^3:11 Why did I not die in the womb? Having gone forth from the womb, why did I not immediately perish?
^3:12 Why was I received upon the knees, or nursed at the breasts?
^3:13 For now, sleeping, I would be silent, and in my sleep I would take rest,
^3:14 with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build solitudes for themselves,
^3:15 or with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver.
^3:16 Or, like a hidden miscarriage, I would not have continued, or like those who were conceived and did not see the light.
^3:17 There the impious have ceased from tumult, and there the weary in strength have taken rest.
^3:18 And those once bound together are without distress; they have not heard the voice of the taskmaster.
^3:19 The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

63. Why did I not die in the womb, etc. After he had cursed the day of his birth and the night of his conception, in order to show that he abhorred the beginnings of his life, he now shows that he abhors his preservation in life, so that from these things he may show more manifestly that his life is burdensome to him.

Now there is a twofold state of life: one hidden, by which those conceived live in the womb; the other manifest, by which men live after birth from the womb.

Therefore, with respect to the first state, he says: Why did I not die in the womb?

With respect to the second: Having gone forth from the womb, why did I not immediately perish? And he first pursues this second point.

Now it must be known that exterior life is taken away in two ways: sometimes, indeed, by some harm coming upon it, either intrinsic, as disease is, or extrinsic, as a sword or something of this kind; and to this can be referred what he said: Having gone forth from the womb, why did I not immediately perish? But sometimes it is taken away by the withdrawal of necessary support, which is either extrinsic, such as being carried, being warmed, and other helps of this kind, and with respect to this he says: Why was I received upon the knees? Or it is intrinsic, such as food, and with respect to this he says: or nursed at the breasts? For the life of one newly born needs these supports in its beginnings.

64. And because, when someone says, Why was this done?, he gives us to understand that this was done uselessly, therefore he consequently shows that it would have been useless for him to have been preserved in life, indeed rather harmful. He shows this first with respect to the evils that he now suffers, saying: For now, sleeping, I would be silent. He calls death sleep because of the hope of the resurrection, about which he will speak more fully later; but by silence he understands rest from the adversities that he was suffering, as if to say: if I had died immediately after birth, I would not be disquieted by these evils that I suffer.

Second, with respect to the goods that he had at first; for someone could say to him: if you had not been preserved in life, you would not have had the goods that you once had. But, as though answering this, he shows that not even because of those goods should preservation in life have been desirable for him: for even those who flourish with the greatest prosperities throughout their whole life are brought to this end, namely, death;

this, therefore, is what he says: and in my sleep, that is, in death, I would take rest, that is, I would be free from the disquietudes of life, with the kings and consuls of the earth. Now it must be known that, among those established in dignities, who seem especially to prosper, their intention is either to enjoy pleasures, and with respect to these he says: who build solitudes for themselves, literally, for the sake of hunting or other pleasures, wishing to be alone; or it is to gather riches, and with respect to these he says: or with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver, as if to say: if I had died immediately after birth, I would now have nothing less than those have after death who prosper in many things. Now it must be considered that, since taking rest belongs only to one who subsists, by these words he gives us to understand that man subsists according to the soul after death. But if someone should object that such kings or princes of whom he speaks perhaps do not rest but are in the punishments of Hell, or even that life was useful to Job in this, that he acquired merit for himself, it must be noted that, as we said above, Job now speaks from the person of the sensory part, expressing its affection, which has regard only to bodily and present goods or evils.

65. Thus, therefore, after he has shown that it should not have been desirable for him to be preserved after birth, he consequently shows that it should not have been desirable for him, having been preserved in the womb, to come to birth, explaining what he had said above: Why did I not die in the womb? Now it must be considered that some die in the womb before the infusion of the rational soul, which alone is immortal, and with respect to this he says: Or, like a hidden miscarriage, I would not have continued; for from miscarried fetuses of this kind nothing perpetual remains. But some die after the infusion of the rational soul, who indeed after death subsist according to the soul but do not see the light of this world,

and with respect to this he says: or, supply, like those, who were conceived and did not see the light, namely, of the present life. And he shows that this should have been desirable for him by the fact that he would not be subject to the evils of this life; hence he says: There, namely, in the state that those have who were conceived and did not see the light, the impious have ceased from tumult, namely, the tumult they inflicted on others by afflicting them, which is referred to immunity from the evil of fault; and there, namely, in the state of the dead, the weary in strength, that is, fighting men who have been wearied by waging wars, have taken rest, that is, they have been without labor of this kind because, as has been said, he is now speaking only of rest from the evils of the present life. This can also be understood of weariness in any labor that someone suffers by working with his strength. And those who were once bound will be there together without distress, that is, without their former anguish, together with those who were holding them bound; and there men oppressed by compulsory labors or servitudes have not heard the voice of the taskmaster,

according to what is said in Isaiah 14:4: How is it that the oppressor has ceased, along with his tribute? And he shows that this is true by adding: The small and the great are there together, because smallness and greatness exist in this life according to the inequality of earthly prosperity; once this is taken away, they remain equal according to nature. Therefore what he says, the small and the great, is to be understood as meaning: those who in this life differed according to the greatness of earthly prosperity. It must be known, however, that the difference of greatness and smallness according to spiritual goods remains even there, but he is not now speaking of these, as has already been said. And there the servant will be free from his master, whence exaction or anything of this kind will have no place.