluntary works of virtue, of which he is master through his free will, aided by the grace of God. Thus, the virtuous can always retain goods of this kind for as long as they wish, and for this reason, the advice to pursue such goods should be heeded. But the goods of temporal prosperity are not in the power of those who possess them, to acquire or keep them as they will. Therefore, the counsel of those men who hold God and justice in contempt in order to live prosperously should be rejected, for by this means they cannot obtain what they intend and are sometimes instead pressed by adversities.

Consider further that the adversity of an evil man is worse than that of a just man. When the just man suffers temporal adversity, the support of virtue and the consolation of God remain for him, so he is not totally overthrown. But no support remains for evil men once they have lost the temporal goods they sought exclusively. So Job then says that when the lamp of evil men goes out and the deluge comes on them by divine judgment, God apportions the pains of his wrath. That is, God distributes afflictions in a determined measure, caused by His fury. Then, evil men will be like chaff before the wind, which cannot resist the wind because of its lightness, and like ash which the whirlwind drives away, which remains when wood is burned and has no moisture to hold itself together. So also, when adversity comes, wicked men cannot resist it because they lack the support of divine hope and are driven by different thoughts, lacking the moisture of virtue.

After this, Job speaks about adversity in relation to one's sons, saying, God will save the pain of the father for the sons, because the father’s punishment extends to the sons who imitate his evil. This punishment will not be deferred until after the father’s death but will happen while the father is alive and knows it. So Job says, “and when he (God) repays”—that is, when God inflicts the punishment on the sons—“then he (the father) will know.” Thus he says, His eyes will see their destruction, whether in the destruction of his sons or in other kinds of adversity. In this, he will drink of the fury of the Almighty.

For the father’s punishment is that his sons are punished while he lives, not if they are punished after his death. So Job then asks, What difference does it make to him what happens to his house after him? That is, he will not be afflicted by the future misfortunes of his posterity, especially since the sinner is ignorant of this after his death, as Job has already said: Whether his sons will be noble or base, he is ignorant of the fact (Job 14:21). “Or,” he adds, what difference does it make to him if the number of his months is cut in half? He cannot grieve about this in life because he does not know it will happen.

Since Job had previously established that evil men sometimes experience prosperity and at other times adversity in this life, which causes doubt, he now seeks to resolve this uncertainty. First, he shows that this situation does not arise from a defect in divine knowledge, as if the evil of those to whom God gives prosperity escapes His notice. So he says, “Will anyone teach God knowledge?” as if to say: God does not need anyone's instruction about the merits of people to know to whom He should give prosperity and to whom He should give adversity.

His next statement, “Who judges the eminent,” can be interpreted in two ways. One interpretation is that God does not need anyone's instruction to be able to judge the great—that is, those who prosper in this world—just as human judges need to be instructed by witnesses about the merits of those they are judging. Alternatively, this text can be understood as a confirmation of the preceding idea. The fact that God knows all things and does not need anyone's instruction is clear because He judges people, no matter how great they are. No one judges things of which he is ignorant, so it is impossible that knowledge of anyone, no matter how great, could escape His notice.

Therefore, after establishing the sufficiency of divine knowledge, Job introduces a point of doubt that might arise concerning how God governs human beings differently, since some are prosperous until their death while others die in misery. Temporal prosperity consists of several things:

1. In power, about which he says, One man will die strong.
2. In physical health, about which he says, healthy.
3. In a wealth of external things, about which he says, rich.
4. In the successful outcome of one's plans and works, about which he says, and fortunate.

For someone is considered truly fortunate in the eyes of others when everything succeeds according to his desire. To show that this man’s riches are not merely sufficient but superabundant, Job says, His bowels are full of fat, for fat is produced by an overabundance of food. Again, he shows this man's power is based on strong supports, saying, and his bones are nourished with marrow, for bones signify strength, and their strength is supported by the nourishment of the marrow.

