Olympiodorus of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

Perhaps not even his goods will flourish, but they will become corrupted while still in bloom. In fact, if he appears to be full and abundant in all goods, then every need and affliction will assault him, so that he fills his belly, that is, fills his soul with every pain. “Let God send upon him the fury of wrath; let him bring a torrent of pains upon him.” God, by striking him with the most severe punishment, will bury him in pains as under a snowstorm.

Job 20:28-29

The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

“Let a day of wrath come upon him. This is the portion for the ungodly man from the Lord, and the possession of his goods appointed him by the all-seeing God.” Since he did not recognize the benevolence of God while he possessed his goods, the fullness of wrath is given him as his property and reward. Therefore the bishops, when they hear in holy Scripture that God is invoked with this name, must protect the dignity of his name by taking care of the safety of their herd with watchful guard and faith, being irreprehensible in life and adorned with doctrine.

Job 21:7-14

Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

Since you believe to be wise and to know the reason why I suffer these afflictions, now answer my question. Why does it happen that very often many impious persons reach an old age in their wealth?… Their fields produce large crops, and they are delighted by their children and enjoy a constant abundance. They fear no one and receive no blow sent them by God. Their plowing cow does not give birth to an immature fetus, that is, it does not generate an imperfect or dead fetus, and their wives have no miscarriages. And they remain in prosperity like a flock, that is, free from care.

Job 22:7

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

A criminal act not only causes harm but also denies any benefit. Therefore, notice to what point our benevolence must be extended. As there is a certain crime, when those thirsty do not drink, so we have a reward for a glass of cool water, according to the truthful voice of the Savior.

Job 22:12-14

Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Eliphaz pronounces a serious accusation of impiety and madness against Job. “In fact,” he says, “you committed iniquities, as if [God] did not realize they were [committed] in the land of the Lord, but as if he judged in darkness. That is, as if, in judging, he did not see what happened in his land. You said, in fact, that since he is invisible and separates himself with clouds from what happens among us, and only goes around the circle of heaven, he does not deem it worthy to take care of earthly things.” This is what the pagan philosophers thought, when they said that God does not take care of what is under the moon.

Job 23:8-9

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

The real meaning is this, “Suppose I willingly submit the judgment of my actions to the eyes of the Lord.” What happens to me? God is invisible in his nature. Will I look for him in those material things that are before me? He cannot be seen. He is before me, but I do not perceive him. When he moves to the left, I cannot grasp him, and when he is on the right, I cannot see him at all. These words do not mean that God passes from one place to another bodily or by moving, but they intend to show that he is present everywhere and, nonetheless, escapes our perception and cannot be comprehended by us. “If I am no longer,” that is, “If I further extend my research, I will be out of myself and dizzy in reflection while I try to comprehend what is incomprehensible.”

Job 24:9-12

They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.“And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses. “And the soul of t…

“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.“And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses.
“And the soul of the children has groaned aloud.” From the bottom of their heart [they groaned], because they had no parents any longer who provided them with food.

Job 24:12 · 2 passages

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape. “And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses. “And the soul of…

“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.
“And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses.
“And the soul of the children has groaned aloud.” From the bottom of their heart [they groaned], because they had no parents any longer who provided them with food. - "Commentary on Job 24.9-12"

He says this again to his friends with a bit of hesitation, If afflictions entirely derive from sins, why did he who observes all that happens on earth allow them to go without being visited by him? “And they took no notice,” that is, the iniquitous took no notice of the fact that they were not visited. Indeed it is believed and taught about divine visitation, “The Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father checks a well-loved son.”

Job 24:21-22

He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

“He has not treated the barren woman well,” that is, the woman who is without help because of her lack of children. And notice again how ill treatment is considered an act of impiety. “Keep away from evil,” the divine psalmist says, “and practice good.” “And he had no pity on a feeble woman,” that is, on a woman who needs help because of her feeble nature. “And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless.” In fact he did not overthrow the feeble and the helpless for any rational cause, but because of the impulse of his wild soul, while being inflamed with his wrath; and he reduced them to extreme poverty.

