shades of dulness; for thirst uncloses that to the slower sort, Book which disdain shuts up to the quicker. And they for this ^ ^' reason get to the depths of understancUng, because they do not scorn to practise even the very least things that they have learnt, and while they aid the understanding with the hands, they lift themselves above the level of the clever. Hence it is well said by Solomon, The lizard cUmbeth with Prov. his hands, and is in kings'" palaces. For commonly ' birds,' ^^' ^^• which have a wing that lifts them up to fly, dwell in the bushes, and the * lizard,' which has no winors for flvinof, ' climbing with hands,' occupies the abode of royalty, in that often any that are quickwitted, while they grow slack from carelessness, continue in bad practices, and the simple folk, which have no wing of ability to stand them in stead, the excellency of their practice bears up to attain to the walls of the eternal kingdom. Whereas then ' the lizard climbeth with his hands,' he ' is in kings' palaces;' in that the plain man, by earnestness of right practice, reaches that point, whereunto the man of ability never mounts. But having heard this, a question occurs to our mind, wherefore either the gift of understanding is bestowed on a heedless man, or any earnest mind is hindered by its slowness? To which an answer is speedily given, in that it is forthwith added, Ver. 6. ^ There is nothing in the earth without cause. y ^, 13. For on this account it often happens that even a xi. slothful man receives ability, that he may be the more deservedly punished for his carelessness, because he scorns to acquaint himself with that which he might attain to without labour. And on this account the earnest person is straitened with slowness of understanding, that he may obtain so much the larger rewards of compensation, the more he toils in anxiety to find out. Therefore ' there is nothing in the earth without cause,' since slowness stands the earnest mind in stead for a reward, and to the slothful quickness only thrives for punishment. But for the understanding of those things that be right, we are at one time instructed therein by earnestness of labour, at another time by pains of affliction. Hence after it has been said. There is nothing in the earth without cause, it is fitly added thereupon, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.
Y 322 The real cause of trouble is our sin.
Jobs, 14. For ' trouble springeth out of the ground,' as it were, —— — when man, being created after the image of God, is scourged ^\\ by things without sense. But because it is by reason of the hidden deserts of men's souls that the open scourges of chastisements are sent forth, it happens at the same time that ' trouble springeth not out of the ground,' since it is the perversity of our sense, which requires that it should be stricken by things that have no sense. For thus we see that for our correction the looked for rain is withheld from the parched earth, and the vaporous air is scorched by the fiery heat of the sun; the sea rages with bursting tempests, and some embarked to cross its bosom it cuts off, and others are debarred the longed-for passage by the rampant water; the earth not only yields sparingly the produce of her fertility, but also destroys the seeds she has received. In all which circumstances we clearly discern that which a wise man Wisd. testifies concerning God, And the world shall fight with ' * Him against the unwise. For * the world fights with the Lord against the unwise,' when even the very contrariety of the elements does service in the chastisement of offenders. Yet neither doth ' trouble spring out of the ground,' for each insensate thing is put in motion to our annoyance, only by the impulse of our own doings. ' Trouble does not spring out of the ground,' for chastisement never a whit springs from that creature that stiikes the blow, but from that one, without doubt, which, by committing sin, drew forth the severity of the stroke. But we must take great and diligent heed, that, when in outward circumstances we are afflicted with a weight of grief, we reach forward in hope to things above; that the mind may attain the heights above, in pro- portion as we are chastened by the external punishment. And hence it is justly subjoined, Ver. 7. Man is born to labour, and the bird to flying.
xiii. 15. For ' man is born to labour,' in that he, who is furnished with the gilt of reason, bethinks himself that it is wholly impossible for him to pass through this season of his pilgrimage without sorrowing. Hence when Paul was re- 1 Thess. counting his woes to his disciples, he justly added. For '^' ^' yourselves know that loe are appointed thereto. But even in that the flesh is afflicted with scourges, the mind is lifted up An earthly life is sore labour. 323 to seek higher things, as Paul again bears witness, saying, Book But though our outward man perish^ yet the inward man is 2 Cor retiewed day by day. So then, ' man is born to labour, and 4, le.
a bird to flying,' for the raind flies free on high for the very same reason that the flesh toils the sorer below.
