^19:23 Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will give me that they may be inscribed in a book
^19:24 with an iron stylus and a plate of lead, or at least carved in flint?
^19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I shall rise from the earth.
^19:26 And again I shall be clothed with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God,
^19:27 whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. This hope of mine has been laid up in my bosom.
^19:28 Why then do you now say: Let us persecute him, and let us find the root of the word against him?
^19:29 Flee, therefore, from the face of the sword, for his sword is the avenger of iniquities, and know that there is judgment.

293. Who will grant me that they may be written?, etc. Job had said above that his hope had been taken away like that of an uprooted tree, which indeed he said with reference to the hope of recovering temporal prosperity, to which his friends were urging him in many ways. But he has shown above in many ways that he should not have this hope, by leading it to various unfitting consequences; now, however, he plainly opens his intention, showing that he did not say the aforesaid things as though despairing of God, but because he bore a higher hope concerning him, one referred not indeed to present goods but to future ones. And because he was about to say things great and wondrous and certain, he first shows his desire that the judgment he was about to utter be preserved in the faith of posterity. Now we transmit our thoughts and words to posterity through the office of writing, and therefore he says: Who will grant me that my words may be written?, namely, the words I am about to say concerning the hope that I have firmly set in God, lest they be blotted out by oblivion. But things written in ink are usually erased by the length of time; and therefore, when we wish some writing to be preserved for a long time, we not only set it down in the manner of writing, but by some impression, whether in parchment, or in metal, or in stone. And because what he hoped for was not going to happen soon, but was reserved to be fulfilled at the end of times, therefore he adds: Who will give me that they may be engraved in a book with an iron stylus?, as though by some impression made in parchment, or, if this is too little, by a stronger impression made in a plate of lead, or, if even this seems too little, at least carved with an iron stylus in flint?

294. But what these words are that he wishes to be preserved with such diligence, he shows by adding: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he pointedly assigns this by way of cause: for we do not take care to commit to memory things that we do not hold as certain, and therefore he pointedly says: For I know, namely, by the certainty of faith. Now this hope concerns the glory of the future resurrection; concerning this, he first assigns the cause when he says: my Redeemer lives. Here it must be considered that man, who had been established immortal by God, incurred death through sin, according to Romans 5:12: Through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin, death; and from this sin the human race was to be redeemed through Christ, which Job foresaw by the spirit of faith. Now Christ redeemed us from sin through death, by dying for us; yet he did not die in such a way that death swallowed him up, because, although he died according to his humanity, nevertheless he could not die according to his divinity;

but from the life of the divinity, even the humanity was restored to life by rising, according to the last chapter of 2 Corinthians: For although he was crucified from our weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. And the life of Christ rising again will be poured forth to all men in the common resurrection, whence the Apostle also adds there: For we also are weak in him, but we shall live in him by the power of God in us. Hence the Lord also says in John 5:25: The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have heard will live; for just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. Therefore the primordial cause of human resurrection is the life of the Son of God, which did not take its beginning from Mary, as the Ebionites said, but always was, according to the last chapter of Hebrews: Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, he is the same for ever; and therefore he pointedly does not say, “my Redeemer will live,” but lives. And from this cause he foretells the future resurrection, determining its time, when he adds: and on the last day I shall rise from the earth. Here it must be considered that some, holding that the motion of heaven and this state of the world would endure for ever, held that after certain revolutions of years, when the stars returned to the same positions, dead men would be restored to life; but since the day is caused by the motion of heaven, if the motion of heaven will endure for ever, there will be no last day. And therefore, to remove the aforesaid error, he pointedly says: on the last day, and this agrees with the judgment of the Lord, who says in John 6:40: I shall raise him up on the last day.

295. There were others who said that men would rise again by resuming not earthly bodies but certain heavenly bodies; but to exclude this he adds: and again I shall be clothed with my skin, which he says pointedly because he had said above that only the skin around his bones remained. From the very manner of speaking, however, he assigns the reason for the resurrection, namely, lest the soul remain forever stripped of its own garment. Again, there were others who said that the soul would resume the same body it had put off, but according to the same condition, so that it would need foods and drinks and perform the other carnal works of this life; but he excludes this, adding: and in my flesh I shall see God. For it is manifest that the flesh of man according to the state of the present life is corruptible;

but the body that is corrupted weighs down the soul, as is said in Wisdom 9:15, and therefore no one living in this mortal flesh can see God. But the flesh that the soul will resume in the resurrection will indeed be the same in substance, yet it will have incorruption by the divine gift, according to that of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:53: This corruptible must put on incorruption; and therefore that flesh will be of such a condition that it will in no way impede the soul from being able to see God, but will be wholly subject to it. Not knowing this, Porphyry said that the soul, in order to become blessed, must flee every body, as though the soul, and not man, were to see God; and to exclude this he adds: whom I myself shall see, as if to say: not only will my soul see God, but I myself, who subsist from soul and body. And to show that the body also, in its own way, will be a partaker of that vision, he adds: and my eyes shall behold, not because bodily eyes will see the divine essence, but because bodily eyes will see God made man; they will also see the glory of God shining forth in creation, according to Augustine at the end of The City of God. And so that man may be believed to be restored as the same in number, not only in species, for the purpose of seeing God, he adds: and not another, namely, in number, lest he be believed to expect such a restoration of life as Aristotle describes in Book II of On Generation, saying that whatever things have a corruptible substance are repeated the same in species, not the same in number.

296. Therefore, after setting forth these things concerning the cause of the resurrection, its time and manner, and the glory of the one rising and the identity of the same person, he adds: This hope of mine has been laid up in my bosom, as if to say: my hope is not in earthly things, which you vainly promise, but in the future glory of the resurrection. He pointedly says: it has been laid up in my bosom, to show that he had this hope not only in words but hidden in his heart, not doubtful but most firm, not as something worthless but as something most precious: for what is hidden in the bosom is held in secret, is firmly preserved, and is considered dear.

297. Thus, therefore, after showing the height of the hope that he had concerning God, he excludes their calumnies that they were seeking against him, as though he had cast off hope and fear of God because he did not place hope in temporal things. Hence he adds: Why then do you now say: Let us persecute him, namely, as one despairing of God or not fearing God, and let us find the root of the word against him, by reproving my words as though I had denied the providence of God? I do not deny it, but assert it, saying that rewards and punishments are prepared by God for men even after this life. And therefore he adds: Flee, therefore, from the face of the sword, that is, from divine vengeance reserved for you in the future life, although you flourish in temporal prosperity, for his sword is the avenger of iniquities, that is, the vengeance that he himself will properly bring after death; and know that there is judgment, not only in this life, but also after this life, in the resurrection of the good and the wicked.