^1:12 And Satan departed from the face of the Lord.
^1:13 Now on a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother,
^1:14 a messenger came to Job, who said: The oxen were plowing, and the she-donkeys were grazing beside them,
^1:15 and the Sabeans rushed in and carried away everything, and they struck the servants with the sword; and I alone escaped to tell you.
^1:16 And while he was still speaking, another came and said: The fire of God came down from heaven and, touching the sheep and the servants, consumed them; and I alone escaped to tell you.
^1:17 But while he was still speaking, another came and said: The Chaldeans formed three companies and attacked the camels and took them; moreover, they struck the servants with the sword; and I alone fled to tell you.
^1:18 While he was still speaking to him, behold, another entered and said: While your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother,
^1:19 suddenly a violent wind rushed in from the region of the desert and shook the four corners of the house, which, falling, crushed your children, and they are dead; and I alone escaped to tell you.

26. And Satan went forth from the face of the Lord, etc. Having set forth the cause of the adversity of blessed Job, it is consequently shown how adversity of this kind came upon him. And because the whole of it was brought in through Satan, therefore concerning him it is first said, And Satan went forth from the face of the Lord, as though to make use of the power permitted to him. And it is said pointedly that he went forth from the face of the Lord, for Satan, insofar as the power of harming someone is permitted to him, is before the face of the Lord, because this happens from the reasonable will of God; but while he carries out the power permitted to him, he goes out from the face of the Lord, because he withdraws from the intention of the one permitting. This appears in the matter proposed: for it was permitted him by God that he could harm Job in order to manifest his virtue, but Satan afflicted him not for this reason, but in order to provoke him to impatience and blasphemy.

At the same time, in this it clearly appears to be true what we said above: that Satan was present among the sons of God standing before him, insofar as some are said to stand before God according as they are subjected to divine judgment and examination, not according as those who see God are said to stand before God. Hence here too it is not said that Satan cast God away from his own face, but that he went forth from the face of the Lord, as though withdrawing from the intention of his providence, although unable to escape the order of providence.

27. Now it must be considered that, in narrating the adversity, an order is observed contrary to the order in which the prosperity had been narrated. For in narrating the prosperity, the account proceeded from the greater things to the lesser, beginning from the person of Job himself, and after this it placed his offspring and then the animals, first the sheep and then the others. And this is reasonable, because the perpetuity that cannot be preserved in the person is sought in offspring, for whose sustenance possessions are needed. But in the adversity the contrary is proposed: for first the loss of substance is narrated, second the destruction of his offspring, third the affliction of his own person; and this is for the increase of adversity, for one who is weighed down by a greater adversity does not feel a lesser, but after a lesser, a greater is felt. And therefore, so that Job might feel his own affliction from each adversity and thus be moved more toward impatience, Satan began to afflict Job from the lesser adversity and gradually proceeded to greater ones.

28. It must also be considered that a man’s spirit is more moved by things that come upon him suddenly, for adversities foreseen beforehand are more easily endured; and therefore, so that Job might be moved the more, Satan brought adversity upon him at a time of greatest joy, when adversity could less be thought of, so that even from the present joy itself the adversity would appear more grievous: for contraries placed side by side shine forth the more. And therefore it is said: Now on a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, which is especially set down as an indication of joy, according to that saying of Sirach 31:35: Wine was created for gladness, not for drunkenness, from the beginning; in the house of their firstborn brother, which is also set down to indicate greater solemnity: for it is probable that a more solemn banquet would be celebrated in the house of the firstborn; a messenger came to Job, who said: The oxen were plowing, so that from the memory of their fruitfulness the loss might seem more intolerable; and the she-donkeys were grazing beside them, which is also set down to increase his grief, as he considered that enemies came upon them at the time when they could seize more things at once;

and the Sabeans rushed in, namely enemies coming from afar, from whom the things they had seized could not easily be recovered; and they carried away everything, lest, if they had left anything, at least those things might suffice for necessary use and for breeding; and they struck the servants with the sword, which was more grievous to a just man; and I alone escaped to tell you, as though he were saying: this happened by divine disposition so that I alone would escape, that you might have a messenger of so great a loss, as if God intends to afflict you with sorrow.

29. But once this adversity had been announced, another is immediately announced, lest, if some interval occurred, he might meanwhile return to his heart and prepare himself for patience, and so bear the things that followed more easily; and on account of this there is added: And while he was still speaking, another came and said: The fire of God, that is, sent by God, came down from heaven, so that it might be impressed upon his mind, as it were, that he was suffering persecution not only from men but also from God, and thus he might more easily be provoked against God; and, touching the sheep and the servants, consumed them, as though this had been divinely procured, that immediately at the touch of the fire all things would be consumed, which is beyond the natural power of fire; and I alone escaped to tell you. There follows: But while he was still speaking, another came and said: The Chaldeans, who were fierce and powerful; hence to show their power he adds: formed three companies, so that neither vengeance nor recovery of the loss could be hoped for;

concerning which loss there is added: and they attacked the camels, and so forth. There follows concerning the destruction of his offspring: While he was still speaking, behold, another entered and said: While your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, so that their death would be more sorrowful from this, that Job could doubt whether they had been overtaken by death in the state of some sin; for he himself sanctified them and offered holocausts for each of them precisely because he feared lest they had incurred some sin during their banquets. And lest perhaps it could be believed that they had repented and provided for their souls, there is added: suddenly a violent wind rushed in from the region of the desert and shook the four corners of the house, which is said to show the violence of the wind, which, beyond the usual manner, overturned the whole house at once, so that by this it might be shown to have proceeded from the divine will, and thus he might more easily be moved against God, while he was being afflicted by him whom he had served with a devoted mind. And for a greater heap of sorrow, there is added the loss of his slain offspring, when it is said: which, falling, crushed your children, and they are dead, namely all of them, lest at least in one of his children surviving there should remain hope of posterity. And this was believed to be the more sorrowful because, when all his children had been slain, one of the servants was able to escape to stir up his grief, for there follows: and I alone escaped to tell you.

30. Now it must be considered that, since all the aforesaid adversity was brought in through Satan, it is necessary to confess that, when God permits it, demons can introduce disturbance into the air, stir up winds, and cause fire to fall from heaven. For although bodily matter does not obey the nod of angels, neither good nor evil, for the reception of forms, but obeys only God the Creator, nevertheless bodily nature is born to obey spiritual nature with respect to local motion. An indication of this appears in man, for at the sole command of the will the members are moved to pursue the work arranged by the will. Therefore, whatever can be done by local motion alone, this not only good spirits but even evil ones can do by their natural power, unless they are divinely prevented. But winds and rains and other disturbances of the air of this kind can come about from the motion alone of vapors released from earth and water; hence the natural power of a demon suffices to procure such things. But sometimes they are prevented from this by divine power, so that they are not permitted to do everything they naturally can. Nor is it contrary to what is said in Jeremiah 14:22: Are there any among the graven images of the nations that can give rain? For it is one thing to give rain by the natural course, which belongs to God alone, who has ordered natural causes to this; but it is another thing at times to use artificially the natural causes ordered by God for giving rain, or for producing wind at times in an extraordinary manner, as it were.