16. By the designation of *^ man' too, may be represented the life of the carnal sort. And hence Paul savs, For where- i Cor.
as there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ' ye not carnal^ Soon after which he subjoins and says, ^rever. 4, ye not men? In this life, then, ' man is born to labour,' for every carnal person, in seeking to obtain transitory things, is overcharging himself with the burthen of his desires. For it is sore labour to be seeking this same glory of the present life, at times to win it so sought, and to guard it with diligence when won. It is sore labour, with infinite pains to lay hold of that, which he, that shall lay hold, knows can never remain for long. But holy men, forasmuch as they have no fondness for transitoiy objects, are not only laid under no burthen of temporal desires, but even, if crosses on any occasion arise, in these very straits and fain tings are free from trouble. For what is there more severe than scourges?
and yet it is written concerning the Apostles when scourged, And they departed from the presence of the council, re- Acts 5, joicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. WHiat then can be labour to the minds of those, to whom even the chastisement of stripes is not labour?
Man then is * born to labour,' for he really feels the ills of the present state, w^ho is agape after the good things thereof.
For that mind which hangs on the attraction of things above, has beneath it whatsoever is set in motion against it from without. Therefore it is well added, rt//c/ a bird to flying.
For the soul withdraws itself from the painfulness of labour, in proportion as it raises itself through hope toward things on high. Was not Paul like a ' bird born to flying,' who in undergoing such countless crosses, said, Our conversation is Phil. 3, in heaven? And again. We know that if our earthly house 2%^^.
of this tabernacle?rere dissolved, we have a building of God,^^ i.
an house not made witJt Jiands, eternal in the heavens. Like a bird, then, he had mounted above the scenes below, whom, while yet lingering on earth in the body, the wing of hope 324 The common works of God really marvellous.
Job 5, was already bearing up in the heights. But forasmuch as none by his own strength can transport himself on high, so Moral...i i • i • i as to be raised to the invisible world, while he is borne down by visible things, it is immediately added with pro- priety, Ver. 8. Wherefore I will entreat the Lord, and unto God would I tnake my address.
xiv. 17. As though he said in plain words, ' Him I petition, by Whom I know that these things are bestowed.' For if he imagined that he had them by himself, he would not need to make his prayer to God. It goes on; Which doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.
XV. 18. Who may see to the bottom of the marvellous works of Almighty God, how He made all things of nothing, how the very framework of the world is arranged with a marvellous mightiness of power, and the heaven hung above the atmo- sphere, and the earth balanced above the abyss, how this whole universe consists of things visible and invisible, how He created man, so to say, gathering together in a small compass another world, yet a world of reason; how con- stituting this world of soul and flesh, He mixed the breath and the clay by an unsearchable disposal of His Might? A part, then, of these things we know, and a part we even are. Yet we omit to admire them, because those things which are full of marvels for an investigation deeper than we can reach, have become cheap from custom in the eyes of men. Hence it comes to pass that, if a dead man is raised to life, all men spring up in astonishment. Yet every day one that had no being is born, and no man wonders, though it is plain to all, v/ithout doubt, that it is a greater thing for that to be created, which was without being, than for that, which had being, to be restored. Because the dry rod of Aaron budded, all men were in astonishment; every day a tree is produced from the dry earth, and the virtue residing in dust is turned into wood, and no man wonders. Because five thousand men were filled with five loaves, all men were in astonishment that the food should have multiplied in their teeth; every day the grains of seed that are sown are multiplied in a fulness of ears, and no man wonders. All men wondered to see water Faith more reasonable than curious questioning. 325 I once turned into wine. Every day the earth's moisture Bdok being drawn into the root of the vine, is turaed by the grape '— into wine, and no man wonders. Full of wonder then are all the things, which men never think to wonder at, because, as we have before said, they are by habit become dull to the consideration of them; but when he said, which doeth great things, he did well in immediately adding, and unsearchable. For it was but little to do great things, if the things that were done could have been searched to the bottom. And it is rightly added, marvellous things without number. As it would have been but an inferior greatness, if the things, which He created ' unsearchable,' He had made* but few in number. 