^36:1 Elihu also, adding, spoke these things:
^36:2 Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I still have something to speak on behalf of God.
^36:3 I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove my Maker just.
^36:4 For truly my words are without falsehood, and perfect knowledge will be proved to you.
^36:5 God does not cast aside the powerful, since he himself also is powerful,
^36:6 but he does not save the impious, and he grants judgment to the poor.
^36:7 He does not take his eyes away from the just. And he sets kings upon the throne for ever, and they are raised up.
^36:8 And if they should be in chains and be bound with cords of poverty,
^36:9 he will reveal to them their works and their crimes, because they were violent.
^36:10 He will also open their ear so that he may correct them, and he will speak so that they may return from iniquity.
^36:11 If they hear and observe, they will complete their days in good and their years in glory;
^36:12 but if they do not hear, they will pass by the sword and be consumed in foolishness.
^36:13 Pretenders and the crafty provoke the wrath of God, and they will not cry out when they have been bound.
^36:14 Their soul will die in a storm, and their life among the effeminate.
^36:15 He will rescue the poor man from his anguish, and in tribulation he will open his ear.
^36:16 Therefore he will save you from the narrow mouth into a very broad place, and one not having a foundation beneath itself. But the rest of your table will be full of fatness.
^36:17 Your cause has been judged as that of the impious; you will receive cause and judgment.
^36:18 Therefore let not wrath overcome you, so that you oppress someone, nor let the multitude of gifts incline you.
^36:19 Lay aside your greatness without tribulation, and all the strong in strength.
^36:20 Do not prolong the night, so that peoples may ascend in their place.
^36:21 Beware lest you decline to iniquity: for this you began to follow after misery.

468. Elihu also, adding, spoke these things, etc. Elihu had set forth above two things in the words of Job against which he intended to dispute,

namely, concerning the fact that he said he was just and that he had imposed iniquity of judgment upon God, as Elihu had interpreted the words of Job; and against these two things Elihu had already disputed above.

Now he intends again to dispute against the same things by another way, whence it is said: Elihu also, adding, namely, the following arguments to the preceding ones, spoke these things, namely, the things that follow.

Among these, first he stirs him up to attention, saying: Bear with me a little, because, namely, he intends briefly, under one response, to dispute against the two preceding points; whence he adds: and I will show you, namely, the truth of the matter under discussion. And lest he seem superfluous, since above he already seemed to have shown what he wished, he adds: for I still have something to speak on behalf of God, as though saying: I still have other arguments at hand by which I may defend the equity of divine judgment. And because he intends again to introduce arguments against both of the preceding points, he adds: I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, as though saying: against the whole of what has been said from the beginning, I will again bring forth arguments according to my judgment. And he adds that he is a debtor in this matter: and my Maker, that is, God who made me, I will prove just, namely, excluding from his judgment the iniquity that you, Job, seem to impose on him in order to assert yourself to be just. And lest someone say that the things he was about to say proceeded not from true knowledge but from false opinion, he adds: For truly my words are without falsehood, as though saying: I am about to say only true things that befit right knowledge, whence he adds: and perfect knowledge will be proved to you, that is, the following proofs will conclude for you from those things that seem to pertain to perfect knowledge.

469. Therefore, with these things having been set forth as a kind of preface, he begins to dispute concerning the aforesaid words that he was imputing to Job, and first against the fact that Job had said that he was just. To exclude this, he proceeds in this way. In the time of his prosperity Job was of great power; but it sometimes happens that some persecute the powerful either because of envy or because of fear, by which they fear lest they be oppressed by them through power. This indeed belongs properly to the powerless, who both envy the powerful and fear their oppressions; but this cannot be said of God, who is excellent in power, whence he adds: God does not cast aside the powerful, since he himself is powerful. From this it is given to be understood that God hates nothing in man in which man is likened to him, because, since God is the very essence of goodness, there cannot be anything likened to him except in some good. From this it is clear that God does not persecute any because they are powerful, but because iniquity is sometimes found in them, and for this they are punished by God, whence he adds: but he does not save the impious, that is, he condemns them; and he shows the cause of condemnation, adding: and he grants judgment to the poor, that is, he renders judgment upon the powerful and wicked in favor of the poor who have been oppressed by them. Nor, on account of power, does he desist from coming to the aid of the just, whence he adds: He does not take his eyes away from the just, namely, even a powerful man, that is, the gaze of his kindness and mercy, according to that of the Psalm: The eyes of the Lord are upon the just.

