Jó 10
Didymus the Blind · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Jó 10:10-12
The seed from which life emerges he calls "milked milk," for as milk curdles and becomes cheese, so the seed becomes "nature" when it curdles. This is a condition before the embryo. For the seed that sinks into the channels of the vagina becomes "nature" when it curdles like cheese. This formation is further developed or, as Scripture says, "formed out of an image" and takes on shapes … when the limbs are formed and every part emerges and finally moves. Just as the hand or foot of a living being, the delivery of the embryo brings the creature to the light of day. It is clear that "skin and flesh" here signify the body, for he adds in what follows with what holds it together and says, "knit me together with bones and sinews." The whole procedure and the harmony of the formation of the body he proclaims in the previous [section] and in what is quoted here. It is remarkable that these seem to be words from his soul; for it is [the soul] that is "clothed with skin and flesh" and "knit together with bones and sinews." That makes it clear that [the soul] is before the clothing and dressing, for it is clothed (already) as that which is the basis. Since skin and flesh, bones and sinews do not live by themselves but move due to the presence of the soul—if it leaves, they do not have life anymore—he says, "You have not only formed me, made flesh, skin, bones and sinews for me and clothed me with them, but you have also given me life and love." — COMMENTARY ON JOB 10:10-12
Jó 10:18-19
Someone could think that Job's statement comes from desperation, but that is proven wrong by what God has said: "Do you believe I treated you like this for any other reason than to reveal your righteousness?" Job, who previously had said, "If I am wicked, woe to me," does not contradict this assumption but reveals the bitterness of life. An evil person would not do that, for he rejoices in this [life]. Above all, Job wants to reveal to his friends the reason why he did not die at the moment of his birth, namely, because he was to be an example of energy and strength. According to a different interpretation, even the life in the flesh is indicated, about which Paul writes, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." Job experiences the pleasant as well as the bitter sides of life; no one who has rid himself of the flesh rejoices in wealth or excess, nor is he plagued by hardship. Job has tasted this life and its pleasures, for he was blessed with many good children and was rich and healthy. But since his situation turned into its opposite, he also experienced the reverse of his previous life and acknowledged in real life the vanity of these things. This is why Job teaches us not to long for them by saying, "Why did you bring me forth from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, and were as though I had not been."Job expresses this in the form of a prayer, for his burdens were not light and he endured the pains not without feeling them. For it would not have been manful had he not felt his sufferings. But he teaches that he endured the pain with the help of God's power, by praying in gratefulness. Paul also expresses this: "It was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." — COMMENTARY ON JOB 10:18-22
Jó 10:20-21
Job wants to find relief before he has to go from where he cannot return. Therefore, he does not pray for himself, but to teach the friends who think that those who suffer hardship are evil but those who are free from hardship are righteous. He desired that they should gain certainty regarding the divine resolutions about him. One should not assume that Job denies the resurrection of the dead. Rather, Job says, "From where I will not return to lead a mortal life." Job knows that he will rise as immortal. — COMMENTARY ON JOB 10:18-22
Jó 10:22
Although the brave one was in pain, he talked about the coming age. So he says—not to deny the resurrection—"Before I go from where I will not return." Job calls the land "a land of gloom and deep darkness, where light is like darkness," since the holy one ascribes only little to himself. For it would not have been suitable to say, "Before I am in the kingdom of the heavens and in the land of our promises, my God." Job wants his listener to be instructed about the divine judgment. There has not yet been restitution for deeds done. — COMMENTARY ON JOB 10:18-22