19. But herein it ought to be impressed upon us, that the Divine miracles should both ever be under our consideration in earnestness of mind, and never sifted in intellectual curiosity. For it often happens that the thought of man, when, seeking the reason of certain things, it fails to find it out, plunges into a whirlpool of doubt. Hence it comes to pass that some men reflect that the bodies of the dead are reduced to dust, and while they are unable to infer the power of the Resurrection fi'om reasoning, they despair of their being able to be brought back to their former condition. Things that are marvellous then are to be believed on a principle of faith, but not to be pried into by reason. For, if reason set them open before our eyes, they would no longer be marvel- lous. But when the mind may chance to falter in these, it is needful that such things as it knows by custom, yet does not infer by reason, should be recalled to mind, that by the weight of a similar circumstance one may supply strength to the faith, which one finds to be undermined by one's own shrewdness. For, when the dust of the human flesh is thought on, the mind of some is shaken, and despairs of the time, when dust shall return to flesh, and through the linea- ments of the limbs form a body restored to life, when that dryness of earth shall flush into freshness through the living limbs, and fashion itself in distinct parts by the forms and shapes of them. This indeed can never be comprehended a ' fuisset,' Ben. as from the best Mss. A. B. C. L. M. Some also read ' qui' for but this must be a misprint for ' fecisset,' ' quae.' which we have in several Edd. and Mss.
3'26 The Resury^ection. Gift of Living Water, Job 5, by reason, yet it may be easily believed from example. For — -^ — '- who would imaoine that from a single ffrain of seed a huge tree would rise up, unless he had it as a certain fact by ex- perience } In that extreme minuteness of a single grain, and with next to no dissimilarity within itself, where is the hard- ness of the wood buried, and a pith either tender or hard compared with the wood, the roughness of the bark, the greenness of the root, the savour of the fruits, the sweetness of the scents, the variety of the colours, the softness of the leaves? Yet because we know this by experience, we do not doubt that all these spring from a single grain of seed. Where then is the difficulty that dust shall return into limbs, when we have every day before our eyes the power of the Creator, Who in a marvellous manner, even from a grain creates wood, and in a still more marvellous manner from the wood creates fruit? Which doeth great things and unsearcliahle; marvellous things without number. For the greatness of the Divine works can neither be made out in respect of kind and quality, nor reckoned in respect of quantity. Hence it is still further added, Ver. 10, 11. WJio givetli rain upon the face of the earth, and sendeth waters upon all things. TVho setteth up on high those that he low; and those which mourn He exalteth with safety.
xvi. 20. Forasmuch as we believe that the Mends of blessed ^^^' Job were enlightened by their intercourse with him, we must needs handle these words of Eliphaz in a mystical manner.
Thus Almighty God ' gives rain upon the earth,' when He waters the withered hearts of the Gentiles with the grace of heavenly preaching, and He * sendeth waters upon all things,' in that by the fulness of the Spirit He fashions the barrenness of lost man to fruitfulness; as * Truth' saj's by His own lips. Whosoever drinketli of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst. But by the title of the universe man is denoted, in that in him there is set forth a tnie likeness and a large participation in common with the universe. For every thing that is either is, yet does not live; or is and lives, yet does not feel; or is and lives and feels, yet neither understands nor discriminates; or is and lives and feels and understands and discriminates. For stones are, Man a little World. Meaning of every creature.'' 327 yet do not live. Trees both are and live, yet do not feel. Book For their verdure is called the life of herbs and of trees, as is declared by Paul concerning seeds, Thou fool! that which lo^ 36. thou sowest is not quickened except it die. Brute creatures both are and live and feel, yet do not understand. Angels both are and live and feel, and by understanding they exercise discernment. Man, then, in that he has it in common with stones to be, with trees to live, with animals to feel, with angels to discern, is rightly represented by the title of the ' universe,* in whom after some sort the ' universe' itself is contained. And hence ' the Truth' saith to His disciples. Go ye into all the uorld, and preach the Gospel to every creature. That is. He would have every creature to be taken for man only, in whom He created something common with all things.
