35. MORAL.

19.

86

Inward parts of the body put for the mind.

JOB 15, saith, My bowels! my bowels! I am pained. Who, that he might shew what he had called his belly, added, the senses Jer. 4, of my heart are troubled. So by the title of the womb the mind is rightly understood, in that like as the offspring is conceived in the womb, so is thought engendered in the mind. And as meats are contained in the belly, so are thoughts in the mind; and so the womb' of the hypocrite 'prepares deceits,' in that he is ever conceiving in his mind the greater wickedness against his neighbours, in proportion as he aims to appear by himself above all men innocent. Eliphaz therefore put forward these things, in that he looked upon blessed Job as stricken with that great scourge on account of his hypocrisy. But his words, though they apply to many, are at odds with him alone, for whom alone they were said, in that the holy man had nought of double-dealing in his conduct, whom Truth being witness to him praised for the singleness of his heart.

BOOK XIII.

Wherein is contained a short exposition, moral and typical, of the sixteenth and seventeenth chapters of the book of Job.

ALLEG.

1. THIS is found to be a peculiar way with the wicked, HIST. viz. to urge their own bad points slanderously against the i. good, before they are themselves truly accused of them; and while they dread to be reproached for the things which they do, they testify that the righteous who withstand their wickednesses commit the same. Now holy men hear with forbearance, even what they never remember to have done, although those wrong things which they see to be urged against themselves, they know to be committed by their very accusers; and when they cannot correct them by preaching, they suffer them by submitting to the evil, that if they cannot attain the fruit of their conversion, they may at least win by those very persons the reward of long endurance. Hence Holy Church says in the words of the Prophet David, Sinners have plowed Ps. 129, upon my back, in that whilst she puts up with heretics, or lost persons of any kind, whom she is not able to correct, she bears upon her back the deeds of those that commit iniquity. Thus blessed Job, seeing Eliphaz his friend making much complaint against him out of hypocrisy, in that from words of comfort he had broken out into bitterness of upbraiding, and shewed himself a feigned comforter, does by his own patience maintain a type of the Church, which is wont to endure such things in hearing them, and when her discourse is received, by reasoning to bring them to nought; and he says,

Ver. 2. I have heard many such things.

3.

2. For the Elect often hear the wrong things of others, ii. as if they belonged to themselves, and guilt is charged upon

88 The Elect falsely charged. Good things wrongly said.

JOB 16, them by those, by whom the charges so fastened on them are 2. done. Now by this reply, blessed Job denotes that season ALLEG. of the Church, when, under oppression from her adversaries,

HIST.

iii.

iv.

she is looked upon as cast to the ground by their temporal power. Whence it follows; burthensome comforters are ye all. Whether they be heretics, or whether any of the wicked, when they see the good travailing in adversity, herein that they aim to console them, they endeavour to prompt wrong things to their minds. Whence not without reason their consoling is rendered burthensome to the mind of good men, in that amongst words of sweetness, they are bent to proffer the poison of error, and whilst in seeming they lighten their griefs by soothing words, they are in haste to put upon them a load of sin. But Elect persons, even when they are bereft of temporal glory, do not lose the forcibleness of interior judgment. For they are taught both to endure crosses without, and yet unimpaired within to uphold what is right without being daunted. Whence it is added,

Ver. 3. Shall windy words have an end?

3. For those are windy words,' which serve the end of temporal inflating, rather than the end of righteousness. Now oftentimes the wicked speak even good things, but because they do not say them well, they are putting forth windy words:' for their words, even if they be at any time sound in the sentence, are yet blown out in self-elation. But in this that is said, viz. burthensome comforters are ye all; what else are we taught by the tutorage of blessed Job, but that every one should learn to look to it heedfully, that in the season of sorrow he never urge words of upbraiding? For if there be some points which might be justly found fault with in time of distress, they ought to be put aside, lest the comforter by rebuking heighten the sorrow, which he had it in view to alleviate. It goes on;

Or is there any thing troublesome to thee, if thou speakest?