Job 24:22-24

He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

“Therefore when he has risen, he will not feel secure of his own life.” For these reasons the impious, after rising every day not really believing that he will live, remains in fear and is frightened. As the wise Solomon stated, “Fear, indeed, is nothing other than the abandonment of the supports offered by reason.” “When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover, but let him perish by disease.” The diseases of the body, in fact, often occur because of sin. “Let him not hope,” that is, the lack of hope is due to the consciousness of his sins. “Let him perish” by disease, that is, by the blows of calamity. “For his exaltation has hurt many.”For this reason, “let him perish,” because his exaltation has hurt many. “But he has withered as mallows in the heat or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk.” Other examples [from the Greek Bible] read “like grass.” In a similar way, the psalmist also says, “Quick as the grass they wither, fading like the green in the field.” And he rightly says, “falling off of itself,” indeed, for everybody sin itself becomes a punisher.

Job 26:7-9

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

“He stretches out the north wind upon nothing, and he upon nothing hangs the earth.” Indeed the support of the earth is nothing but an understructure, but it is suspended and is sustained by divine will. “Binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not dispersed under it.” In fact, if he does not order the clouds to rain, they do not release rain on earth in the quantity that has been ordered by him. “He constrains the elements with his purposes hidden, stretching out his cloud upon them.” Heaven is often called “the throne of God” in holy Scripture. Air is placed before the face of heaven. Therefore, he says that God, by containing the air and expanding the clouds, does not allow them to release rain, if not in the measure that he knows to be convenient and useful.

Job 27:1-2

Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

While his three friends remained silent about his words, the blessed Job, by linking himself with what had been said before, adds the words that follow. Indeed he had spoken his previous words as a prologue to what follows now.

Job 27:8-10

For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

What hope, he says, does the impious have, even though he has lived so far? With what sort of assurance does he expect any salvation from God like that by which I trust to be saved? How will he confidently invoke God, after falling into misfortune, as if his prayers should be really heard?

Job 27:14-15

If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

He describes what is likely to happen to the ungodly. Admittedly, things do not always go in this manner for them. Some of them, indeed, preserve their prosperity until the end of their life, as he himself, in his quandary, has taught his friends in the previous chapters. Therefore, he calls “slaughter” the kind of death that is inflicted by enemies, and “death” the one that comes suddenly and prematurely.

Job 34:1-3

Furthermore Elihu answered and said,

Because of the former accusations that he had brought against his hearers, Elihu soothes them now with softer words by calling them wise men who know righteousness and honesty.

Job 41:3-4

Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

He said this because the demons asked the Lord not to cast them into the abyss, or because Satan said to Christ, “I will give you all these things.” Will he now, he says, implore you with a soft speech? Will he make a covenant with you, and will he stop fighting his war against you?

Job 41:14-15

Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

This is not the fear of God but the fear that is all around [the Leviathan’s] teeth. But if you have Christ in you, you must not be worried by this fear. Indeed, you will fear the Lord God and will fear no one else.

Job 41:18-21

By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

Others believe that here he alludes to the fact that sneezing has the power to purify the brain; therefore, [the devil] transfigures himself into light, and even pretends to be able to purify. So [faithless] Gentiles and wizards use the devil’s power in certain rites of purification, pretending that they have the power of the light, whereas they are entirely full of filth.

Job 41:22-24

In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

“In its neck” means in arrogant self-estimation; “its strength abides,” because it does not stand still but always overestimates itself. The souls that advance with a high neck (as is confirmed by Isaiah) are [like the devil’s] neck, because they have the power to deceive. But such a power is vain; indeed, the weakness that my Savior and Lord assumed for me, which is called the weakness of God, completely defeated that power.