Job — Chapter 31

Pepigi foedus cum oculis meis

On the covenant with the eyes: "I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?" Corderius treats this verse as one of the most remarkable statements on chastity in the Old Testament, which he relates to the teaching of Christ in Matt. 5:28 on lust in the heart. Job speaks of the eyes as if they were enemies with which he had to make a formal treaty: the covenant restrains them from wandering to forbidden objects. Corderius cites Gregory (Moral. XXI.2): "Job made a covenant with his eyes because he feared the inward enemy within the eyes — for through the window of the eyes death enters the soul." The order of sin typically proceeds from gaze to desire to consent to act: hence vigilance over the eyes is the first bulwark of chastity. Corderius notes the strength of the expression "federavi" (I covenanted): not merely resolved or promised, but made a formal binding pact — showing the seriousness of the commitment.

Si contempsi subire judicium cum servo

On equality before God regardless of social status: "If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me — what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one God fashion us in the womb?" Corderius develops the natural-law basis of human equality: God created both master and servant; the same divine artistry formed them in their respective wombs; the same divine image is stamped on both. Therefore no master can justly dismiss the complaints of slaves without hearing them. This is read as prophetic of the Christian doctrine of the fundamental equality of all human persons before God, and as a refutation of any theory of natural slavery. He cites Chrysostom (Hom. in 1 Cor. 22) and Basil on the dignity of every human person as bearer of the divine image.

Si negavi quod volebant pauperibus

On Job's covenant of social justice: "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it — for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow — if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without covering... then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket." Corderius develops an extensive theology of the obligations of wealth toward the poor. He draws on Ambrose (De Nabuthe Jezraelita), Basil (Hom. in illud "Destruam horrea"), and Chrysostom on the social function of wealth: surplus wealth is not the owner's private property but a divinely-given trust for the benefit of the poor. Job's extraordinary claim — that from his mother's womb he guided the widow, that the fatherless grew up with him as with a father — points to a character of extraordinary generosity formed from the beginning of moral life. Corderius uses this to argue against a minimalist view of charity and toward an understanding of social solidarity as a primary moral obligation.

Si putavi aurum robur meum

On the sins against true religion — covetousness and sun-worship: "If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant, or because my hand had gotten much; if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand — this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above." Corderius first treats the sin of avarice (vv. 24-25) as idolatry: making gold one's trust is a practical denial of dependence on God — the avaricious man has, as Paul says, made money his god (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). On vv. 26-28: Job denies having worshiped the heavenly bodies. Corderius gives historical context: sun and moon worship was prevalent in the ancient East (the Sabeans, Chaldeans, Egyptians). Job explicitly repudiates this as "the greatest iniquity, a crime to be judged" — that is, idolatry, which under the Mosaic law warranted capital punishment. Job's declaration is thus a public profession of monotheism.

Si adversum me terra mea clamat

On Job's declaration of innocence regarding his land and laborers: "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; if I have eaten its yield without payment, and made its owners breathe their last; let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." Corderius treats this final self-imprecation (vv. 38-40) as completing Job's comprehensive moral accounting. The land itself could be a witness against oppression: if Job had seized land unjustly or failed to pay his workers, let the earth itself produce curses. He cites Gregory (Moral. XXI.41): the righteous man is bound to justice not only toward persons but toward the created order entrusted to him. The use of land is a moral trust; its misuse will cry to heaven. Corderius notes this as an early statement of what later moral theology would call distributive justice and the social function of property. The entire chapter (31) is a remarkable moral autobiography: Job's testimony covers sexual purity, truthfulness, justice to servants and dependents, charity to the poor, non-idolatry of wealth, non-worship of celestial bodies, non-malice toward enemies, hospitality to strangers, and integrity of conscience.