Job then speaks about the adversity of other men, saying, Another dies in the bitterness of his soul. This refers to the internal pains that people experience either from physical harm or from unfortunate events. He adds, without any riches, to show a lack of external things. Yet even though people with equal merits are treated so differently in life, their final state is the same after death. For their bodies are treated equally after death, so Job says, And yet they will sleep in the dust in the same way, because they will be buried in the earth equally, and worms will cover them, for their bodies will decay in the same way. Therefore, it is clear that no reason for the difference between people—based on prosperity or adversity—can be proven from the different states of their bodies after death.

Job's friends held the opinion that the reason for this difference was based on a diversity of merits. This contradicts the evidence of experience, which shows that some evil people prosper while others suffer adversity. So, Job quotes their opinion with scorn, as if it were already disproven, saying, Certainly I know your thoughts—by which they rashly condemned him—and opinions, spoken in outward words, which are evil against me. He means, “You accuse me of unjust impiety based on the adversities I suffer.” He continues, For you say: Where is the house of the leader? Where are the tents of the wicked? as if to say: “You and your family have fallen from such great prominence, just as the tents of evil men usually fall.”

After demonstrating the error of their opinion, Job proceeds to establish the truth. He prefaces this by stating that what he is about to say is not new but is commonly held by most people. He says, therefore, Ask every passerby, as if to say: “I do not have to search diligently for a witness, since one can be found in anyone passing on the street.” Alternatively, the “passersby” could refer to those who treat this life not as an end but as a means to an end. He continues, and you will know that he thinks the same thing that I am about to tell you. Therefore, you are without excuse for separating yourselves from the truth that is commonly held by all.

He then explains this truth, saying, that the wicked man is spared for the day of perdition. This means that the reason the wicked man is not punished but prospers in this life is that his punishment is reserved for another time, when he will be punished more severely. So he says, and he is brought to the day of fury. Since fury is aroused anger, the word “fury” here denotes a harsher vengeance.

Job shows why the wicked man is saved for the day of perdition and fury, asking, Who will blame him for his conduct in his presence? And who can repay him for what he did? Here, two reasons are given. The first is that the wicked man has so little wisdom that he does not even learn from punishments to recognize his own fault; instead, he complains in the midst of his afflictions as if he were punished unjustly. This is the meaning of the question, Who will blame him in his presence? so that he recognizes his conduct—his evil way. The second reason is that the punishments of this life are not sufficient for such great guilt, because if they are harsh, they kill the sinner too quickly. This is what Job means by asking, and who can repay him for what he did in this life?

So, Job concludes that this “day of perdition” and “fury” is not in this life but after death. For he then says, He himself will be led to the grave, after he has died. Yet he will live on in his soul, which Job expresses by saying, and he will keep vigil in the gathering of the dead. Although he seems to sleep in the death of his body, he will still be awake through the life of his soul. Lest it seem that he passes into joy after death, Job says, He was pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus (of the lower world).

Since Job had invoked the common person (“passerby”) as his witness, he presents the truth about the punishment of the wicked after death under the guise of a commonly told myth. This myth holds that in hell, among other things, there was a river called the Cocytus (a word translated as “lamentation”), to which the souls of evil men are led. Just as other rivers drag gravel along, so that river, in a sense, carries along the souls of evil men. Thus, the evil man is said to be pleasant to the gravel of Cocytus because his companionship was welcome to other evil men, and so he will have a place among the wicked who are in lamentation. Job then describes what this river brings to people, saying it is one which drags all men after it, because all people die in some kind of mourning. What comes after death is like the end of that river, whose beginning is what is done in this life. He then says, and those before it are without number, because grief seizes most people even in this life.

So, Job has explained his idea in a gradual order. First, as shown in Chapter 19:25, he demonstrated that the hope of the just is directed toward the reward of the future life. Here, he expresses the view that punishment is reserved for the wicked after death. Therefore, having addressed both sides and refuted the opinion of his adversaries, he says, How can you then console me in vain by promising temporal prosperity, when your answer has been shown to be contrary to the truth? He means that their answer—that rewards and punishments are assigned to people in this life—has been disproven in many ways.