Why does the author describe the angels in the act of presenting themselves daily before the Lord? He does so that we might learn no actual event is overlooked by God’s providence, and that the angels report what happens every day. Every day they are sent to settle some question, even though we ignore all this. That is the reason why they were created; that is their task, as the blessed Paul says, They are sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.^[1] And the devil, the text says, also came among them. You know why the angels are present. But why is the devil present? The latter is present to tempt Job; the former, in order to regulate our matters. Why is the devil questioned again before the angels themselves? Because he had said before them, He will curse you to your face. What a shameless nature! He has dared come back!

How could it be that the Lord says to Satan, You incited me against him? especially if we assume that blessed Job is an anticipation of the Redeemer in his passion? Truly the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, came to bear the scourges of our mortal nature that he might put away the sins of our disobedience. But, seeing that he is of one and the selfsame nature with the Father, how does the Father declare that he was moved by Satan against him, when it is acknowledged that no inequality of power, no diversity of will, interrupts the harmony between the Father and the Son? Yet he who is equal to the Father by the divine nature came for our sakes to be flogged in his human nature. He would have never endured these stripes if he had not taken the form of accursed human beings in the work of their redemption. And unless the first man had transgressed, the second would never have come to the humiliation and disgrace of the passion. When Satan moved the first man from the Lord, then the Lord was moved against the second Man. And so, Satan then moved the Lord to the affliction of this second Man, when the sin of disobedience brought down the first man from the height of uprightness. For if the devil had not drawn the first Adam by willful sin into the death of the soul, the second Adam, being without sin, would have never come to the voluntary death of the flesh.

Since the devil had seen that at the first attack of temptation the stability of the holy man had not tumbled down, the devil came again before God, and by claiming that the temptation was not serious enough, he asserted that Job had now to be tested. The test would focus on Job’s own person, rather than his external circumstances. In fact, Satan supposed that Job had suffered the loss of his goods by hiding under a false appearance, according to the custom of all other people. Job did so to avoid the danger spiteful words against God would pose to his salvation. Humans typically drive away the greatest losses by suffering smaller damages. Often, by opposing the hand, we ward off a vital danger to the head.

Only spare his soul. God does not say this as if he wanted to prevent the devil from snatching Job’s life away, but he says spare him. That is, be careful not to destroy the natural state of Job’s mind and reason. So God arranged things in order that the devil, being convinced by the evidence of the facts, might acknowledge that Job, even though he was pressed by so many afflictions, could never be brought to blasphemy.

The Lord allows even this for our best, so that Job should be presented as an expression and image of perseverance—like a marked pillar—and that he may be for his contemporaries and his successors an example of such virtue. Indeed, this did happen. From the fighter and athlete himself one can hear the words, I know that I shall be vindicated.^[1] When the Lord surrendered him, he said, Only spare his life. This phrase can be understood in the following way: often we see madness and confusion of mind in people. God alone, who knows the hidden, knows the reasons why these people have been surrendered [to testing] in such a way. What the Lord, therefore, wants to say is this: Do not numb or confuse Job’s mind. You may have what you demanded. Touch his flesh and bones. Consider whether Only spare his life might mean, Do not kill him! ^[2] NATURE OF JOB’S DISEASE. ISHO‘DAD OF MERV: Job’s disease is elephantiasis. When it strikes someone, his whole body putrefies, his flesh melts away, the features of his face decompose, his nostrils disappear, and a filthy, sour and corrosive pus constantly oozes from his body. [Job] inspires horror and disgust not only in his neighbors but in himself as well. ^[1] JOB IS A SPECTACLE TO THE WORLD. ISHO‘DAD OF MERV: God made Job sit outside the town in order to present him as a spectacle to the world,^[1] so that afterwards no one might refuse to believe that it was him who had endured such tribulations. In the course of time, the visitors of that place might gain a profit from the experience of seeing Job. For the same reason our Lord left Lazarus in the grave for four days, so that his body might give a bad odor. After smelling his body, no one could refuse to believe in Lazarus’s resurrection. ^[2]

Now, since the betrayer had been defeated in every battle, had failed in all his attempts, had been hindered in all his hunts, had been deprived of all his schemes, and all his traps had been broken, after destroying Job’s wealth, after the death of his numerous children, after ripping Job’s body with his blows, as a last, and in the betrayer’s opinion, most compelling resource, he leads his wife against Job.

This text means that if we actually experienced only misfortunes, we would still need to bear them. God is Master and Lord. Does he not possess the power to send us anything? Why did God provide us with our goods? He did not do so because we deserved them. God was absolutely free to send us only afflictions. If he has also granted us goods, why do we complain? Notice how [Job] does not speak anywhere about faults or good actions but only says that God has the power to do whatever he wants. Recall your former happiness, and you will have no problem in bearing the present difficulties. It is sufficient, as our consolation, to know that it is the Lord who sends them to us. Let us not speak about justice and injustice.

In the meantime, while the friends investigated Job’s case and made preparations for their journey, there is no doubt that many days passed. They were all lords and men of princely rank. Job’s three friends signified the class of the high priests, the priests and the prophets, who flourished among the Jews. And Job’s seven sons represented the priests of the church, the apostles, the prophets, and those people endowed with the gift of miracles and healing, the assistants of the moderators, the presbyters and the deacons.

Job’s friends came to do both things, since he had suffered both. On the one hand, Job’s possessions and his children were taken from him, and on the other hand his entire body was covered with leprosy. They arrived together at Job’s place. Their simultaneous arrival was either due to their great zeal or because they who lived in different places had agreed to meet. They wanted to arrive together to comfort him. They realized that the evil had not yet ceased but was active at that time.

If the heart feels true sorrow, the vices cannot speak against it. And when one genuinely seeks an upright life, it is fruitless to prompt that person to do evil. But frequently, if we vigorously brace ourselves against the incitements of evil habits, we transform even those very evil habits into virtue. For some people are possessed by anger. Yet if they bring their anger under reason’s influence, it is transformed into service rendered to holy zeal. Some are lifted up by pride. But when they bow the mind before the fear of God, pride is transformed into a free and unfettered authority for the defense of justice. Physical strength is a snare to some. Yet when we control our physical strength through the practice of works of mercy, we purchase pity’s gains and are freed from the prompting of wickedness.