^6:13 Behold, there is no help for me in myself, and even my close ones have withdrawn from me.
^6:14 He who takes mercy away from his friend forsakes the fear of the Lord.
^6:15 My brothers have passed me by, like a torrent that swiftly passes through the valleys.
^6:16 Those who fear frost, snow will rush upon them.
^6:17 At the time when they have been scattered, they will perish, and when it grows warm, they will be loosed from their place.
^6:18 The paths of their steps are entangled; they will walk in vain and perish.
^6:19 Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a little while:
^6:20 they have been confounded because I hoped; they even came as far as me, and were covered with shame.
^6:21 Now you have come, and just now, seeing my wound, you are afraid.
^6:22 Have I said: Bring to me, and from your substance give to me?
^6:23 Free me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me from the hand of the strong?
^6:24 Teach me, and I will be silent; and if by chance I have been ignorant of anything, instruct me.
^6:25 Why have you disparaged the words of truth, when none of you is able to convict me?
^6:26 You compose speeches only for rebuking, and you utter words to the wind.
^6:27 You rush upon the orphan, and strive to overthrow your friend.
^6:28 Nevertheless, finish what you have begun; lend your ear and see whether I lie.
^6:29 Answer, I beseech you, without contention, and, speaking what is just, judge.
^6:30 And you will not find iniquity on my tongue, nor will foolishness sound in my throat.

116. Behold, there is no help for me in myself, etc. In the preceding words Job had shown that he had reasonably felt sorrow and had uttered words of sorrow, but that nevertheless he had not been swallowed up by sorrow because of the things he had suffered. But because sometimes, although a man suffers adversities, he protects himself against adversities by his own and another’s help and consolation in such a way that he conceives little or no sorrow from them, blessed Job wishes to show that he is destitute of remedies of this kind, so that from this it may appear more evidently that he reasonably uttered words of sorrow.

And first, indeed, he shows that he is destitute of the aforesaid remedies on his own part, when he says: Behold, there is no help for me in myself; for even if some of his goods had been seized, he could tolerate this without sadness if he could help himself to recover the goods lost and to avenge the injury inflicted, but he could not do this, being destitute of all riches, children, and the health of his own body.

117. Again, we cannot do many things by ourselves that we can do through friends; and therefore, second, Job shows that he is also destitute of the help of friends, when he says: and even my close ones, that is, his intimates and those of his household, have withdrawn from me. And he shows that this is not without fault on their part, adding: He who takes mercy away from his friend, namely, in time of misery, forsakes the fear of the Lord, that is, the reverence that he ought to have toward God, on account of whom and in whom the neighbor is to be loved: He who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? as is said in 1 John 4:20.

118. Then he shows that he has also been abandoned by his blood relatives, saying: My brothers, that is, my blood relatives, have passed me by. He speaks according to the likeness of those traveling together on the road, as if, when one falls into a pit, the others nevertheless go on ahead, leaving him behind. And indeed they would be somewhat excusable if, after they had brought help for some time, they had left him either because of weariness or because of despair of helping; and therefore, so that they may be inexcusable, he shows that he was immediately and suddenly deserted by them, which he signifies when he adds: like a torrent that swiftly passes through the valleys, which moves very quickly. And lest they believe that they have done this with impunity, he adds: Those who fear frost, snow will rush upon them, as though saying: those who, because of fear of a lesser danger, depart from justice and mercy will be led into greater dangers. Hence Job’s brothers also, who passed him by, unwilling to suffer with him, will themselves sustain sadness in their own losses. And he shows that their dangers will be without remedy, adding: At the time when they have been scattered, that is, when they fall into some dangers, they will perish, namely, totally, and when it grows warm, they will be loosed from their place.