470. And that he does not take away his mercy from the powerful if they are just, he makes manifest through the benefits that he confers on the powerful,

first indeed by establishing their power, whence he adds: And he sets kings upon the throne for ever, namely, if they have been just.

Second, because he promotes them to something greater, whence he adds: and they, namely, those placed upon the throne, are raised up, that is, they are exalted to greater things, namely, while God increases for them both power and riches.

Third, through the fact that, even if they have been punished because of sins, he has mercy on them if they are willing to repent, whence he adds: And if they should be, namely, kings, in chains, that is, placed in prison, and be bound, that is, tied, with cords of poverty, that is, if, placed in prison, they suffer poverty, which is a certain bond by which men are bound so that they cannot fulfill their works and, besides this, are constrained by many miseries. And yet, when they are thus established in misery, God first confers this benefit upon them: that he makes them recognize the past sins for which they have been punished, whence he adds: he will reveal to them their works, that is, he will cause them to know that the things they have done are unjust, whence he adds: and their crimes, as though saying: he will cause them to know that the works they did were criminal; and he shows in what respect they sinned, adding: because they were violent: for this is the sin proper to the powerful, that they inflict violence on subjects, using their power as though it were the law of justice. Nor does he only cause them to know their past sins, but he also shows them that they are punished for their sins, whence he adds: He will also open their ear, that is, he will cause them to understand that God speaks to them by punishing,

namely, that they are punished because of their sins, whence he adds: so that he may correct them, as though saying: he will cause them to recognize that God has punished them for correction. And further he will persuade them to repent, whence he adds: and he will speak, namely, interiorly or through an exterior admonisher, so that they may return from iniquity, namely, by repenting of past sins. And he shows the fruit of this repentance, adding: If they hear, namely, by proposing in the heart, and observe, namely, by fulfilling in work, they will be brought back to their former state, and so they will complete their days in good, namely, of virtue or of earthly prosperity, and their years in glory, namely, earthly glory; but if they do not hear, that is, if they do not obey the interior inspiration so as to repent, they will pass by the sword, that is, they will be led from prison to be slain by the sword, and be consumed, that is, destroyed, in foolishness, that is, because of their foolishness. Here it should be considered that in this Elihu seems to agree with Job’s friends, in that he holds that present adversities are punishments for sins and that through repentance someone returns to former prosperity; but although this sometimes happens, nevertheless it does not always happen, according to the opinion of Job.

471. But because it sometimes happens that some suffer adversities whose sins do not appear, lest his aforesaid opinion be overthrown by this, he interprets them as pretenders, insofar as they display a justice that they do not have, and as crafty, insofar as they use certain cunning devices so that, under the appearance of justice, they may do injustice; and from this very fact they sin more gravely, whence he adds: Pretenders and the crafty provoke the wrath of God, because, namely, God detests this more. Such people also do not easily repent, even amid scourges, because they consider themselves just, just as they are praised by others, whence he adds: and they will not cry out, namely, to God seeking mercy, when they have been bound, namely, with chains and the cords of poverty. In this he gives it to be understood that he judged Job to have been a pretender and crafty, and that therefore amid punishments he should recognize his sin. And because such people do not repent in punishments, therefore they are not delivered from adversity, whence he adds: Their soul will die in a storm, namely, it will suffer diverse anguish even unto death, and their life, namely, will fail, among the effeminate, namely, those who do not have courage to free themselves from the hand of those who oppress them. Now he rightly compares pretenders to the effeminate, because it happens from smallness of soul that men are pretenders:

for it is proper to the magnanimous man to be manifest, as is said in the fourth book of the Ethics. And because he had said that God comes to the aid of the powerful when they are established in tribulation, lest he seem to say that God is one who accepts persons, he shows that he also confers the same benefit upon the poor, whence he adds: He will rescue the poor man from his anguish, namely, by freeing him from adversity; and he shows the order of liberation, adding: and in tribulation he will open his ear, that is, he will cause him to understand that he is punished for his sins and will lead him to repentance, just as he also said above concerning the powerful.