4. When bad men utter abusive words to those that are like to themselves, they are the more quickly silenced, in proportion as they in a moment hear concerning themselves the like to what they say to their hearers. But when they assail good men by words of contumely, nought of annoyance

Job's wish for his friends to be like him, a kind one. 89

XIII.

is occasioned them by their abuse, in that they speak Book against those that hold their peace, nor are made to hear what they are, seeing that the righteous never return abuse, even when they are made to hear what they are not. And so it is well said, Or is there any thing troublesome to thee if thou speakest? As if it were said in plain words to him; 'Thou speakest the more, that thou hearest not from me any thing unpleasant concerning thy conduct.' Hence it is added, I also could speak as ye do. The just man tells what he had the power to do, but lest he should depart from righteousness, he forbears what he might have done. It goes

on;

Ver. 4-6. And that your soul were for my soul! I too would comfort you with speeches, and move my head over you: I would strengthen you with my mouth, and move my lips as if sparing you.

5. It is sometimes necessary that wicked minds, which V. are incapable of being corrected by man's preaching, should have the strokes of God wished for them, in a spirit of kindness; and while this is done with great earnestness of love, then plainly not the punishment but the correction of the guilty person is the thing aimed at, and it is shewn to be a prayer rather than a curse. And in these words blessed Job is shewn to aim at this, that the friends, who knew not how to sympathize in his grief through charity, might learn by experience how they ought to have pitied the affliction of another, and being subdued by griefs might draw from their own suffering, how to minister consolation to others, and then live the more healthfully within, when they are made sensible of something of frailty without. Observe that he does not say, O that my soul were for your soul; but, O that your soul were for my soul; in that he would have been cursing himself, if he bad wished himself to be made like to them; but it was for them he wished better things, in that he sought they should be made like to himself. Now we' comfort' bad men, placed under the rod, when we point out that by the exterior infliction the interior health is established within them. Moreover, we move our head,' when the mind, which is our leading part, we bend to sympathy; and we strengthen' these in the midst of strokes of

90 The Preacher's care in rebuking divers characters.

JOB 16, affliction, when we soothe the force of their grief with gentle 4-6. words; for there are some persons, who, forasmuch as they ALLEG. know nothing of the things of the interior, are overwhelmed

HIST.

with despair by external afflictions; of whom it is said by the Ps. 140, Psalmist, They shall not hold up in afflictions; for he is well instructed to hold up in outward afflictions, who knows how to exult always in the hope that belongs to the interior.

10.

6. But whereas he says, not, 'sparing,' but, as if sparing you; I think that this point ought not to be passed by carelessly, in that Holy Church, while keeping vigorousness of discipline together with an union of gentleness, sometimes even while as if sparing,' is far from sparing the wicked, but sometimes, when as if not sparing' does spare them; which we shall exhibit the more effectually, if we bring forward the very things themselves which are not unfrequently happening. So then let us place before the eyes of the imagination, two bad men set within the pale of Holy Church, of whom let the one be powerful and insolent, and the other mild and under government. If a fault has stolen upon the one that is gentle and under government, the preacher directly by rebuking the thing follows hard upon him, and corrects him; and by correcting frees him from guilt, and resets him again in the way of righteousness. What did he then to this man, but spare in sparing not? in that, forasmuch as he did not hold back the word of correction, he the more speedily set him free from sin. For in freely charging him home, he did not spare him; but in this respect, that he rebuked him, he did spare him. But on the other hand, the powerful and insolent man, when he is discovered to have been guilty of any thing, there is an opportunity sought, in order that he may be rebuked for the evil he has committed. For except the preacher wait till such time as he may be able to bear correction in a proper way, he increases in him the evil that he is prosecuting. For it is very often the case that he is of such a character as to receive no words of rebuke. What then is the preacher to do in the case of the sin of this person, but that in the charge of admonition, which he makes for the general well-being of all his hearers, he should bring forward such faults, as he sees that he has been guilty of, who is by, and cannot as yet be charged on his own account individually,