21. Though in this place, ' all things' may be understood in another sense also. For the grace of the Holy Spirit in bringing the rich under its iniluence, does not keep back the poor; while it abases the strong, it does not forbid the weak to come to it; while it gathers together the noble, at the same time it lays hold of the base-bom; while it takes up the wise, it disdains not the foolishness of the unskilful. God, then, ' sendeth waters upon all things,' Who by the gift of the Holy Spirit calleth to the knowledge of Himself from every class of men.
22. Again it may be that by the designation of * all things,' the mere diversities of characters are set before us. For one is lifted up by pride, another is bent down by the weight of fear, one burns with lust, another pants with avarice, one lets himself sink from listlessness, another is fired with rage. But while, by the teaching of Holy Writ, humility is given to the proud man, confidence bestowed upon the fearful, the lustful cleansed from imparity by devotedness to chastity, the avaricious by moderation cooled from the heat of his covetous desires, the careless liver made erect by the uprightness of an earaest mind, the passionate man restrained from the hastiness of his headlong disposition, God * sendeth water upon all things,' for He adapts the power of His Word in each severally according to the diversity of their characters, that each may find in His revelation that, whereby he may 328 Manna contains all sweetness. The humble exalted, ^oB 5, yield the produce of the virtue that he needs. Hence it is jyj^yg^'- said by a wise man of the sweetness of manna, Thou didst Wisd. send them from heaven bread prepared without their labour, ' ' having in itself all deligltt, and (lie sweetness of every taste. For the manna contained in itself all manner of delight and the sweetness of every taste, for this reason, that in the mouth of the spiritual sort it yielded a taste, according to the eater's will, in that the Divine Word, being at the same time suited to all minds, yet never at variance with itself, condescends to the kind and character of its hearers; and whereas every elect person understands it with profit according to his own fashion, he as it were turns the manna he received into a taste at v.ill. And forasmuch as after the toils of good practice comes the glory of compensation, it is rightly subjoined after the sending of water, Who setleth up on high those that be lotv, and those which mourn He exalteth with safety.
23. • Those that be low are set on high,' in that they, who are now despised for the love of God, shall then come as judges along with God, as ' Truth' pledges this which we Matt^ have just named to the same humble ones, saying. Ye which ' ' have followed Me, in the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Then ' those that mourn the Lord exalts with safety,' in that they who, being inflamed with desire of Him, flee prosperity, endure crosses, undergo tortures at the hands of persecutors, chasten their own selves with grieving, are then vouchsafed a safety so much the more exalted, as they now from devout affection kill themselves to all the joys of the world. Hence Prov. it is that it is said by Solomon, TJte heart knoweth his own ' * soul's bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. For the human mind ' knoweth its own soul's bitterness,' when inflamed with aspirations after the eternal land, it learns by wee])ing the sorrowfulness of its pilgrimage.
But the ' stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy,' in that he, that is now a stranger to the grief of compunction, is not then a partaker in the joy of consolation. Hence it is that Johnio/ Truth' saith in the Gospel, Verily, verily I say unto you, ^^' that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; Love of Eternal things sets men above temporal. 329 and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned Book into joy. And again, And ye therefore now have sorrow, but — I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your 22. joy no man taketh from you. The Lord, then, is said ' to exalt with safety those which mourn,' in that to all, who for His sake are stricken with gi'ief in time, He vouchsafes true salvation for their comfort. But at the same time nothing hinders but that this may be understood of God's Elect even in this life.