472. But the things that he had said above in common he applies to the person of Job. First, because he had said that God brings salvation in tribulation both to the poor and to the powerful, he concludes that Job too can hope for salvation of this kind from God, when he adds: Therefore he will save you from the narrow mouth into a very broad place, that is, from tribulation, which is like a certain narrow opening through which man enters into a certain breadth of diverse miseries; for one evil becomes for man the cause of diverse evils, and the multiplication of evils of this kind can proceed even to infinity, so that there is never arrival at a state of rest. And this is what he adds: and one not having a foundation, namely, in which man could rest, beneath itself, that is, when he has descended into the depth of evils, which seems especially to pertain to the punishments that are after death, which endure forever without rest. But he not only promises him liberation from evils if he is willing to recognize his sin and repent, but also an abundance of good things, whence he adds: But the rest of your table will be full of fatness, as though saying: with security and quiet you will be able to eat abundantly of the good things that will be restored to you by God.

473. And because he had shown that God does not cast aside the powerful, but the wicked, while Job seemed to have been cast aside by God through manifold adversities, he adds: Your cause has been judged as that of the impious, as though saying: you have not been punished because you were powerful, but as one impious. And against this he promises him recompense if he repents, when he adds: you will receive cause and judgment, that is, cause and judgment will be restored to you, so that you may be able to examine the causes of others and judge concerning them. And as though this had already been done, he admonishes him how he should conduct himself in that state. Now it sometimes happens that judges decline from justice because of wrath, and with respect to this he says: Therefore let not wrath overcome you, so that you oppress someone unjustly, namely, when you receive cause and judgment.

But sometimes judges decline from justice because of desire for gifts, and with respect to this he adds: nor let the multitude of gifts incline you, namely, in that state of future authority. It also sometimes happens that someone, from pride alone, despises doing justice for others, and with respect to this he adds: Lay aside your greatness, that is, the pride of your soul, without tribulation, that is, before tribulation is sent upon you by God for your humiliation. Sometimes, however, judges decline from justice by deferring to certain powerful men because of fear, and with respect to this he adds: and all the strong in strength, namely, your own, you should depose; or, however strong they may be in their own strength, do not hesitate to depose them through justice. Sometimes, moreover, some judges fall short of justice by sparing others for the sake of their own quiet, whence he adds: Do not prolong the night, that is, do not wish to sleep too much, so that you do not attend to the dispatch of justice; or Do not prolong the night, that is, do not allow the justice of a cause to remain hidden for a long time, but hasten so that the truth may be made manifest. And he shows the cause, adding: so that peoples may ascend in their place, namely, in the place of the strong, as though saying: do not prolong judgment so far that the whole people is stirred up by the violences of the strong and, on account of the wrongs done by them, approaches you to trouble you;

or otherwise: Do not prolong the night, so that peoples may ascend in their place, as though saying: do not delay to exercise judgment against the strong, lest perhaps through their power they find many supporters who rise up in their defense, and thus your judgment be impeded. Now all these things tend to this, that in the state of future prosperity he may avoid injustice, whence he adds: Beware lest you decline to iniquity, namely, through any of the aforesaid ways or through any others. But Job could say that this admonition was superfluous, because he had been accustomed to execute justice diligently, as he had said above in 29:14; and therefore Elihu adds: for this, namely, iniquity, you began to follow after misery, namely, in that you consider yourself more just than God, and therefore you must beware lest you decline to injustice if it happens that you return to the state of prosperity.