He speaks under the metaphor of snow, of which he had made mention, which, when it has been greatly hardened by freezing, is not immediately dissolved at the first warming; but when it has not yet been frozen, it is immediately dissolved at a ray of the sun and flows away. This, then, is what he says: when it grows warm, they will be loosed from their place, that is, immediately at the first attack of adversity, as of a certain heat, all their prosperity will be dissolved. And he shows the cause, adding: The paths of their steps are entangled: for that which is entangled returns upon itself with a certain crookedness. Therefore the paths of those are entangled who seek nothing in blood relatives and friends except their own advantage, and on this account in time of prosperity feign friendship, but in time of adversity forsake it. But men who fraudulently seek their own advantage for the most part fall short of their hope, and therefore he adds: they will walk in vain; for some are then said to walk in vain when they fall short of the end of their walking. And not only will their hope be made empty, but the contrary will happen to them; hence there follows: and they will perish, that is, they will be totally destroyed.

119. Thus, therefore, he had help neither in himself, nor in those of his household, nor in his blood relatives. Consequently he shows that he has none in other friends either; hence he says: Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, in which regions he seemed especially to have had friends, for Eliphaz too had come from Thema, and wait a little while, namely, considering whether any have come by these ways to bring help to me. And you will not see this, because they have been confounded, namely, to come to me, because I hoped, that is, because it was the time in which I ought to hope for help from them; for men who are unwilling to help are confounded to visit those by whom they think help can reasonably be asked of them. They even came, namely, some of them, as far as me, and were covered with shame, namely, because they did not give me help when they recognized that they ought to. Nor is it surprising about the others, since even you, who seem wiser, fail in this,

hence he adds: Now you have come, and just now, seeing my wound, you are afraid, namely, lest perhaps it be necessary for you to bring me help. But do not be afraid, because I have sought your help in nothing: for I do not require of you that you assist me with money, and this is what he says: Have I said: Bring to me, and from your substance give to me? Nor have I asked help of you in war against enemies, and this is what he adds: Free me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me from the hand of the strong? Nor have I asked of you the help of teaching, and this is what he says: have I said, Teach me, namely, in speculative matters, and I will be silent; and if by chance I have been ignorant of anything, instruct me? namely, in matters to be done. And not only do you not provide me help, but also, as far as in you lies, you afflict me further with words, and this is what he adds: Why have you disparaged the words of truth? namely, those that I first brought forth in my lamentation, which Eliphaz seemed to rebuke, as has been said. And to show that this disparagement is inexcusable, he excludes all those things by which someone who rebukes can be excused from disparagement.

The first of these is when someone of greater authority rebukes another for fault, and he excludes this, saying: when none of you is able to convict me.

The second is when someone utters harsh words against another for his benefit and not to exasperate him, and this is what he adds: only for rebuking, and not for benefit, you compose speeches, that is, you arrange them carefully so that they may not seem to have been said lightly.

The third is when someone fortifies the words that he utters against another with effective reasons, and he removes this, saying: and you utter words to the wind, as though saying: your words are empty, having no strength of reason.

The fourth is when someone rebukes another at a time and in a state in which it can be presumed that he will not become worse from it but better; but if someone wishes to rebuke another at a time when he is cast down in spirit and disposed to anger, he seems not to will correction but overthrow, and therefore he says: You rush upon the orphan, and strive to overthrow your friend. He calls himself an orphan because, placed in sadness, he was destitute of every help.

120. And lest someone think that he said this because he feared a contest with them, as though he did not presume upon the truth of his judgment and the justice of his cause, he adds: Nevertheless, finish what you have begun, so that from mutual disputation the truth may shine forth; hence he adds: lend your ear, that is, listen, and see, that is, consider, whether I lie:

for this is the first impediment to finding the truth through disputation, when someone is unwilling to hear the things that are said by his opponent.

The second impediment is when he responds noisily and insultingly to what he has heard, and to remove this he says: Answer, I beseech you, without contention: for contention is, as Ambrose says, an assault on truth with confidence in shouting.

The third impediment is when someone in disputation does not aim at truth but at victory and glory, as happens in contentious and sophistical disputations: and, speaking what is just, judge, namely, so that you may grant those things that seem true to you, and deny those things that seem false. And, if you do this, you will not find iniquity on my tongue, namely, anything against the justice that is owed to one’s neighbor, nor will foolishness sound in my throat, that is, anything against the wisdom by which one thinks rightly about God: for he intended both concerning divine things and concerning human things to defend and prove the truth.