Job — Chapter 29

Addidit quoque Job assumens parabolam

On Job's recollection of former prosperity: "O that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when God's friendship was upon my tent." Corderius uses Euripides' lines (cited in Greek) to introduce the poignancy of remembered happiness: "He who has passed from prosperity to adversity finds the change hardest to bear; but he who has always been in misery makes it his habit." Job's recollection of his past glory serves not as mere nostalgia but as evidence: the magnitude of what he has lost proves the greatness of his former virtue, since such blessings are given to the righteous. On "the lamp of God shone upon my head" — Corderius develops the imagery of divine illumination: the just man walks in the light of divine favor, enlightened interiorly, guided in his judgments, secure in his conscience. This is the mystical life of grace.

Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro

On the pastoral and political authority of the righteous: "When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me; when I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square — the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth." Corderius reads this as a description of the authority that genuine virtue confers in the social order. Job's authority was not merely political (he was a great prince) but moral: his wisdom was recognized by the young, the aged, and the powerful alike. This authority was itself a gift of God — indicated by the butter and oil flowing abundantly (symbols of divine blessing and anointing). He cites Gregory (Moral. XIX.11) on the social function of the righteous man: his very presence exercises a salutary influence, his silence is eloquent, his appearance inspires the young to recollection and the old to rise in respect.

Quia liberassem pauperem vociferantem

On Job's works of mercy: "Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth." Corderius develops an extended moral theology of social justice based on these verses. Job's deeds correspond closely to the corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked (earlier mentioned in ch. 31), caring for orphans and widows. On "I was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame": the righteous man extends his own sensory and locomotive faculties to those who lack them — a beautiful image of the social body in which the strong supply the deficiencies of the weak. On "I broke the fangs of the unrighteous": the just man has a duty of active resistance to oppression, not merely passive avoidance of sin.

Dicebamque In nidulo meo moriar

On Job's former confidence in the continuity of his blessings: "Then I thought: I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand; my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches." (vv. 18-19). Corderius notes the pathos: the most settled confidence in earthly security can be destroyed overnight. He reads this not as complacency but as legitimate enjoyment of God's gifts: Job was grateful for his blessings and confident in their divine source. On vv. 21-25: Job's description of his former authority and wisdom — people waited for him as for the spring rain; his words were final; he sat as their chief, choosing their way; he was as a king in the army, yet a comforter to mourners. Corderius sees here the ideal of temporal authority: power exercised not for self-glorification but as a father to the poor, as an eye for the blind, as a foot for the lame (v. 15) — authority in service of the weak, which is the proper form of every legitimate political and social power.