^1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, named Job, and that man was simple and upright, fearing God and withdrawing from evil.
^1:2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
^1:3 And his possession was seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, also five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-donkeys, and a very numerous household. And that man was great among all the people of the East.
^1:4 And his sons would go and hold feasts in their houses, each one on his day; and, sending, they would call their three sisters to eat and drink wine with them.
^1:5 And when the days of feasting had gone round in their cycle, Job would send to them and sanctify them; and, rising at dawn, he would offer holocausts for each one. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned and blessed God in their hearts. Thus Job would do on all days.

1. There was a man in the land of Uz, etc. Since, as has been said, the whole intention of this book is ordered to showing how human affairs are governed by divine providence, there is set forth beforehand, as the foundation of the whole disputation, a certain history in which the manifold affliction of a certain just man is recounted: for this is what especially seems to exclude divine providence from human affairs.

Therefore, first the person of this man is described, both as to sex when it is said, There was a man: for this sex is found stronger for enduring hardships; and he is described also as to his homeland when it is said, in the land of Uz, which is in the regions of the East, and as to his name when it is said, named Job. And these two seem to have been set down to intimate that what is said is not a parable but an event that took place.

2. And lest anyone should believe that the adversities introduced afterward befell this man on account of his sins, next his virtue is described, through which he is shown to be free from sins. Indeed, it must be known that a man sins in three ways: for there are certain sins by which one sins against neighbor, such as homicides, adulteries, thefts, and other things of this kind; certain sins by which one sins against God, such as perjury, sacrilege, blasphemy, and the like; and certain sins by which each one sins against himself, according to that saying of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 6:18, whoever fornicates, sins against his own body. Now one sins against neighbor in two ways: secretly by deceit, and openly by violence. But this man did not circumvent his neighbor by deceit; hence it is said, and that man was simple: for simplicity is properly opposed to deceitfulness. He inflicted violence on no one, for there follows, and upright: for uprightness properly pertains to justice, which consists in equality, according to that saying of Isaiah 26:7, The path of the just is upright; upright is the way of the just for walking. But that he did not sin against God is shown openly by what is added, and fearing God, in which reverence toward God is designated. That he also did not sin against himself is shown in what is added, and withdrawing from evil, because he hated evil for its own sake, not only on account of harm to neighbor or offense against God.

3. Therefore, after the person and virtue of this man have been described, his prosperity is next shown, so that from the preceding prosperity the adversity that follows may be judged the more grave, and at the same time also to show that, according to the first intention of God, goods are always bestowed upon the just, not only spiritual goods but also temporal ones; but that the just are sometimes oppressed by adversities happens on account of some special cause. Hence also from the beginning man was so established that he would be subject to no disturbances if he had remained in innocence. Now the beginning of temporal prosperity, after the good condition of one’s own person, consists in persons joined to one, and especially in children, who in a certain way are something of their parents. Therefore his prosperity is first described as to the fruitfulness of his offspring, when it is said, And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. Fittingly, a more numerous multitude of males than of females is set down, because parents are accustomed to desire sons more than daughters, both because what is more perfect is more desirable, and males are compared to females as the perfect to the imperfect, and because sons rather than daughters are accustomed to be of greater help to parents in carrying out affairs.

4. Then his prosperity is shown as to the multitude of his riches, and especially in animals: for near the beginning of the human race, because of the small number of men, possession of fields was not so precious as that of animals, and especially in the regions of the East, where even to this day there are few inhabitants in comparison with the breadth of the region. Now among animals, first are placed those that chiefly serve for the food and clothing of a person, namely sheep; hence it is said, and his possession was seven thousand sheep. Second are placed those that chiefly serve for carrying burdens, namely camels, and this is what is added, and three thousand camels. Third are placed those that serve for the cultivation of fields, and this is what is added, also five hundred yoke of oxen. Fourth are placed the animals that men use for transportation, whence there follows, and five hundred she-donkeys, from which mules are generated, on which the ancients especially rode. But under these four kinds of animals all others that serve the same uses are comprehended; for example, under sheep, all things necessary for food and clothing, and so with the rest. And because men possessing many riches need a multitude of servants to govern them, it is fittingly added, and a very numerous household. Next his prosperity is set down as to honor and fame, which was diffused far and wide; and this is what is said: And that man was great among all the people of the East, that is, honored and famous.

