The Fellowship and Purity of Job's Children

The text continues, unless he approves these things. But Job is the fifth from Abraham, as this very thing is said at the end of the book.

There was a certain man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job (Job 1:1). And that man was true, blameless, righteous, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing. And there came to him seven sons and three daughters, and his cattle were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys wandering, and much service, and he had great works upon the earth.

Consequently, the word is about to narrate a virtue surpassing that of the blessed Job, and it remembers the place and the manner of blamelessness and many children and good upbringing and wealth both in flocks and in other things, in order to teach how he did not despise them through over-confidence—for indeed, not possessing them, he did not think highly of them—once all these things were taken away in the trial. And having announced also his pureness of soul, it shows how the devil did not seek a man who was negligent. For it was necessary before the struggle against the opponent to record the greatness of the athlete, to show that, abstaining from every evil thing, he had not been satisfied even unto this, but was also caring for perfection, which is a subversion of those saying that even children and irrational animals abstain from evil things. For this man was both righteous and blameless.

This very thing is also said regarding the first Psalm, where those standing against him are refuted. For they say that 'to be blessed in not walking in the counsel of the ungodly and not sitting in the seat of scoffers' (Psalm 1:1) would also apply to irrational animals and infants. But they are refuted by what is presented; for it is said: 'But his will was in the law of the Lord, and in his law he shall meditate day and night' (Psalm 1:2), which does not apply to infants and irrational animals.

And it is also good that he dwelt in Uz, which is interpreted as 'will'; for the righteous man does nothing without purpose, but his house and city is pure will. 'And that man was noble from the rising of the sun' (Job 1:3). And this is possible regarding the sensible. But if one intended an ascent, it might be said that the righteous man acquires nobility, not from men, but from the light of the 'sun of righteousness' (Malachi 4:2).

"And the sons of him, going along with one another, were making a drink for each day, taking along at the same time also their three sisters to eat and drink with them." The sons of Job, being well-nourished, did not seek social pleasures with others, but among themselves, according to that which is said in the Psalms: "Behold, how good or how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1). They were steadfast in virtue and in sensory things, moving "toward one another" and not away; for their gatherings "in the house of their eldest brother" were not only according to time, but perhaps also according to virtue, as they were being educated for benefit by him. And it is also good to take along one's own sisters, which is a clear sign of temperance and grace.

"And as soon as the days of the drinking were completed, Job would rise and cleanse them, rising in the morning and offering about them sacrifices according to their number, and one calf for the sin concerning their souls." According to the one saying: "From the night my spirit cries out to you, O God" (Psalm 43:27), and: "My God, to you I cry out in the morning" (Psalm 5:3), and: "In the morning I will present to you and look upon you" (Psalm 5:3), the blessed Job rose in the morning not for some other work, but to present a sacrifice to God on behalf of the children "according to their number," which is to say, individually and in good order; for nothing is poured out in haste. But after this, he also presented the calf on their behalf in his own way, providing for the children's guidance. Thus, after the feasting was completed, he cleansed them, demonstrating both the sensory cleansing and the intellectual cleansings that complete the process.

If the "calf" offered on behalf of all signifies the "Cross" which remained for the sake of the human race as Savior, consider that He is also "fit for eating" in the parable of the Gospel, because of the nourishing nature of the divine teaching. Do not marvel if the calf alludes to the Savior; for Job was not unaware of the coming of the Savior; for concerning Him he said: "he who is about to grasp the great whale" (Job 41:1). For Job said: "perhaps in their mind the sons..."