Job — Chapter 2

Factum est autem cum quadam

On the second heavenly assembly and Satan's renewed accusation: This second heavenly assembly, at which Satan again appears, is here expounded. Corderius notes that what interval of time passed between the first and this assembly cannot be determined from Scripture, so those who speculate about it from Satan's nature or from various congruences rest on no solid foundation. What is certain is that the demon, though defeated in the first battle, presumed to renew the combat. On this Corderius cites B. Macarius (Hom. 97), Fulgentius, Cyprian (Ep. 6): "The stronger a man is, the more fiercely he is attacked; and having been made fiercer by his very defeat, he attempts to overcome the one who overcame him." Tertullian noted: "He most greatly rages when the man feels himself most fully freed." Hence it is rash and imprudent to lay down one's arms after a single or double victory, since this sworn enemy of our soul never sleeps, never rests, is not broken by our victory but rather inflamed, becoming more cruel; and if he temporarily suspends the battle it is by craft, to attack us off guard.

Cumque rursus adfuissent filii Dei

On the second heavenly assembly and the persistence of divine commendation: "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason." Corderius gives extended attention to the phrase "without reason" (sine causa): God explicitly declares that Job's first trial was not a punishment for sin but a purposeful testing initiated at Satan's provocation. This divine statement definitively rules out the theodicy of the three friends — they are wrong; Job is innocent; his suffering has a non-retributive explanation. Corderius notes that this divine judgment, given to the reader but not to the protagonists of the drama, is what makes the book of Job theologically unique: we read the entire drama knowing what the characters do not know. This dramatic irony is a figure of divine Providence itself: God knows the full story while the human actors know only their fragment.

Pellem pro pelle et cuncta

On the proverb "skin for skin" (pellem pro pelle): Satan's argument that a man will give all he has to save his life. This became a proverbial saying among the Hebrews. Corderius notes various interpretations: (1) that a man will give one skin (one person) in exchange for another skin (another person) — meaning Job mourned others' deaths less than his own suffering; (2) that a man protects the outer skin (body parts) to save the inner vital skin; (3) the simplest: that a man will sacrifice anything for his own life. Corderius prefers the last reading, with Gregory: the meaning is that all exterior goods, once removed, leave the self-preservation instinct, and a man will trade health and all outward goods to preserve his bodily life. God's permission (v. 6): "Behold, he is in your hand; but spare his life (animam ejus serva)" — God sets the absolute limit: Satan may attack the body but not take the life. This divine limitation is itself an act of providential care: even in the midst of permission, God's protecting hand defines the boundary.

Dixit ergo Dominus ad Satan ecce

On the divine permission and the extent of Job's afflictions: "And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." Corderius develops the theology of divine permission: God never wills evil directly, but permits it for greater good — in Job's case, to manifest to all creation (angels, demons, humans) the reality of disinterested virtue. He draws on Augustine (De Civitate Dei XI.17) on the ordering of evil to good. On the disease: "So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." The universality of the affliction — from foot to crown — indicates totality: no part of the body is exempt. Corderius lists the symptoms described in the text (ch. 2:7-8, 7:4-5, 30:17-18) and follows the medical opinion of Origen and Augustine that this was elephantiasis or a severe form of leprosy. The dunghill on which Job sits is read by Corderius as both a historical detail and an allegorical statement: the man who once sat in the place of honor at the city gate now sits amid refuse, yet maintains the dignity of a king.

Egressus igitur Satan a facie

On Satan striking Job with terrible ulcers from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, and Job sitting in a dunghill scraping his sores with a potsherd: Corderius identifies the disease as elephantiasis or perhaps a form of leprosy, and cites Origen, Chrysostom, and Gregory. The dunghill (sterquilinium) is treated symbolically by Gregory (Moral. III) as signifying humility and contempt of the world: Job, who had sat in judgment at the city gates and been honored by princes, now sits on the rubbish heap, illustrating the total reversal of worldly fortune that must accompany perfect patience. The potsherd with which he scraped the putrid matter is interpreted by many Fathers as a figure of penance — scraping away the corruption of vice. Chrysostom especially (Hom. 1 De Patientia Job) marvels that amid such physical horror Job maintained interior tranquility, which is far more difficult than physical endurance.

Dixit autem illi uxor sua

On the words of Job's wife ("Dost thou still remain in thy simplicity? bless God and die") and Job's response: Corderius follows Chrysostom, Augustine, and Gregory in their severe judgment of Job's wife. The LXX has a much longer speech attributed to her, describing her own degradation and toil. Most interpreters hold she was used by Satan as an instrument, since Satan, who was prohibited from touching Job's soul, worked through the nearest person to undermine his patience. Gregory (Moral. III.16) calls her the "devil's assistant" (adjutrix diaboli). Corderius notes that the imperative "bless God" (benedic Deo) is here a euphemism for cursing — just as the Vulgate uses "bless" where Hebrew custom recoiled from writing "curse" before the divine name. On Job's reply (v. 10): "Thou hast spoken as one of the foolish women speaks. If we have received good things from the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?" — Corderius praises this response as a model of perfect equanimity: Job neither condemns his wife harshly nor yields to her suggestion; he merely corrects her and enunciates the principle of total submission to divine Providence. "In all these things Job did not sin with his lips" — his lips, tongue, and heart remained clean even amid his wife's provocation.

Igitur audientes tres amici

On the arrival of the three friends and their seven days of silent mourning: Eliphaz the Temanite, Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite came, each from his own place, agreeing together to come to visit and console him. When they lifted up their eyes from afar and did not recognize him, they wept and tore their garments and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. Then they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw his grief was very great. Corderius notes this gesture of silent solidarity as a form of true consolation: presence without words. He cites Gregory (Moral. III.27) and Chrysostom praising this initial conduct of the friends, which was more apt than their subsequent speech. The seven days and nights of silence correspond to the traditional mourning period (cf. Gen. 50:10); their sitting on the earth is a posture of lamentation. Corderius allegorizes: the three friends represent those who approach afflicted souls with good intentions but then speak imprudently, while Job represents the patient soul who must endure not only the external afflictions of God but also the misguided consolations of friends.