5. For the greater commendation of Job himself, next the discipline of his household is described, which was free from those vices that wealth is wont to beget. For very often an abundance of riches brings forth discord; hence it is read in Genesis that Abraham and Lot could not dwell together, in order to avoid the quarrel that arose from the abundance of their possessions. Frequently also, people possessing many things, while they love immoderately the things they possess, make use of them too tenaciously; hence it is said in Ecclesiastes 6:1, There is also another evil that I have seen under the sun, and indeed frequent among men: a man to whom God has given riches and substance and honor, and nothing is lacking to his soul out of all the things that he desires; yet God has not granted him power to eat from it. Therefore the house of blessed Job was free from these evils: for there was concord there, and a joyful and equitable frugality, which is signified when it is said, And his sons would go and hold feasts in their houses, each one on his day. But this charity and concord existed not only among the brothers, but extended even to the sisters, who are frequently looked down upon by brothers because of the pride that wealth very often begets; hence it is added, and, sending, they would call their three sisters to eat and drink wine with them. At the same time, by this is also designated the assurance that was had concerning the chastity of the daughters; otherwise they should not have been led about but kept enclosed, according to that saying of the wise man in Sirach 26:13, In a daughter who does not turn herself away, keep firm guard, lest, having found an occasion, she misuse herself.

6. Now just as frugality and concord flourished in the house of Job, so in Job himself there flourished a holy solicitude for purity, which riches frequently overwhelm or even diminish, according to that saying of Deuteronomy: The beloved grew fat and kicked, and later there follows, he abandoned God his Maker, etc. And indeed he was so solicitous about his own purity that he was wholly far removed from those things that could defile him: for it was said above that he was fearing God and withdrawing from evil. But he was also especially solicitous about the purity of his children. Indeed, he permitted them to hold feasts, indulging their age: for certain things are tolerated in the young that are blameworthy in persons of gravity. And because at feasts men can scarcely or never avoid offending either through foolish merriment, or through disordered talkativeness, or even through immoderate use of food, he provided the remedy of purification for the children whom he did not keep from feasts; hence it is said, And when the days of feasting had gone round in their cycle, Job would send to them and sanctify them.

Now the days of feasting are said to go round in their cycle because, since there were seven sons and each one held a feast on his own day, such feasts were completed in order through all the days of the week; afterwards, as though circularly or in a cycle, just as in the days of the week, so also in the feasts, there was a return to the beginning. But it should be noted that although Job indulged his children so that they might hold feasts, nevertheless he himself, preserving his own gravity, did not mingle in their feasts: hence it is said that he would send to them, not that he himself would go to them. Now the manner of sanctification by which he sanctified them through an intermediary can be understood in two ways: either because he had them instructed with salutary admonitions, so that, if they had committed any fault at the feasts, they might amend it; or also because they had some rite of expiation by which faults of this kind were expiated, just as sacrifices also existed even before the Law was given, as did the offering of firstfruits and tithes.

7. But at feasts men sometimes not only incur impurity in the aforesaid ways, but are also plunged into graver sins, even to contempt of God, because through wantonness reason is absorbed and drawn away from divine reverence, as is said in Exodus: The people sat down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play, that is, to fornicate or to sacrifice to idols. Therefore Job not only aided his children against light faults by sanctifying them, but also took care to apply a remedy against graver faults, by which God might be appeased for them; hence there follows, and, rising at dawn, he would offer holocausts for each one. In these words the perfection of his devotion is shown: as to the time, because he rose at dawn, according to that saying of the Psalm, In the morning I will stand before you, etc.; as to the manner of the offering, because he offered holocausts, which were wholly burned in honor of God, with no part left for the use of the one offering or of the one for whom it was offered, as there was in peace offerings and offerings for sin; for a holocaust is so called as though “wholly burnt”; and as to the number, because he offered holocausts for each of his children: for individual sins are to be expiated by fitting satisfactions.

8. He adds the cause of the offering of holocausts, saying, For he said, namely Job in his heart, not indeed certain about the sins of his children but in doubt, Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, namely by deed or word, and blessed God in their hearts.

This indeed can be understood in two ways.

In one way, so that the whole is understood conjointly: for although it is good to bless God, nevertheless to bless God because a man has sinned signifies a will resting in sins, and in this respect it is blamed, as it is said in Zechariah against certain persons: Feed the flock of slaughter, which those who possessed them killed and did not grieve, and they sold them, saying: Blessed be the Lord! We have become rich.

In another way, so that it is understood separately; and thus by what is said, blessed, is understood cursed: for the crime of blasphemy is so horrible that pious mouths dread to name it by its proper name, but signify it by its contrary. And holocausts are fittingly offered for the sin of blasphemy, because those things that are committed against God are to be cleansed by divine honor.

9. Now it is accustomed to happen that divine worship is performed devoutly by some if it is rare, but when it has become frequent it comes to be wearisome; this is the sin of acedia, namely when someone is saddened by spiritual labor. Job was not subject to this vice, for it is added, Thus Job would do on all days, as though preserving a devotion persevering in divine worship.