•24. For those that be ' low are set on high,' in that when they abase themselves in humility, they mount above all sublunary things in the discernment of a lofty mind. And, while they reckon themselves to be worthless in all things, by the discriminating view of a right mind, they surmount and trample upon the glory of this world. Let us look at lowly Paul. Mark how he says to his disciples. For we preach not 2 Cor. ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your ^' ^* servants for Christ's sake. Let us see this ' humble man set up on high.' He says, K?iow ye not that we shall judge 1 Cor. Angels^ and again. And hath raised us together, and made^^h^ 2 us sit together in heavenly places. Perchance at that moment ^• the chain vvas holding him outwardly fast bound. Yet he had been ' set on high' within, who, by the certainty of his hope, was already sitting in heavenly places. Holy men then are objects of scorn without, and as unworthy persons have every indignity put upon them, yet in sure confidence that they are meet for the heavenly realms, they look with certainty for the glory of the Eternal world. And when they are hard pressed without in the assaults of persecution, they fall back within into the fortified stronghold of their mind; and thence they look down upon all things passing far below them, and amongst them they see passing even themselves as in the body. They dread no threats, for even tortures they so endure as to set them at nought. For it is hence that it is said by Solomon, But (he righteous shall be Prov. bold as a lion. Hence it is written again by the same, The^p' ^' righteous man shall not be grieved by any thing that shall^'^i'^^' happen to him. For because all the righteous are seated on the lofty height of their purposed mind, whereas in dying they are not sensible of death, it is so in a marvellous 330 The proud and fierce brought down.
Job 5, manner, that the missiles of the reprobate at the same time — ^ — ^both strike them, and do not reach them. Those then that are ' low are set up on high,' in that from the veiy cir- cumstance that they despise themselves in all things, they are rendered the more secure against them all.
25. Contrary to which it is rightly delivered by the Prophet Is. 47, to the lost soul under the likeness of Babylon, Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Bahtjlon, sit on the ground; there is no throne for the daughter of the Chal- deans. For here I think the human mind is called a virgin, not as undefiled, but as unproductive. And forasmuch as Babylon is rendered ' confusion,' the barren soul is rightly named the daughter of Babglon, who, in that she never puts forth good works, whilst she is framed on no method of a right life, is as it were engendered of the parentage of confusion. But if she is called a virgin not as being barren but un- defiled, after that she is fallen from the state of saving health, it is only to the increase of her ' confusion' that she is called that which she once was. And it is fitly that the Divine voice, in rebuking her, saith to her. Come down; for the human mind is stationed on high, when it covets the rewards above; but it ' comes down' from this station, when being overcome it yields itself cowardly to decaying worldly desires. And it is immediately subjoined to her with justice, And sit in the dust. For ' coming down she sits in the dust,' in that quitting heavenly scenes, she grovels in the very lowest'', being stained with earthly imaginations. And here it is yet further added by way of repetition, Sit on the ground. As if in uttering reproaches he said in plain words, ' Because thou refusedst to lift thyself by a heavenly con- versation, laid prostrate beneath thyself, be degraded in earthly courses.' And hence it is forthwith added by a necessary consequence. There is no throne for the daughter (f the Chaldeans. For the Chaldeans are translated * fierce.' And they are very fierce, who, pursuing their own wills, refuse to spare even their own lives. J^^arthly desires are ' fierce,' which render the mind hard and insensible not only to the precepts of the Creator, but also to the blows of ^ Ben. ' infinnis/ but this must be, for ' infimis/ the reading of 3 Edd. and as the Translator suggests, a mistake Mss. A. B. C.H. L. M.
The loorldly left to self-chosen hand service. 331 stripes. But the * daughter of the fierce ones has no throne,' Book in that the mind that is born to the love of the world by — bad desires, and is by those same desires rendered obdurate, herein that she yields herself to earthly concupiscence, parts with the seat of judgment, and she sits as mistress upon no throne within her, in that she lacks the balance of discern- ment, and is withheld from the sitting of her judgment, because she ranges abroad among external lusts. For it is clear that that mind, which has lost the seat of counsel with- in, in a thousand ways dissipates itself without in desires. And because it shut the eyes to doing what it understands, it is deservedly blinded, so as not even to know what it does; and oftentimes by a deserved visitation it is left in its own will, and is set loose under those verv toilsome services of the world, which it pants after with solicitude. Hence it is fitly added in that place. For thou shalt no more be called tender is. 27, and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal. It is ' well known that parents spare their tender daughter, nor charge her with hard and servile employments. So Almighty God as it were calls a daughter tender when He recalls the well-beloved soul of each person from the wearisome services of this world, that, whilst it is charged with external works,